Get Maps & Information Quick (for FREE !) - Make a Call: Maps and brochures of the completed trail sections are available from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Ozark Trail Coordinator by calling 1-800-334-6946 (push buttons until you talk to a real person). For a quick overall view of the trail then click on this link: 2005 Ozark Trail Brochure Map.

Checkout this Trans Ozark Trail site for additional information:Trans Ozark Trail Information. Plans are in place for the Ozark Trail to be open from the Huzzah Conservation Area (just south of Onondaga Cave State Park) south to the southern terminus of the Eleven Point River Section (near Thomasville, MO), by December 2005, for a total of about 240-miles one way. There would also be a 100-mile stretch from the Huzzah Conservation Area by using the Courtois Section (45-miles total proposed, 24-miles already connected), the Trace Creek Section (24-miles) and the Taum Sauk Section (33-miles).

General OT Comments:

NORTH HALF of COURTOIS SECTION (Berryman Trail)12Nov00 - See the write up on the Berryman Trail. The 'new' OT section, South Half of the Coutois Section, joins the Berryman Trail Section .3 miles west of the trailhead at the Berryman Campground. At this junction you can take either the west or east side of the Berryman Trail to the Harmon Spring Campground where the OT will head due west and eventually connect up with the trail through the Huzzah Conservation Area. There is still a few miles of trail to be completed here and some right-of-way issues over private property to get settled. The trail to be used within the Huzzah Conservation Area is essentially complete but may be re-routed where it crosses near the Huzzah/Courtois confluence. There is a campground in this area as well. You can get a map of the Huzzah Conservation Area from MODOC. The trail is shown on the map as the Ozark Hiking Trail. For the most current map of this section you should go to Ozark Trail Association.12Nov03 - We had a group of nine hike the very northern 10-miles of the Courtois Section of the Ozark Trail that passes through the Huzzah Conservation Area. We met at the trailhead near the Meramec River just south of Onondaga Cave State Park on the south side of the river then shuttled the group to our southern starting point on the Bass Canoe Rental road off of Highway 8. We found ample parking at the junction of Little Narrows Road and the Bass Canoe Rental road (Butts Road??). Our first task though was to find the trail which is marked on the topo sheets but no one was really sure where it was located. We new about where it started and the new powerline cut nearby should have crossed the trail if the trail existed. We used the maps we had and located our starting point but never located the trail so we started bushwacking in the right direction (NNW). Eventually we started finding orange flagging along the route of where the trail should be but finally came to the conclusion that this piece of trail was never actually built. Eventually we crossed some of the dirt roads shown on the map and used them to get back out to Little Narrows Road near the junction with The Barn road. This road took us on into the Huzzah CA as we reached The Narrows - a point on the road where you can look to the east and see the Courtois Creek Valley and look to the west and see the Huzzah Creek Valley. We started picking up some brown OT markers here at The Narrows but the markers were far and few between and the turn we needed to make to follow the trail as shown on the map past Bat Cave was not marked well enough so we ended up following the main dirt road (which took us near Fault Cave and by the ruins of an old dwelling) which did take us to the Courtois just across from the Huzzah CA campground. Here we forded the stream and picked up the trail on the north side of the river as it goes right through the campground and is marked well there. From here the trail followed upstream along the Courtois at the bottom of the bluff before switchbacking up to a high point and continuing on north through the Huzzah CA. The trail winds along along ridgetops going north, passes through an old early 1900s iron mining pit, past several food plots for wildlife, and one great vista, before heading back into the Meramec River Valley and the trailhead.

