The "lens" at Greer Spring

Go 18 miles south of Winona on Highway 19. Parking is on the west side of the road. Backpack down the ravine--but leave the cigs and chewing gum in the car.

Irish Wilderness Notebook:

The Mesmeric Eye of Greer Spring

Greer Spring was purchased by the U.S. Forest Service in 1993 and was strictly protected by its private owner before that. Locals recall how she scrutinized each visitor, allowing nothing to be taken in, not even chewing gum. After a mile and a half trail descending into the gorge below, we see what all the fuss was about.

An overlook bluff provides a most paradisical view---- a trickling stream at the base of a watercressed valley invigorated by the bizarre antics of a multiple creekbed boil.

Three underground rivers converge here, forming an awe-inspiring caulifloweresque plum pouring 222 million gallons of icy water into a valley gorge that flows one mile to the Eleven Point River confluence, more than doubling the river's width.

The spring boil creates an enormous, constantly-shifting astigmatic lens of deep ephemeral aqua-marine. We stand speechless, gazing into what appears an endless depth. The surface of the plum remains contiguous, mixing little with the air, but changing in fast motion, making it nearly impossible to gaze into the spring's eye for more than a moment at a time. A sub-sonic rumble is felt through our feet as the spring's enormous force is transfered through the dolomite bedrock.

Prarie dogbane is sprinkled atop the cliff on the other side of what is said to be the second largest spring in Missouri. The biggest one is Big Spring, which pumps out a few more gallons of water per day in a langorously oozing fashion completely unlike this astonishing site.

— Rev. Dwight Frizzell