First time on Osage Fork

[Conor]

Well, I have been interested in this for years but have heard all the horror stories about the Plasters and the town of Evergreen which is essentially their little private kingdom.  This is everything from them running folks off at gunpoint to lobbying to privatize float streams in MO.  I had figured they likely had all the county Judges, Sheriff, etc. bought and paid for as well so best to just avoid it altogether which is probably what they want.

Anyway, I am always looking to try new sections of river and have been impressed by far upper Roubidoux Creek, the far upper Gasconade, far upper Big Piney, and the Little Piney.  To clarify, I am talking about the Little Piney that is a tributary of the far upper Big Piney in Texas County.  If helps form the Narrows and flows in immediately upstream of Dog's Bluff.  The Little Piney near Rolla is also a great stream.  All of these drain the same plateau with similar geology so I figured that the Osage Fork would share similar types of scenery.

I was pleasantly surprised when I started looking at the maps and accesses.  I had two runs picked out on the last 30 miles.  The first was Long Ford to Davis Ford and the next Davis Ford to Hazelgreen.  Since the water was up, we decided to do the upstream of the two sections although I think there might be PLENTY of water even with a lot less.  This is a bigger stream than I was expecting.  We were also impressed with the scenery and flow.  The old Lambeth Bridge was real neat.  There were also some pretty springs pouring out as waterfalls, similar to what I saw on the far upper Gasconade.  Scenery was overall charming and there were some nice sporty sections although that may be due to the water being so high.

I basically drove the shuttle route from Hazelgreen to Davis Ford while on the way to Long Ford so it is super easy to access the last 30 miles.  There are also a couple intermediate accesses we do not plan to use but could be used for shorter trips.  One is Hull Ford and the other is Dryknob.  Access on the last 30 miles of this stream is not an issue.  The issue is the upper 30 miles which I have now read is quite scenic and sporty.  Of course the town of Evergreen and the Plasters are right in the middle of this so don't know about access or if this needs to be made into an overnight trip ending at Long Ford.

I was looking to see if any crossings might be an access.  If one started at Rader, there is Hwy J 9 miles down.  There is also Atlanta Road at mile 14.2 which is a perfect halfway point.  From here it would be 14.5 miles according to the book to Long Ford so this is about as perfect of a halfway point to make this into day trips as you can get.  The issue I see is that Atlanta Rd. is literally like 100 yards upstream from the first entry into the town of Evergreen with the Plasters.

Here you can see that Atlanta Rd. is just south of the boundary of the town of Evergreen.  https://www.google.com/maps/place/Evergreen,+MO/@37.523634,-92.6239916,16z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x87c548e986b0e327:0x445f56b2aaccf64e!8m2!3d37.5430999!4d-92.596838!16zL20vMHd3X2s!5m1!1e4?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTIxMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

I assume it would be a bad idea to leave a car at Atlanta Rd. but figure you could be dropped off there.  Has anyone used this as an access or Hwy J?  Are there any others I don't know about or is this one where you are committed to an overnight starting at Rader and ending at Long Ford?  Of course you would want to setup camp somewhere upstream of Atlanta Rd. and away from the Plasters.  Then the next day you would pretty much be committed through the town of Evergreen and the small outlier downstream on the map.  I have heard that the younger generation of Plasters are not so bad and that everything is fine as long as you don't come up onto the banks.  It sounds like the old guy came from humble beginnings and that old family and friends came out of the woodwork trying to hustle him for money when he made his fortunes.  I guess it is like someone winning a big Powerball drawing where this happens.

If Hwy J works, I would be willing to do a short 9 miler down to there, then commit to a long 20 mile day for the remainder of the run some other time.

https://www.floatmissouri.com/plan/missouri-rivers/osage-fork/

Next on the list will be the obvious easy run from Davis to Hazelgreen but I hear that the upper part is even better than what we saw so it is on my list.  I suspect there will be many springs issuing from the bluffs much like the 20 mile or so section of the Gasconade below Hartville.

Anyone have any insights into this stream?
 

Thanks,

Conor

[Terrierman]

I floated a part of the middle section about 30 years ago.  Wasn't impressed.  But there's a lot of it I've never seen.  Best of luck.

[Gavin]

Cold water and me did B bridge down to Davis 20+ years ago. We were so impressed that we never went back. 

[Al Agnew]

I've done the lower 30 miles you talk about in the past.  I'd do it again given the opportunity, but was not impressed enough with it to choose it over a lot of other stretches of similar distance from where I live.  But I do like to do upper reaches of Ozark streams, so would be game to go as far upstream as possible at some point and see the rest of it.  I usually do at least a couple 3-5 day floats each year, and go as far upstream as I can on them, which is often farther upstream than most people would float in summertime water levels.  

I too have heard that the present Plasters are not as radical about running people off as the old man was.  I'd still plan to float through their sections without camping, and put in well above and take out well below...but I'd give it a shot during the week or in the off season.

