PARK ACTIVITIES SCHEDULE

Spring / Summer 2006

Activities Alley Mill The mill will be open from 9:30 to 5:00 daily. Tours of the Mill are free for the asking. Books, postcards and information are available. For more information call 573-226-3945. The milling machinery is demonstrated at 10:00 and 2:00 each Saturday and Sunday during the summer. Round Spring Caverns. Cave tours are held daily during the summer months at 10:00 and 2:00. Tickets go on sale 30 minutes before each tour. Adults $5.00, children under 12 $2.00. NO reservations and group size is limited to 15 people. Due to staffing issues we will not have tours on August 28 & 29, and we will not have the morning tours on Fridays after August 11. We apologize for any inconvenience. Teachers interested in visiting with their schools between May 1 and September 30 should click here: School programs Campfire Programs. Learn about the nature or history of the Ozarks while sharing a pleasant evening with your fellow campers. Offered during the summer only at Big Spring, Alley, Pulltite and Round Spring Campgrounds at 8:30 pm. every Friday and Saturday. (Starting Memorial Day weekend. Alley programs end August 13.) Civilian Conservation Corps Museum. This small museum at Big Spring is devoted to the "boys" of the Civilian Conservation Corps who worked to build parks from coast to coast during the Great Depression. (Opens Memorial Day weekend) Just for Kids. Join a ranger for 45 minutes of hands on nature activities for kids! Sunday mornings at 9:00 am at the Big Spring Amphitheater and the Round Spring Picnic Shelter. (Starting Memorial Day weekend.) All activities, with the exception of cave tours, are free and open to all. Check campground bulletin boards for other programs! Ranger Pam Eddy presenting "Living History" demonstration at Alley Spring. During the summer months, rangers present slide shows, lead nature hikes and present demonstrations of traditional folk crafts. Watch this website for next summer's schedule!

Special Events! September 2, 2006 Tie Rafting Demonstration. On September 2 a group of Ozark rivermen will float a 200-foot long raft made up of some 250 railroad ties six miles down Current River. The voyage will follow the route of the last commercial tie raft which floated 75 years ago from Bay Mill Eddy to the lumber yard at Doniphan. The crew will guide their 20-ton craft with wooden poles and "sweeps," fore and aft. The timbers will be in three joined sections which will allow the raft to bend around the sharp curves and treacherous snags for which Current River is famous. The raft, accompanied by two vintage johnboats, will stop at the Deer Leap Campground Picnic Area for an hour or so at mid-day for public viewing. The event at Deer Leap will also feature an exhibit of historic photos prepared by the Ripley County Historical Society, the Ozark National Scenic Riverways (National Park Service) and the Doniphan Neighborhood Assistance Program. The float will end between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. when the craft passes under the Highway 160/21 bridge at Doniphan. It will then be "snubbed up" to the west bank and dismantled. At the height of the tie production boom in the early 1900s rafts of up to 1,000 ties were frequently floated downstream to the railhead at Doniphan which for many years was known as "the railroad tie capital of the world." For further information, call the Current River Heritage Museum at 573-996-5298.   October 14 - 15 The Haunting of the Hills. C'mon down to Alley for this annual celebration of Ozark storytelling, music and craft. Stay tuned for details and schedule. Call 573-226-3945. Watch this page for more special events! School programs Return to Home Page  Kids learning to use a cross-cut saw during the 2006 Ozark Riverways Heritage Days in June. Watch this space for the schedule for the 2007 Heritage Days!