Welcome to the Ozark Trail Association!

The Ozark Trail is a part of a vision, conceived in 1977, to build a scenic and varied route through the Missouri Ozarks, stretching from the St. Louis metropolitan area southwestward to the Arkansas border, eventually connecting to the Ozark Highlands trail-- creating a 700 mile through-trail.  Almost 550 miles of trail have been completed, with 350 miles in Missouri.

The Ozark Trail Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to finishing that vision:  The Mission of the Ozark Trail Association is to develop, maintain, preserve, promote and protect the rugged, natural beauty of the Ozark Trail.

Click here or on the map for more details on trail sections.

Book an OT Shuttle Now!

We've extended our Saturday scheduled shuttle routes through the end of June!
The Shuttle is a convenient way to get between where you want to start and finish your trip. Whether you are planning a short day hike, or a week-long adventure, we should have a Shuttle that meets your needs. In making plans to use the Shuttle, we recommend that you park where you plan to finish your trip, have the shuttle pick you up, and be shuttled to where you want to begin. This way, you can take as little or as much time as you need to enjoy yourself and get back to your vehicle.

The shuttle services trail in Iron and Reynolds County and is underwritten from a grant from AmerenUE. Over 120 miles of trail are covered by this service, and you can explore the many trip opportunities available to you via our new online trip planner.

Custom trips are available on Saturday afternoons after the regular schedule and each weekday. It's prime-time for the Ozark Trail, so get out and enjoy the Ozarks!

If you have any questions, drop us a line or give us a call at (573) 915-9034.

2008 National Trails Day

On Saturday, June 7, The OTA held their National Trails Day outing at Noblett Lake Recreation Area.

We started the day off by recognizing the 'Southern' crew, Rick, Bill, Laurel, Tracy, Tom, and Don for all the work they have done getting the North Fork section open again and then Nancy Feakes from the Forest Service announced the Ozark Trail has been designated a National Recreation Trail.

Here are some facts about the NRT program and where the OT stands out.

• There are over 1000 NRT trails and 372 of them are managed by the Forest Service.
• The longest NRT is 1500 miles and the shortest is less then 1 mile.
• The 262 miles of the Ozark Trail make it the 7th longest NRT in the nation and it is the 2nd longest managed by the Forest Service

May 17th Mega!

This past weekend we wrapped up the 2007/2008 construction season with 76 volunteers building 3/4 mile of new trail. Perfect weather, plenty of food, some wine tasting, and great people made for an awesome weekend. We would like to thank to those companies and individuals who donated items for the raffle which brought in $700 for the OTA to use to future events. Also special thanks go out to Bass River Resort for allowing us to use their place. If you could not make an event this season we hope you can join us in the fall.
View Photos

April Mega HUGE Success

117 volunteers said "no, no, no" to the chance of rain and joined the largest spring trail building in OTA history. Thank you for all your hard work in building over one mile of new trail! We also thank everyone for contributing over $1,700 in the raffle and silent auction, a record amount that will insure the OTA can continue to host large construction events on the trail. We also thank our sponsors, the Alpine Shop, Patagonia and Bass' River Resort. Well done, everyone!

Some pictures have been added on the website. We're also preparing for another "MegaEvent" on May 17th (same location, same great fun), so check the website in a few days for complete details if you'd like to join us as we continue to build more trail.

A personal note on this event:

I walked the work area on Friday afternoon in a pouring rain, sloshing through the mud and wondering if I should cancel the weekend's events. The trail looked too muddy to work, and the forecast was a bit on the "iffy" side. I then remembered an event we hosted in September 2006 when a tornado came within a few miles of the work site and heavy rain fell throughout the night and into Saturday morning. 80 people showed up for that event, and the rain stopped at 9am. We had a great time that day.

"Have faith," I thought. The weather might turn, the mud might be workable, and the volunteers... well, they're the best.

Do you remember posing for a picture by the flagpole at 9am? The rain masqueraded as mist. Greg Echele spoke to us and said we'd have a great day-- we had a history of pulling these things off. We'll get the job done.

And my-oh-my... we got the job done. We built over a mile of new trail. We celebrated with good food, live bluegrass, a roaring bonfire, huge raffle/auction, and great conversations. We made new friends. We made lasting memories.

On Sunday afternoon I walked the new trail. Remember the mud? It's mostly gone, with warm winds and full sun baking the tread. It was a great walk. It's great trail. You folks did a fantastic job.

Thank you, everyone. I'm very proud of you.

And I hope to see you soon.

John Roth

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

200 miles of through-trail opened for use in 2006, part of the 350 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.