Big Sugar Creek is a 47-mile-long (76 km) waterway in the Ozark Mountains of southwest Missouri. The creek starts near the Arkansas state line. Only about 24 miles (39 km) of this is floatable during the spring and summer. The gradient is near 9 feet per mile from Highway 90 to Cyclone and 6 feet per mile to Pineville, Missouri. Big Sugar starts from three tributaries. One flows north from Garfield, Arkansas, and one, west near Seligman, Missouri, and another, south from Washburn, Missouri. Big Sugar flows west down Sugar Creek Valley, where it is joined by Otter Creek, from Pea Ridge, Arkansas. Flowing north for two or three miles (5 km), Big Sugar is joined by White Oak. Next is the community of Mountain. From Mountain, Big Sugar flows west for two miles (3 km) where Pine Creek joins.
Flowing west, Big Sugar goes through the town of Powell, Missouri. Bentonville Hollow and Creek join Big Sugar at Highway E Bridge. One mile past Powell, Mikes Creek enters from the east. Further down the creek stands the famous Bee Bluff, known for its high cliffs which tower against the side of the mountain. Bee Bluff Hole is known for its deep water and large fish. At the end of Highway V, is Little Cedar Hollow on the right, followed by the Horseshoe Bend just above the town of Cyclone. Next is the town of Cyclone. Big Sugar then splits, the old channel flows to the right and heads into the town of Pineville. The left channel meets Little Sugar Creek, forming Elk River (Oklahoma).
Starting near Powell in McDonald County, Missouri and continuing for approximately 25 miles (40 km) and then ending at the creeks confluence with Little Sugar Creek, is a stretch popular for canoeing and kayaking. In addition to being an absolutely gorgeous place to paddle a canoe, kayak or raft, Big Sugar is also noted for its excellent fishing opportunities. All around the creek is a natural area that is ideal for camping and other outdoors recreation activities.
A recent improvement to the area is the Big Sugar Creek State Park, in which about 80 percent of its more than 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) have been designated as the Elk River Breaks Natural Area, and is protected as a perpetual, undeveloped area that features a wide diversity of wildlife, birds, plants and forests. This area of the state has a distinct natural history, featuring many plants and animals that are less common or absent in other areas of Missouri. The park also offers a three-mile (5 km) hiking trail.
Read more about Big Sugar Creek: History of The Area, Communities Along Big Sugar, Seasons
Famous quotes containing the words big, sugar and/or creek:
“I don’t like violence, Tom. I’m a businessman. Blood is a big expense.”
—Mario Puzo (b. 1920)
“They give us a pair of cloth shorts twice a year for all our clothing. When we work in the sugar mills and catch our finger in the millstone, they cut off our hand; when we try to run away, they cut off our leg: both things have happened to me. It is at this price that you eat sugar in Europe.”
—Voltaire [François Marie Arouet] (1694–1778)
“It might be seen by what tenure men held the earth. The smallest stream is mediterranean sea, a smaller ocean creek within the land, where men may steer by their farm bounds and cottage lights. For my own part, but for the geographers, I should hardly have known how large a portion of our globe is water, my life has chiefly passed within so deep a cove. Yet I have sometimes ventured as far as to the mouth of my Snug Harbor.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)