Spring Creek Gap puts Vichy glades on the Maries County map

Spring Creek Gap Conservation Area makes Maries County feel specific. MDC places it about 10 miles southeast of Vienna and 14 miles north of Rolla on Old Highway 63. That gives the note a local shape right away: Vienna, Vichy, Rolla, and an older road line through the hills.

The deeper story is in the land itself. The area began with a 1948 purchase of a 280-acre parcel known as the Vichy Towersite, then grew through later acquisitions. The landscape includes forests, woodlands, steep slopes, old fields, Cedar Creek, and dolomite glades. In 1982, 40 acres became a natural area. In 2007, that natural area was expanded and named Spring Creek Gap Glades Natural Area.

The memorable piece is that the open, rocky glades are not empty ground. MDC lists yellow coneflowers, silky asters, and blazing stars among the colorful plants growing on the natural area. Those names tell you this is a true glade place, not a generic patch of Ozark timber.

For a visitor or local reader, this explains why the Vienna, Vichy, and Old 63 corner of the county has a public-land identity. Check MDC before going, especially because bicycles are not allowed on service roads where they pass through the designated natural area.