Previously Missouri Outdoors
Conor Watkins'

Ozark Mountain Experience


The Beautiful Big Piney River As Viewed From The
Devil's Elbow Bridge.

These are articles written to show students at the University of Missouri - Rolla the advantages of their surroundings and give ideas fo outdoor recreation.  The articles highlight various outdoor areas and activities in and near Missouri and focus on the sights, activities, history, and geology (if applicable) of the areas listed.  All areas highlighted offer something interesting and unique.  I have not been bored, as many people are, at UMR.  There are plenty of things to do and sights to see.  More articles will be added as time permits so check for updates once a month or so.  Most articles highlight locations in the Ozarks but others concentrate on the border area closer to St. Louis.  I am originally from that area and know more about it than other Ozark border regions.  If anyone has a must see location in Missouri or nearby, please let me know.

The name of this website has changed from Missouri Outdoors to Conor Watkins' Ozark Mountain Experience to more reflect the topics and places discussed in these articles.  The old articles at Missouri Outdoors are gradually being transferred to this page as time permits.  Improvements include a better appearance, pictures within the articles, maps, and revision of some older articles.  For now, visit these articles at http://web.umr.edu/~cwatkin/mooutdoors.

NEWS:
The layout of this site is changing.  Subdivided categories, a more condensed layout,
and pictorial thumbnails should make the site easier to navigate.  The old layout simply
listed articles as they were written in chronological order and didn't organize them by
topic or region.  I will provide a link to the old layout as an option if there is reader
interest.

Click any of the pictures or links below to begin browsing the articles.

Outdoor Related Discussion Groups


Missouri's Outdoor Resources,
a discussion list relating to outdoor Missouri.
Click here to subscribe to mo_outdoor_resources


Caves of Missouri,
a discussion list relating to caves/karst in Missouri.
Click here to subscribe to Caves of Missouri


Tom Beveridge's Ozarks
-These excellent articles written by Tom Beveridge, a former State Geologist of Missouri and Department head in Geological Engineering at MSM-UMR, are composed into a book and are similar to my own.  They were written for a local newspaper before I was even born and concentrate on many similar topics.  I found out about this publication a while after I started writing and found some of the similarities creepy.  After doing additional research, I discovered that Tom Beveridge's life had many commonalities to my own.
Thanks to Mary Beveridge (daughter) for permission to reprint online.

Possible Future Articles
-KATY Trail
-Castlewood State Park, Sherman, and Glencoe
-Onondaga State Park/Vilander Bluffs
-Huzzah Conservation Area
-Montauk State Park
-History of the USGS in Rolla
-Cahokia Mounds (Illinois)
-Hawn State Park
-Paddy Creek Wilderness Area/Big Piney Trail
-Shaw Nature Reserve (previously Shaw’s Arboretum)
-Precursors to Route 66
-The Ozark Trail
-St. Louis' Forest Park
-1904 St. Louis World's Fair
-The St. Louis Zoo
-Rockbridge State Park And Devil's Icebox
-Missouri Mining
-MSM-UMR's Norwood Hall And Its Unique History
More to come...


The Road Not Taken
Scenic road parallel to the Big Piney River north of Devil's Elbow.

The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

These articles and pictures may be reprinted with my permission.  For more information, to report errors or other problems, to suggest a topic for a future article, or for permission to use these articles, feel free to send me mail at cwatkin@umr.edu.

(C) 2006 By Conor Watkins