SOUTH HALF of COURTOIS SECTION12Oct05 - 13.5 miles long from Berryman Trail (.3 miles west of Berryman Campground) to Hazel Creek Campground at the North End of the Trace Creek Section. This section opened on 4 November 2000. The Berryman Trail will be considered part of the overall "Courtois Section" once the entire Courtois is completed. The opening of this section also means that mountain bikers can ride from the Berryman Trail all the way south to Council Bluff Lake with about 55 miles of continuous, one way, biking trail counting the entire Berryman Trail Loop and the loop around Council Bluff Lake using the spur off the OT. The map of this section is a little rough yet and not in brochure format so if you call be sure and ask for a copy of this map specifically. There is a place that backpackers are using to camp overnight along this route. It is called Timberlane Lake and sits right on the Courtois Creek. To get there you have to hike west on Forest Road 2514 about 1-1/4 miles from where the trail crosses FR 2514. For directions from Hwy 8 go to this location on the web: Timberlane Lake - Potosi Ranger District. The lake covers 18 acres and is stocked with bass, sunfish, and catfish. Access to the Courtois Creek is about 100 yards below the dam, the only USFS access to the Courtois. Notes from Danny McMurphy: On Friday, 8 February 2002, four of us hiked the south end of the South Courtois Section of the OT by starting at Timberline (Timberlane) Lake 1-1/2 miles or so west of the trail where it crosses Forest Road 2514 and continuing on to the Hazel Creek Campground where the South Courtois Section and the Trace Creek Section join. The trail is essentially all in the trees and is moderate as far as hiking ability goes. Our steepest incline was actually off trail as we hiked back up the road from Timerlane Lake. The parking lot at the Lake was full of empty 22 and shotgun casings so carefull with overnight parking there. The area around the lake is pretty steep but there appeared to be potential campsites along the north side of the lake towards the dam. We followed the road back to where the trail crossing was and continued on down the trail from there. We had seen some wild turkeys when shuttling vehicles and the trail was marked by turkey scratchings the entire way. The trail stays in the woods almost exclusively. The area most interesting though was crossing Snapps Creek about 1-1/2 miles north of the Hazel Creek Campground. Snapps Creek was flowing good and there were some springs and seeps near the trail crossing and plenty of flat areas for setting up a tent as well. This was the only 'reliable' water source that we came across.

TRACE CREEK SECTION12 DEC 02 - GO HERE FOR MORE INFO!

MIDDLE FORK SECTION9 Feb 06 - GO HERE FOR MORE INFO!(This section was completed on Saturday, 5 November 2005) - A formal opening will be scheduled for the weekend of April 29,'06.

KARKAGHNE SECTION19 Oct 05 - GO HERE FOR MORE INFO!

BLAIR CREEK SECTION21 Feb 06 - GO HERE FOR MORE INFO!

CURRENT RIVER SECTION12 Oct 05 - GO HERE FOR MORE INFO!

BETWEEN THE RIVERS SECTION18 Feb 03 - GO HERE FOR MORE INFO!

ELEVEN POINT RIVER SECTION19 Nov 02 - GO HERE FOR MORE INFO!

NORTH FORK RIVER SECTION - The North Fork section of the OT incorporates a 14-mile portion of the Ridge Runner trail between the Blue Hole Trailhead and the North Fork Trail to the south and 10 miles of new trail going east from the Blue Hole Trailhead to Pomona. There is no OT brochure or official map as yet but you can contact the USFS office in Ava for a photocopy of the new 10-mile section and pick up a Ridge Runner Trail brochure to have map coverage of this section. Parts of this trail may be overgrown already so be sure and have your map and compass with you! This section is not connected to the Eleven Point Section yet and is the most southern portion of the trail that is open at this point in time. 24May03 From John Roth, President, Ozark Trail Association: Yesterday (May 22, 2003) I ventured to the North Fork section of the OT with Kale Horton of the US Forest Service. Kale is one of two new Wilderness/Trails people added to the Mark Twain National Forest in January (the other held by Wilmer Scott). This was my first trip on the North Fork, and the first time I've met Kale. We hiked the eastern section of the North Fork from Highway AP near Blue Hole to the Pomona trailhead. Kale is great; the trail is not. Please avoid this 12-mile section at the current time.

3Apr08 - As of mid-March 2008, the Pomona Trail Head to Hwy AP Trail Head stretch is open, signed, and ready for hikers! This 8+ mile piece of the trail follows generally along the path of Dry Creek and occasionally rises to the ridge above the creek, affording some nice views of the creek and valley below. Several stands of magnificent shortleaf pines greet the hiker along the way. Lovers Leap, in the southern half of this portion, is a scenic area overlooking a blue heron rookery. Dry Creek often lives up to its name and is dry, though in rainy season can be full and flowing. In some areas, the trail has been routed onto old logging or double track roads. Anticipate road walking where this has occurred. This portion of trail traverses a largely oak and hickory hardwood forest, interspersed with several stands of magnificent shortleaf pines. The trail follows generally along the path of Dry Creek, and rises to the ridge above the creek on occasion, affording some nice views of the creek and valley below. Lovers Leap, in the southern half of this portion, is a scenic area overlooking a blue heron rookery. In earlier times, when the trail was difficult to follow, hikers relied on rock cairns to find their way. Look for these cairns along the way; they’re still there. Dry Creek often lives up to its name and is dry, though in rainy seasons it came be full and flowing. In some areas, the trail has been routed onto old logging or double track roads. Anticipate road walking where this has occurred.