[Gavin]

That old Lambeth Bridge was a scary one to drive over. I wonder if it is still standing? We had Paul Dallas meet us mid float on that one and lower his canoe off the  bridge with a rope to avoid the forest of poison ivy under the bridge. Then he walked down a couple hundred yards to hop a farmers gate. H and J were kinda pokie at the takeout, so me, Coldwater, and Paul Dallas drank a good bit of scotch over the course of 2 hours before we decided to borrow H's Hoopty arse truck to get the heck out of there. Shuttled J's down and told H & J were to find H's.. Dallas split, and me and Coldwater went back over to  Gasconade Hills where our tents were set up.. It was an MSA shindig at G Hills, and the the first time we both met you Al Agnew, We leaned about twin spins, midge oreno's, and how to pick a good buzz bait. 20+ years ago

 

[Conor]

Lambeth Ridge is still standing but closed to traffic.  It is a thrill to get up there as some of the boards are missing or pretty rotted.  I just made sure to stay over the beams below.  Some of the beams are even made of timber which is strange.  I am glad a few of these are still around but know it will only be a matter of time for most.

I definitely think it is more scenic here in the winter.  I have heard from others that they were not impressed with this stream so I guess I wasn't looking for much.  It has some nice bluff lines, a pretty large heron rookery, and a couple very pretty springs.  Overall the scenery was pleasant but I can imagine a lot of the good stuff being covered in summer.

I always find the upper headwaters of streams to be most interesting.  This includes places dozens of miles upstream of mile 0 on some streams.

The upper Gasconade below Hartville has some great scenery but some longer pastoral sections as well.  Catch it high and after a rain for the best scenery with some great waterfalls....  I suspect one could go higher on the forks above Hartville as well.  There are several large tributaries downstream of there that look quite floatable too.

I need to get out and scope Atlanta Rd. and Hwy J.  I wonder if someone could be dropped off at Atlanta Rd. or not.  I would assume leaving a car there is out of the question even if the Plasters aren't as bad as the old guy.

Conor

[fishinwrench]

4 hours ago, Conor said:

 

I need to get out and scope Atlanta Rd. and Hwy J.  I wonder if someone could be dropped off at Atlanta Rd. or not.  I would assume leaving a car there is out of the question even if the Plasters aren't as bad as the old guy.

Technically what those folks have done for years is illegal, but you'd have to hire a lawyer far removed from Laclede county MO. to fight it.   They pay a lot of taxes, and are quite accustomed to having their @$$es kissed. 

They could have a body count to match the Clinton's for all we know.

[Al Agnew]

21 hours ago, Gavin said:

That old Lambeth Bridge was a scary one to drive over. I wonder if it is still standing? We had Paul Dallas meet us mid float on that one and lower his canoe off the  bridge with a rope to avoid the forest of poison ivy under the bridge. Then he walked down a couple hundred yards to hop a farmers gate. H and J were kinda pokie at the takeout, so me, Coldwater, and Paul Dallas drank a good bit of scotch over the course of 2 hours before we decided to borrow H's Hoopty arse truck to get the heck out of there. Shuttled J's down and told H & J were to find H's.. Dallas split, and me and Coldwater went back over to  Gasconade Hills where our tents were set up.. It was an MSA shindig at G Hills, and the the first time we both met you Al Agnew, We leaned about twin spins, midge oreno's, and how to pick a good buzz bait. 20+ years ago

 

Yup, that was a long time ago.  Dang, I'm old.

[Conor]

We went back and did Davis to Hazelgreen.  The section from Long Ford to Davis is definitely the pick of these two.  There was nothing wrong with the lower part but nothing special as mentioned by others either.  I can see others here view this part like I view the Niangua around Bennett Spring.  Pretty much every river of equal or closer distance to me is better than the section from Moon Valley to Barclay or so.  I have done way high up on that river and enjoyed it and some of the scenery from Prosperine/Mountain Creek to Ha Ha Tonka is really nice but that part near the spring is nothing special compared to all what else is near me.  The Meramec near the spring is close to me, the Current is close to me, and I can be at the upper Jacks Fork in similar time.  The Eleven Point is just a few minutes farther.  Again, that part of the Niangua isn't bad but when you have those other streams to compare it to, there is no comparison.  Also, that section just needs to be avoided on a summer Saturday.

That being said, I do plan to try and figure out a way to access the uppermost 30 miles.  I can tell there is potential for some nice scenery.  I guess I need to just get out and scope some of the water crossings upstream of Evergreen and see how they look, even if just getting dropped off or picked up.  I would check cell phone signals at the same time so we could know if one could call for a ride when getting close to the end.

Conor

[MObassin95]

I fished the Osage Fork this summer. Can't remember where I waded, but I wasn't super impressed with the scenery. The fishing was decent though! Definitely some good Smallmouth water where I waded.