Can one go higher on the Bourbuese than Redbird?

[Conor]

Redbird looks like a ghost town these days but still has some neat old buildings.  Also, there are other neat little towns like this all throughout the Bourbuese watershed.  I get the feeling a lot more used to be going on with the old mills and all that.

Spring Bluff is a neat area and the general store still stands.  The nearby bluff on the Bourbuese is also quite scenic and interesting.  It looks like some sort of culvert made from a steam boiler was used on a road across the river.  I guess any remains of the embankment are long gone from floods but the iron culvert is still there and an interesting artifact.

Conor

[Giltweasel]

Redbird sounds like Moselle, but smaller(Moselle hasn't been a going concern since the death of the stagecoach). I see a Redbird Rd. in that area of the Bourbeuse headwaters, but no evidence of a settlement.  Like Eastwood at Noser Mill this must have been a thing in the past, but today is nonexistent.

Where were you when you saw the neat old buildings?  Road intersections and such? 

Same with Spring Bluff, what locations are you finding? Roads, intersections, etc. to help others find it.

Some of these towns aren't anything more than a cluster of old houses anymore. Maybe they had a golden age before every family owned a car, but now it seems they only exist for the sake of hanging a sign.  Before the consolidation of schools there was a school house every mile or so, evidenced by all the old roads with "school house" in their names.  I think that centralizing the school districts may have done as much to kill the truly small town/settlement than anything else.   But it has left a network of roads that get us to the river in different locations.  While many of these are more driveways than actual public traffic lanes, they do still serve the floater, which is a good thing.

I'm camping with Scouts for the rest of the month and wont be able to hit the water until October, if then. Still, I'd like to have a destination to plan for.  Late September we should get some rain and maybe I'll be able to float these headwater areas in a few weeks.

[Conor]

Just drive all three roads from here and you will see pretty much the entire town in 2 minutes.  It is as you say with just old houses, and the remains of an old general store and mechanic shop or similar.  People do live there but it has seen better days.  https://www.google.com/maps/place/Redbird,+MO+65014/@38.1801934,-91.5745563,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x87dbb9086712c303:0x8692b34d0cd5aa1a!8m2!3d38.1817119!4d-91.5704364

We put in at the Redbird slab and took out at Hog Trough.  I would want 100 cfs on the High Gate gauge if you plan to do this, otherwise you might be walking.  My favorite headwaters section for scenery is Mint Spring Access to Tea Access although the entire river has its charm.  If you need more information, let me know.

I have permission to use private property at Safe, MO (another nonexistent town) whenever the water comes up.  It looks to be about 15 miles to Redbird.  I figure this will be about is high as I will get on the Bourbeuse.

Conor

[Conor]

Spring Bluff is farther down and the "town" is right off Hwy 185.  There is an old general store and that is about it.  I think Japan is another place like this or is that Strain?  I really like the old mechanic shop or service station made of sandstone as well as the old general store.  Enjoy them now as they won't be around forever.

Spring Bluff itself is on the Mill Rock to Wenkel Ford stretch.  You *MIGHT* be able to do this now but just BARELY.  I would wait for more water.  This is another real nice scenic area.  The sweet spot for this river is probably Mill Rock to Noser Mill.  Anyway, there is an old steam boiler with the ends cut out that was likely a culvert at one time.  I am guessing there was a crossing with the flow of water passing through this culvert.  I am guessing there was an embankment across the river and the floods overwhelmed the culvert and washed the embankment away.  There is no sign of an embankment, only the old riveted boiler in the middle of the river.

Two springs dump out of the bluff here on the right.  One is right before the boiler as I remember and the other below.  The larger one that is lower is really neat.  It comes out like 80 ft above the bluff and there is like a 30 inch sycamore right near the outlet high on the bluff surrounded by upland trees.  Go PAST the tributary and log jams and then work your way back up until you have to stop on the right.  Then walk up and over the bluff.  You can access it from above the side channel by going up that channel but expect to get muddy and it is a lot more work.  I didn't know there was an easier way until I went up the hard way one time and could see the other option.  Also, the last time I went the river was super low and the spring barely flowing.  I looked at the gauge it is HALF of what I did when I thought it was barely doable.  I would definitely wait for rain to do this part.  Honestly the only part you could do right now is probably from Riekers down.

This is downstream of Champion City, another little town with a mill still standing.  This is a neat area and river.  I was only introduced to it a couple years back.

Conor

[2sheds]

Redbird was our go-to water hole during college summers in the late 70's.  Lots of great memories.

[Al Agnew]

On 10/17/2022 at 1:59 PM, Conor said:

Spring Bluff is farther down and the "town" is right off Hwy 185.  There is an old general store and that is about it.  I think Japan is another place like this or is that Strain?  I really like the old mechanic shop or service station made of sandstone as well as the old general store.  Enjoy them now as they won't be around forever.

Spring Bluff itself is on the Mill Rock to Wenkel Ford stretch.  You *MIGHT* be able to do this now but just BARELY.  I would wait for more water.  This is another real nice scenic area.  The sweet spot for this river is probably Mill Rock to Noser Mill.  Anyway, there is an old steam boiler with the ends cut out that was likely a culvert at one time.  I am guessing there was a crossing with the flow of water passing through this culvert.  I am guessing there was an embankment across the river and the floods overwhelmed the culvert and washed the embankment away.  There is no sign of an embankment, only the old riveted boiler in the middle of the river.

Two springs dump out of the bluff here on the right.  One is right before the boiler as I remember and the other below.  The larger one that is lower is really neat.  It comes out like 80 ft above the bluff and there is like a 30 inch sycamore right near the outlet high on the bluff surrounded by upland trees.  Go PAST the tributary and log jams and then work your way back up until you have to stop on the right.  Then walk up and over the bluff.  You can access it from above the side channel by going up that channel but expect to get muddy and it is a lot more work.  I didn't know there was an easier way until I went up the hard way one time and could see the other option.  Also, the last time I went the river was super low and the spring barely flowing.  I looked at the gauge it is HALF of what I did when I thought it was barely doable.  I would definitely wait for rain to do this part.  Honestly the only part you could do right now is probably from Riekers down.

This is downstream of Champion City, another little town with a mill still standing.  This is a neat area and river.  I was only introduced to it a couple years back.

Conor

Yeah, that spring with the big sycamore is cool.  You don't often see a spring come out and go over a waterfall formed by tree roots!

The ENTIRE Bourbeuse gets too low for easy floating.  It was down to 40 cfs at the Union gage a couple days ago.  You need at least 100 cfs on any given stretch to float it without expecting to scrape bottom a lot and walk some of the widest riffles, or riffles with split channels.  But it has so many long pools and short riffles that you can get down it at less than 30 cfs if you're willing to work a bit.