Greer Spring in Alton Missouri

Nestled in the heart of the Ozarks is Greer Spring in Alton, Missouri, United States. This area is 4100 acres known as Greer Spring Special Management Area and is part of Eleven Point National Scenic River. This is also part of the large Mark Twain National Forest Area.

Greer Spring is the 2nd largest natural spring in Missouri producing around 220 million gallons of water a day. Isn't that just amazing?! Each year we take a couple fall photography trips and went to see this beautiful spring in Fall 2022.

When you go, make sure to bring your hiking shoes and walking sticks if you use them. It's a rugged .9 mile hike downhill towards the spring. Then it's all uphill after you visit the spring so you'll want to take your time.

Greer Spring flows from two areas which are about 250 feet apart. One area is where it flows out of Greer Spring Cave. The other is just down from the cave in the middle of the spring made river. They sit at the bottom of a steep and shaded ravine. The rushing cold water feeding Greer Spring comes from nearby streams that flow underground along with some sinkholes found to the west and northwest of the spring.

Make sure to bring your bug spray! We like to use natural essential oils. Like many hikes in the Ozarks, the trail is wooded with lots of trees, which you may run across not only wildlife, but ticks and spiders too. When we went, we ran across a large nest of Asian Giant Hornets! They were right above me in several of the photos I took. They were the biggest and scariest looking hornets I have ever seen. Thankfully there had been some cold nights so they were moving around fairly slowly but I sure didn't want to get stung by them! My husband was with me so he kept an eye on them while I nervously took some photos.

Along the creek you'll see many small waterfalls and rapids as the fast flowing water rushes by on down the river. Also along the natural spring river, is a tall rock bluff which I believe extends for about a mile. The spring then flows into Eleven River.

If you love hikes and nature, I recommend visiting this beautiful Greer Spring. Feel free to check out my fine art photos I have taken of the spring. Each image is available as wall art, puzzles, home decor, t-shirts, gifts and more. Hope you enjoy the photos.

https://5-jennifer-white.pixels.com/art/greer