Catawissa Conservation Area shows the Meramec floodplain after gravel mining

Catawissa Conservation Area is a compact way to understand Franklin County’s Meramec edge. MDC places it in eastern Franklin County between Pacific and Catawissa and says the area was an old gravel-mining operation in the Meramec River floodplain.

That history explains why the public access is not a simple park-lake story. MDC says the access goal was year-round Meramec River access, but sediment from flooding changed it to seasonal access when river water is high enough to connect the gravel-pit lake with the river.

Check MDC before assuming river access is available. An old mining pit, repeated floods, and Meramec sediment all shape whether the gravel-pit lake connects to the river.