Flamm City River Access is in the suburbs of Arnold, where several creeks meet the Meramec River, just above where the Meramec meets the Mississippi River.
Brian Waldrop of Stream Team 211 was out in the rain yesterday (Brian *likes* rain, because without rain there would be no streams, and therefore, no Stream Teams) and [...]

By Jo Schaper
There are two kinds of autumn days; the brilliant, almost garish sunny days when the sunlight pouring down out of a glassy blue sky about blinds the senses. The fall trees, with leaves already thinning and turning loose, break out in a sheer riot of clashing color
We’ve had enough of those this fall. [...]

Vilander Bluff offers cave to explore, scenic view

By Emery Styron
A pair of normally hardworking, middle-aged newspaper guys sneaked out for a fall day of loafing on the Meramec River today and found it much to their liking

Don Corrigan and I met at the crack of 9 a.m. to fortify ourselves with ham, eggs, biscuits, gravy, [...]

By Jo Schaper
On August 5, Eugene, brother Bill and I floated from Pacific Palisades to the Allenton access. A two inch rain the night before had muddied and freshened the river to about “normal” summer levels. A local teen-outreach agency, Camp Wyman, sponsored a “Paddle Poker Run” on this stretch of river [...]

by Jo Schaper
In 1967, measurements had been taken of the upper Meramec for its brand-new dam. The lower Meramec, once the destination of choice for weekend parties, anglers, horse riders and boaters threatened to become the big southern brother to the concreted and sewage stinking River Des Peres
William Schock and Al Foster decided enough was [...]

By Jo Schaper
If St. Louis County successfully shuts down county parks from Meramec River mile marker 162 to 180 (West Tyson Park, Sherman Beach, Lone Elk, Simpson, Unger and George Winter parks) one of the shining success stories of riparian management will have gone for naught.
Ask Brittany Barton, project manager of the Open [...]

Commentary By Jo Schaper
(Here’s a little historical backstory why targeting St. Louis county parks along the Meramec for possible closure may not be a good idea. These thoughts are Jo’s alone…)
The lower Meramec River, from about the Pacific Palisades to its confluence with the Mississippi south of the modern town of Arnold, has been a [...]

“Huzzah!” yelled the cannonneer in a clean, dark blue Union uniform. The big gun roard at his side, fire and smoke billowing from the throat. The sting of freshly burned powder smarted in my eyes, from about 40 feet away.
I looked down at the lady in the lawn chair in front of me, [...]

Floods are nothing new, as anyone familiar with the Bible story of Noah will tell you. Twenty-five years ago, high water took one southeast Missouri landmark but spared another. With plans for an intentional flood of the Meramec River valley blocked after a bitter public battle, property acquired for the failed lake project went up [...]

I had plenty of opportunity to experience southeast Missouri’s extreme weather on Tuesday and Wednesday on my monthly newsstand/ad sales route. Photos from Van Buren, Poplar Bluff, Lake Wappapello, Sam A. Baker State Park, Clearwater Lake, Black River, Bellview Valley and Valley Park are posted below. Pictures of the Big River and Jacks Fork were [...]