Mark Twain National Forest

Type of Use: Foot, horse.

Length/Rating: 18.6-Mile Loop/More Difficult

Other Recreation Activities: Fishing, canoeing, birdwatching, sightseeing, photography, backpacking, primitive camping, mushroom/berry picking.Nearby Facilities: Eleven Point National Scenic River, Greer Spring Recreation Area, Fourche Lake Recreation Area, Ripley Lake Recreation Area.

Grand Gulf State Park, Ozark National Scenic Riverways.

Doniphan District

There is a large region of southeastern Missouri known in history as the Irish Wilderness. The greater Irish Wilderness lies between Current and Eleven Point Rivers, including portions of Carter, Ripley, Oregon and Shannon counties. Today, the Congressionally designated Wilderness consists of 16,358 acres of forest land in Oregon County.

The Wilderness is named after the Irish immigrants who were residents of the railroad camps in St. Louis. In 1858, a Catholic priest, Father John Hogan, led a group of forty families to the area and established a settlement. Hogan described it in this way: 'The quiet solitariness of the place seemed to inspire devotion. Nowhere could the human soul so profoundly worship as in the depth of that leafy forest, beneath the swaying branches of the lofty oaks and pines, where solitude and the heart of man united in praise and wonder of the Great Creator.

These people started a new life, however, their hopes and dreams did not last long. In the next few years, the settlement was raided by both Union and Confederate troops during the Civil War. No detailed record exists to testify the looting and murder that must have taken place. It is assumed some of the Irish immigrants were killed and the others scattered. After the war they were gone, and left behind a legend in the loneliness of the woods. To this date, their church still stands on a location east of the Wilderness boundary.

For several decades afterwards, the land was largely abandoned. Around the turn of the century, timber companies cut the virgin forest of oak and shortleaf pine. It was a wasteland. Then, Nature returned and the land regenerated a second growth forest; trees and brushes grew to nearly impenetrable thickness. Irish Wilderness was one of many Ozark tracts that became a part of the National Forest in the 1930's.

Description

Irish Wilderness has a Karst topography with features such as sinkholes, springs, and caves. Elevations range from around 500 feet near the Eleven Point River on the west to about 900 feet at Camp Five Pond. A major attraction, Whites Creek Cave, is approximately 1,600 feet long, containing numerous crystalline formations. Located on a slope above the stream, the cave has large black chambers and typical cave formations like stalactites, stalagmites, and columns. Life forms adapted to cave conditions are unique and fragile.

Whites Creek runs cool and fresh in the spring, but during the long hot summer, much of the creek dries up, with only a few scattered pools remaining. Other small streams flow along the surface in short stretches to disappear underground, and emerge again at numerous small springs.

The area is dominated by an oak-hickory forest, mixed with native shortleaf pine. A wide variety of oak species have been observed -- white, black, chinkapin, red, scarlet, pin, shumard, Spanish, blackjack, and post oak. Understory includes an abundance of smaller trees, such as flowering dogwood, persimmon, and sassafras. Ground vegetation consists of many kinds of shrubs, grasses, and herbaceous plants. Dwarf crested iris are found in larger shaded hollows. In contrast, primitive adder's tongue grows on drier, more exposed slopes. Along the Eleven Point River, black walnut, sycamore, and Ozark witch hazel can be seen. A few old growth stands remain, but the majority of trees are less than 50 years old.

White-tailed deer, squirrel, coyote, bobcat, raccoon, rabbit, and gray fox are common. There are also wild turkey, hawk, owl, vulture, heron, pileated woodpecker, and many songbirds. Once or twice, rattlesnake and copperhead may be encountered. Because of the large size of its wilderness habitat, the Irish has remained the home of some pre-settlement Ozark wildlife. The brightly colored Ambystomid salamander is one of them. American black bear and the Eastern cougar have been reported to depend upon the Irish Wilderness as one of their last strongholds in Missouri.

The Trail

Whites Creek Trail begins at Camp Five Pond in an opening between pillars of tall oaks and pine trees, over the pussy-toes scattered like flower petals before a bride. A flowering dogwood in full spring dress shows off twice as the early morning lake mirrors it to perfection. The dam was constructed in early 1900's, once a source of water for steam engines at the logging camp.

Across the dam, the trail divides like a wishbone. The north loop passes below Camp Nine Pond and Brawley Pond, to Bliss Spring near Eleven Point River west of the Wilderness. The south loop leads to Fiddlers Spring and Whites Creek Cave, and further extends to Bliss Spring to complete the loop. There are three spur trails at Fiddler Spring, Whites Creek Float Camp, and Bliss Spring. There is also an access near Brawley Pond.

The trail is at least a two-day hike. You may see turkeys on parade or having a meal. Looking at the right place you may find a feast of morel mushrooms, but that requires serious search. Glades, granular material, fallen trees, creek beds, native Ozark soils, and soft broken leaves make up the walking surface. The steep gradient of the streams and debris-draped trees show that flash flooding is frequent.

In spring, wildflowers compete fiercely for the spotlight. Bird's-foot violet and fire pink show off around the pin-cushion moss. Downed big oak trees, with vertically exposed roots, reveal the shallow sandy topsoil.

Music starts with wind whistling through the towering pine trees, providing variable pitches with crescendos and decrescendos to produce a relaxing tune. Nature's sounds are more clearly heard when not in competition with city noises. As night sets in, the outdoor concert picks up in both intensity and variety. The most notable are whippoorwills and frogs, with contributions from a distant coyote and many other animals.

From the relatively flat land at the beginning, the hiker traverses through many ecological zones including dried creekbeds, grasslands, glades, bluff country and several scenic views overlooking the Eleven Point River. The trail is mainly for foot travel; horse use is permitted.

The distance to hike the entire trail leaving and returning to Camp Five Trailhead is 18.6 miles.