CURRENT RIVER STATE PARK
Forget crowded, rowdy campgrounds. This place was once a private 1930s retreat for wealthy paper executives from the Alton Box Board Company. They built massive log lodges. You can still walk right into the old gymnasium, a structure featuring a towering stone fireplace and polished wood floors that look ready for a vintage basketball game. It feels incredibly eerie. But in a cool way. You get to hike the Jones Hollow Trail, a four-mile loop that winds past abandoned farmsteads and deep Ozark hollows where the timber grows thick and dark.
Most folks come for the water. The river runs icy cold and shockingly clear, perfect for dropping in a kayak or casting a line for smallmouth bass. Actually, the park offers something even cooler. They let you fish for largemouth bass on Acorn Lake, a placid body of water where they even provide free use of canoes and kayaks on summer weekends. No rental fees at all. It is the ultimate budget hack for Ozark explorers who want to skip the rowdy tube-floating crowds downriver. Just pure, quiet woods.
Current River State Park is located near Salem
The park was once a private retreat for wealthy paper company executives in the 1930s, so the picnic sites feel exclusive, almost like you snuck onto private property. Red-eared sliders bask on logs. You can grab one of the scattered tables right by the water's edge.
Book the open-air picnic shelter that features a massive stone fireplace built back in the mid-century. It sits near the main lodge. You get easy access to the Current River floating stream from there, too. After eating your sandwiches, you can hike the short trail down to the riverbank to dip your toes in the cold, spring-fed water. Pure bliss on hot July afternoons. Just remember to pack out your trash since facilities are sparse.
Jones Hollow Trail - A rugged loop trail that winds through scenic Ozark woodlands, crossing wet-weather creeks and offering views of deep hollows and diverse wildlife. Length 4.25 miles.
Centennial Trail - A connector trail linking Current River State Park to Echo Bluff State Park, taking hikers through mixed hardwood forests and Ozark terrain. Length 2.1 miles.
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