Private Or Public

[GloryDaze]

So I'm looking at doing a two night/ 3day trip. It looks like some of the river goes through Mark Twain National Forest. Even with that little section, would it be possible to pull a 2-nighter and remain on Public property??

[Gavin]

The Gasconade has a well documented history as a float stream, several canoe outfitters, and a fair number of public access points. Your are well within your rights to put in and take out at public access points, fish, and camp on a gravel bars below the high water mark. It doesnt matter if that gravel bar is on public or private land, because its in a public right of way. Camping above the high water mark would be tresspass (unless it was public land). Cheers.

[Al Agnew]

What Gavin said.

And...while the river flows within the boundaries of the national forest, there is very little public land that actually adjoins the river. A couple of forest service accesses, and that's about it.

When looking for gravel bars to camp on, I usually make sure that there is no obvious signs of the landowner using the gravel bar, like lanes leading onto it or picnic tables and other semi-permanent stuff on or next to it. No sense in ticking off a landowner who happens to want to use his own gravel bar at the same time you're there. Most Ozark streams have plenty of little-used gravel bars.