Current River State Park offers opportunities for the public

Current River in Missouri (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you’re looking for a scenic and historic place to have a picnic or spend the afternoon fishing, try Current River State Park north of Eminence in Shannon County. While the park is under development, the area is open to day-use recreational activities such as hiking, picnicking and fishing each Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 
 

Current River State Park, located along the banks of the Current River, is composed of the former Alton Club, a corporate retreat constructed in c. 1937-1945 for the Alton Box Board Co. The Alton Club contains dormitories, a large gymnasium, several support structures and recreational venues. The buildings reflect the influence of rustic architecture popular in camp and park buildings in the first half of the 20^th century. Missouri State Parks acquired the property in 2008. 


While development continues, the public can take advantage of the opportunities available. The park offers picnic sites with grills and tables. Two shelters are available by reserving them in advance at no fee. The park offers a 1.5-mile hiking trail and limited free tours of the historic buildings (gymnasium, lodge and some support buildings). Reservations for tours of the historic buildings must be made in advance. Restroom facilities consist of portable toilets.  

The park contains two small lakes where the public can fish and use small boats (trolling motors only). There are no boat ramps on the lakes so it will be necessary to carry boats to the water. Swimming and scuba diving are not permitted in the lakes. 


The park is located along Current River but there are currently no boat ramps along the river or watercraft rentals in the park. Visitors can access the river on their own to play or wade in the water.  

The park is open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday and closed the rest of the week. Reservations for the shelters and tours can be made by calling the park office at 573-858-3015. Because the park is not fully open and the office has limited hours of operation, please allow time for your calls to be returned. Current River State Park is located north of Eminence off Highway 19.

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Mountain lion shot by landowner in Texas County

Image via Wikipedia

SUMMERSVILLE, Mo – A landowner in Texas County shot a mountain lion on Sept. 5 after encountering it on his property. The landowner then called Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) regional offices to report the incident. Shannon County Conservation Agent Justin Emery responded to the incident and conducted an investigation. Emery found no grounds for charges at this time. Although mountain lions are protected by law, Missouri’s Wildlife Code does allow people to protect themselves and their property if they feel threatened.

MDC took possession of the subadult male mountain lion, which will be used for educational purposes and DNA testing.

The incident occurred approximately three miles from where a Shannon County landowner’s trail camera captured an image of a mountain lion on July 29. In a separate sighting, an Oregon County landowner captured an image on his trail camera of a mountain lion on Aug. 23 northeast of Alton.

MDC Biologist Jeff Beringer, who is a member of MDC’s Mountain Lion Response Team, says that widely scattered mountain lion sightings have been confirmed in Missouri and likely will continue. Evidence to date indicates these animals are dispersing from other states to the west of Missouri. The most extreme evidence of this dispersal occurred in early 2011 when a mountain lion that was killed in Connecticut was genetically traced to South Dakota.

MDC has no confirmed evidence of a breeding population in Missouri.

MDC receives many reports each year from people who believe they have seen mountain lions.

“We encourage these reports, but we can only confirm those for which there is physical evidence such as hair, scat, footprints, photos, video, a dead cougar or prey showing evidence of mountain-lion attack,” says Beringer.

Reports of sightings can be sent to mountain.lion@mdc.mo.gov, or by contacting Beringer at573-882-9909, ext. 3211, Rex Martensen at 573-522-4115, ext. 3147, or Shawn Gruber at 573-522-4115, ext. 3262.

Beringer adds that mountain lions are naturally shy of humans and generally pose little danger to people, even in states with thriving breeding populations.