TAUM SAUK SECTION12Sep06 - GO HERE FOR MORE INFO!

MARBLE CREEK SECTION - Only 8 of the 21-miles is currently completed. The Northern terminus will eventually be at the Southern terminus of the Taum Sauk Section and the Southern terminus will join the Wappapello Lake Section at Sam A. Baker State Park. This section is open between the Marble Creek Campground and Crane Lake.12Dec02 - I hiked this section on 3Dec02. We hiked the trail around the southern side of Crane Lake as shown on the map. There is a crossing below the dam making two loops of trail, one around the lake and then an eastern loop east of the dam. The OT markers follow the trail on the north side of Crane Lake and the north side of the east loop until you get through the meadows in Reader Hollow. At the loop junction in Reader Hollow (the wooden sign here had been tore down) the trail goes north up a side hollow then heads east up and over a ridge and down to a main gravel road (Medium Road?) that connects to Hwy E two-miles to the north. From here the trail continues east and up and over another ridge and down into an unnamed hollow where there is logging taking place along the trail. From this point for about a mile the trail doesn't match the map and the trail signs are sparse when you get to the ridge top in the northeast corner of Section 35. The trail actually follows the old logging road for about a 1/2 mile here so stay on the road until you see signs to leave the road off to the east. As the trail passes through Section 25 there is quite a bit of windfall over the trail, especially before getting to the gravel forest road (trail on the map). There is also some on the north side of this forest road. Trail markers are really sparse along this last 2-3 miles of trail but the trail was easy to follow.

ST. FRANCIS (FRANCOIS?) SECTION29Oct03 - This is a proposed section that will run from Marble Creek to Sam A. Baker State Park. The section was named at the Ozark Trail Council meeting held on 25 October 2003.

WAPPAPELLO LAKE SECTION 15Dec06 - GO HERE FOR MORE INFO!

VICTORY SECTION - 24-miles of the approximately 30 miles is completed. It will run from Hwy 172, the Southern terminus of the Lake Wappapello Section, to Ellsinore, Missouri. From Ellsinore the OT will eventually link back to the 'Main Trail' at the junction of the Current River and the Between the Rivers Sections. IMPORTANT16Nov04 - There is still some tornado damge to be cleaned up west of the Wrangler Trailhead. Here are some notes from a driving visit I made to the area on 12 November 04: The Brushy Creek Trailhead of the Victory Section (current western terminus of this section). It is just on the SW side of Brushy Creek on Hwy V north of Ellsinore and has plenty of areas for primitive camping. There is no sign by the road so it is easy to drive by the first time. There is a new billboard there but nothing on it at this time - what was on it was ripped up and laying on the ground. There was no sign identifying it as the Brushy Creek Trailhead either but I could see the OT signs on the trail across the road heading off to the east. From there I drove over to the Uplika Pond trailhead using the backroads from Ellsinore (via Hwy A). There is plenty of primitive camping at this trailhead as well and there is a big sign marking the site. This trailhead has a short connector to the main trail. I drove south from here to the 'Walton Chapel' trailhead (as it shows on the Victory Section brochure/map). I found the trailhead just fine but it is NOT called the "Walton Chapel" trailhead. The sign calls it the "Brush Arbor" Trailhead and there is a big sign on the road. There is plenty of primitive camping area at this trailhead as well and a nearby creek that water might be available in for part of the year. The only drawback that I saw here were nearby houses just south across the creek. I didn't have time to get to the Wrangler Trailhead, the nearest trailhead to Hwy 67, but Margo had been there in the last two weeks and has reported that going west from this trailhead to the next gravel road, a little over a mile, there is still considerable tornado damage and that the trail is virtually impassible at this time.