Welcome to the Ozark Trail!

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6th Annual OTA Beach Party - July 18th

The OTA construction season may be over until September, but it doesn't mean OT volunteers can't get together to tell trail stories and enjoy each other's company. Yes.. it's time for the Annual OTA BEACH PARTY! Everyone who's ever worked on the trail is invited.... more details

MAY 8th STORMS CLOSE 80 MILES OF TRAIL

On May 8th a major storm swept through the Ozarks. The National Weather Service calls this type of storm event a “derecho,” a long-lived band of rain squalls accompanied by severe gusts of straight-line winds and occasional tornadoes.

The following sections of the Ozark Trail are effectively closed: TAUM SAUK, KARKAGHNE, TRACE CREEK (south of Highway 32), MIDDLE FORK (south of Barton Fen / CR-79), BLAIR CREEK (north of CR-235). The MARBLE CREEK section may not be passible (send us a report if you visit). [picture gallery of storm damage]

Agency staff, contractors and OTA volunteers have been working to clear the trail. As of June 1st, the northern 75 miles of trail from Onondaga to Barton Fen are open (Courtois, part of Trace Creek, part of Middle Fork). The Current River, Between the Rivers and Eleven Point sections are also open. The Wappapello, Victory and North Fork sections appear to be fine. NOTE: it's the summer season, so expect to find patches of heavy undergrowth. It is normally hot, humid and buggy in the Ozarks this time of year, and many people prefer to hike/ride the trail in the fall and spring.

We are posting updates in our Trail Conditions forum.

Maps and links of May 8th Storm

NOAA reports on the storm: derecho summary for eastern counties; storm report with tornado plots (long load time);

Pictures of deadfall along the trail (includes portions of Middle Fork, Karkaghne and Taum Sauk sections).

More Storm Damage Updates

We estimate that over 3,000 trees were blown down in the May 8th derecho. Almost all of these trees were uprooted. Not only do we have a major blowdown problem, we also have many spots along the trail with holes caused by uprooted tree balls. You'll need to be cautious after the trail has been cleared to avoid falling into these holes. We'll start trail maintenance outings this fall. Temporary reroutes have been constructed where possible.

OTA volunteers, agency staff and contractors have sawed over 600 trees from the trail corridor in the first three weeks after the storm. You can help by volunteering at a future OTA event. You can also send donations to cover our fuel, oil, repair and administrative costs by sending a tax-deductible check to the Ozark Trail Association at 406 W. High St. Potosi MO 63664 or by calling the office at (573) 436-0540 to find out about other funding options.

[May 30 sawing gallery]

80% Chance of Rain, 100% Chance of Success

What do Ozark Trail volunteers think when they read a forecast for 80% chance of rain? A 20% chance for clear skies! And that’s just what happened at our May 2nd MegaEvent at Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park.

We don’t blame anyone for staying home after seasoned meteorologists declared a very rainy weekend was in store for the Mega. Heck, we thought about staying home ourselves. But we remembered so many other weekends where the storm clouds veered north or south and gave us a chance to build more trail. So we kept the event on the schedule and crossed our fingers.

Way to go, fingers! Way to go, volunteers!

Many thanks to the 113 volunteers who took a chance on the weather and built 3000 feet of new trail on May 2nd. It was a massive act of faith for those who camped on Friday night—almost two inches of rain hit the area and one thunderstorm after another rocked Johnson’s Shut-In State Park. But as people peeked out of their tents at 7am—the rain stopped. And the rest of the day was clear.

We met at 9am in rain gear, walked to our work sites in rain gear, carved out three thousand feet of new trail in rain gear--- but the rains never came. Jeff cooked up a mighty supper at 5pm, Kathie helped the OTA raise $971 with a raffle at 6pm, the bluegrass band started playing at 7pm, and the bonfire went all night.

Sometimes a 20% chance is all you need.

Volunteers Highlighted on PBS

KETC Channel 9 in St. Louis visited the Ozark Trail in January see volunteers in action. They put together a nice episode for their Living St. Louis show, and you can watch this episode online:
Living St Louis   Episode on YouTube

USFS Northern OT Map

This is a USFS map of the northern-third of the OT that is posted at several kiosks along the trail. You can download the map and have it custom-printed at Kinkos/OfficeMax/etc. We'll have a dozen copies of this map printed on 2'x3' paper for sale at the MegaEvent. Limited copies can also be ordered from the OTA for $25 by calling the office at (573) 436-0540.

More Videos

One features our great volunteers over the years, and the other captures a "Google Earth" flyover of the trail from Onondaga to the Eleven Point.
Ozark Trail Volunteers   Ozark Trail fly-by

Taum Sauk Rebuild - Phase 1 Complete!

The first phase of the OTA's project to rebuild the Taum Sauk trail was brought to a close by a small group of volunteers on Sunday, March 1st. The 1 1/4 mile trail from the new Highway N parking to to the existing Taum Sauk trail is now finished! We now move on to the second phase of the project: building a new 2-mile trail to replace the trail damaged by the December 2005 reservoir breach.

Over 80 different volunteers gave up one or more weekend days over a 10-week period to complete Phase 1. Working in sometimes brutal cold, blustery winds and even in the snow, these dedicated volunteers grubbed out hillsides, dug out rocks, cut away brush, put in steps and built some very pretty trail. The last half-mile is absolutely delightful, and we're sure you'll like it.

We're now working on Phase 2, with OTA paid crews clearing corridor and adding new trail in preparation for the April 4th MegaEvent. We'll also have a group of volunteers from Grinnell College working on the trail during the last two weeks of March. We anticipate completing Phase 2 in the middle of May.

A map of the newly-completed trail can be found here.

Credit Card / Paypal Your Membership!

The Ozark Trail Association is membership-supported. Your membership fees equip volunteers with tools, chainsaw supplies, signage, hammers, nails... a whole host of things to keep the trail open and to build new trail. There's also a newsletter! And free online maps! Your membership is important to the ongoing success of the trail.

And now: you can pay for your membership or make a donation using your credit card or PayPal account! Visit our main membership page today for an easy way to renew your membership, start a new membership or to make a contribution!

Adopt-A-Trail

225 miles of through-trail opened for use in 2006, part of the 360 total miles of Ozark Trail in Missouri.  That's a lot of trail to keep clear of trees and brush.  You can help out by maintaining a short section of trail through our Adopt-A-Trail program.  Adopters work on two- or three-mile sections a few times a year, lopping back limbs, putting up new signs and reporting on trail conditions.  It's a good way to give back a little to the OT.  And it's a great excuse to get away for a day on the trail!

Interested?  Learn more by visiting our Adopt-A-Trail page or contacting our
Adopt-A-Trail coordinator.