Location: Carter County and Oregon County Missouri running east/west about 20 miles southeast of Winona, MO.

Distance: 30-miles with the East entry point on Highway 60, 3.5 miles west of Van Buren and the western terminus on Forest Road 3152 about 5 miles east of Hwy 19 at the eastern entry point for the Eleven Point River Section.

Water: Water through this section can really be a problem during the dry season. Cotham Pond at mile-21.7 has water but the pond does get very low at certain times of the year. A spring has been known to flow in wet seasons around mile-22.8 in the hollow just east of Gold Mine Hollow and west of the Sinking Creek Lookout Tower Trailhead. There are also many intermittent streams from mile zero to Cotham Pond that will have water flowing over the winter months and into the spring time. We found water flowing in Devil's Run Hollow around mile-7.7 where there is an old railroad bed along side a boulder filled creek. Water was also flowing good, in an 'unnamed'hollow (Section 18) just west of Spring Hollow at about mile 15.4. A main stream and a side stream were noted in this hollow. There may be trickles in the streams in other hollows but it cannot be depended on.

Parking: Overnight parking is available at three main locations, the east and west entry points noted above and at the Sinking Creek Lookout Tower which is also on Forest Road 3152 about 10 minutes driving east from the western terminus trailhead. There is also a place to park two vehicles at the trail crossing on Forest Road 3145 at mile-13.3 just north of the crossing on the east side of the road.

Comments - Danny: 18Feb03 - I dayhiked the entire 30-mile section over the weekend of 15-17 February 2003 along with a group from the yahoo club. On Saturday we hiked the first 13.3 miles starting at mile-13.3 and hiking back to mile-zero. We started from the 13.3-mile point in Deer Pond Hollow and headed north. At Barren Creek the trail skirts a new fence at the Bristol Cemetary and climbs up and over the next hill into Hog Hollow. No significant water was noted until entering Devil's Run Hollow where we crossed the stream and the trail gets up on an old railroad bed and continues on north. This was apparently a narrow gauge RR. We noticed some hardware as we stepped up onto the RR bed. The stream here is full of boulders (mile-7.7 or so - the boulder field that Robert refers too) and about a 1/4 mile or so north of the crossing we stopped for lunch where the boulders are huge and there were some nice pools of water among them. The RR bed cuts through the hillside in a couple of spots but the trail eventually turns northeast and leaves the RR bed heading on northeast to the trail crossing at Hwy C at mile-6.6. From Hwy C the trail enters Chilton Hollow with several up and downs from 750' to 900' as you progess to Wildhorse Hollow. Along the way the trail crosses through a large sinkhole in the northwest corner of section 14 around mile-3.5. The hike through Wildhorse Hollow is nearly a mile and then you climb moderately up to Skyline Drive about 250 feet from the bottom of Wildhorse Hollow. Once you reach Skyline Drive it is only 1.5 miles back to the eastern trailhead. As you approach Hwy 60 the trail does skirt behind a residence but it is an easy finish. On Sunday the 16th we again started at mile-13.3 in Deer Pond Hollow and headed west to the trailhead at Sinking Creek Lookout Tower. As you head west you quickly climb up and over a high point and descend into Spring Hollow. Spring Hollow was pretty dry but the next hollow, unnamed on the map (section 18), had a good stream of water and another side stream coming in from the southwest that could have been from a spring. There was also some water flowing in the next hollow, Stillhouse Hollow (the word Stillhouse is not on the brochure/map as it is off to the south). The trail goes back up to the ridge top for about a mile before dropping off into Cedar Bluff Creek. There was a lot of evidence of flooding in the bottoms throughout this area as we walked up the hollow then followed North Prong Hollow up to its head at the Hwy J crossing at mile-21.3. From Hwy J the trail is very easy going as you continue west, cross the Cotham Pond Dam and continue gently along until you reach the cutoff trail to the trailhead at the Sinking Creek Lookout Tower at approximately mile-22.5. On Monday the 17th we hiked from the mile-30 trailhead back to the trailhead at the Sinking Creek Lookout Tower at mile-22.5. There is a wildlife pond near mile-29.7 that could be used for a water source if needed. We had seen a few other wildlife ponds but they didn't look usable. The trail drops off quicly here into Fox Hollow then crosses over the ridge into Wilderness Hollow. As you head down into Wilderness Hollow there is a nice rock glade, the only glade that we saw on the entire section. It is approximately at mile-27.8. The trail meanders through the upper portions of Wilderness Hollow before climbing to the ridge top and heading northeast for a good mile then dropping off into Gold Mine Hollow. AFter dropping into Goldmine Hollow the trail follows the hollow northeast for about 3/4 of a mile then heads into an adjoining hollow to the east (northeast corner of Section 18) before gently climbing out to the high point at the trailhead at the Sinking Creek Lookout Tower. This hollow to the east of Gold Mine Hollow is where the Sinking Creek Spring is located that Robert's notes mention but we found it to be bone dry today unfortunately.

Comments - Robert Smith Notes undated: I started at the 30-mile point and ended at the 6.6-mile marker (highway C). Water can be a problem from 30 miles to Cotham Pond. However, I met some trail volunteers, who told me about a spring (I think they called it Sinking Spring, but I'm not sure). It is located about two miles west of Cotham Pond, on the north side of the trail. I found it, and that's where I camped that night. The spring was rather large, but it also was silent. You had to look for it as you were coming out of Gold Mine Hollow. After Cotham Pond, there is another dry section, but I found water before lunch, which was OK with me. After that, water is no problem. There is a rather nice boulder field at about mile-7.5. I would have liked to explore that, but I didn't. There are also some interesting views of the surrounding farmland from some of the hills, but nothing particularly spectacular.

Maps: The Between the Rivers Section Ozark Trail Map/Brochure that is available from the US Forest Service and the Ozark Trail Coordinator. The map/brochure is very adequate for this trip. However, if you want to save some time shuttling your vehicles you should get a copy of the USFS local district map that shows all of the Forest Roads so you can cut cross country when shuttling. The USGS 7-1/2 minutes quad sheets for this section are Van Buren South, Handy, Wilderness, and Birch Tree.