County of trail: Carter County
Location of trail:MO Z, Big Spring site, off the parking lot, Big Spring National Park
Markers provided by the National Park Service
Trailhead Sign text:
A Rich Habitat
Upland and lowland species meet in the rich habitat along the Slough Trail
Before being resurfaced, this easy trail was part of the old road tat led fro the town of Van Buren to Big Spring. The trail begins on the floodplain and parallels the slough, an ancient channel of the Current River. It then skirts the upland slopes, meandering through a mature bottomland forest.
Because of thick vegetation, glimpsing wild animals can present a challenge. Muskrats, fox and white-tailed deer frequent the area.
Your reward for a quiet trek down the path could be the sight of aquatic birds like colorful wood ducks and great blue herons or raptors like red-shouldered hawks and , in winter, bald eagles.
Listen for the buzzy song of Cerulean Warblers, which nest high in the tops of ash, bur oak, and sycamores.
Starting in spring, fragrant wildflowers thrive in the deep, fertile alluvial soil. In the fall, wild animals feed on acorns, hickory nuts, walnuts, wild grapes, and pawpaws.
Our Native Bamboo
The Slough Trail offers you the rare chance to walk through a canebrake, a plant community that was once a common part of the frontier landscape.
Giant cane, a species of native bamboo, grows in stands called canebrakes. The largest occur in floodplains that are frequently inundated.
When Europeans first explored the regions along Missouri Rivers, they described thick canebrakes, which covered the banks.
Early settlers favored locating near canebrakes. They used cane for making such everyday articles as fishing poles, looms, toys, musical instrument, and turkey calls. Their livestock used cane as forage. Land clearing and grazing greatly reduced this bottomland plant.
Reduction of large areas of cane habitat led to the decline of Swainson's Warblers because these shy birds nest in canebrakes.