New superintendent Busekrus making mark on park
By Sheila Harris sheilaharrisads@gmail.com
With Opening Day fast approaching, staff at Roaring River State Park is making progress to welcome thousands of guests over the trout fishing and camping season, completing numerous upgrades and adding activities for visitors to enjoy.
Infrastructure
Long-awaited upgrades to the lower loop of Campground 3 are now complete, and reservations are being accepted, said Mike Busekrus, Roaring River State Park superintendent. The revamped sites now feature full hook-ups: water, sewer and 50-amp electricity. Reservations may be made at mostateparks.com.
Additional sewer lines call for an upgrade to the wastewater system, a project now underway in the park, thanks to American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
“Most park visitors probably don’t think about what happens when they flush the toilets here at the park,” Busekrus said. “[But, because] we handle all of our own wastewater, this infrastructure project will ensure we can keep our wastewater system operating for decades to come.”
The ambitious wastewater project includes the rebuilding of lift stations and the installation of a new wastewater line beneath the river.
“We have begun the process of planting trees in the upgraded section of Campground 3,” Busekrus said. “Several tree saplings have been transplanted from the pollinator area into the newly constructed loop.”
In another improvement, half of the showers in campground 3 have been remodeled, Busekrus said.
“Showers have been tiled and new shower seats installed, along with robe hooks and stainless-steel shelving,” Busekrus said. “Visitors can expect the remaining showers to be finished later this spring.”
In addition to the completed improvements at Campground 3, upgrades are underway at Campground 2.
“Three sites in Campground 2 are in the process of being updated with new concrete camper pads to help address drainage issues,” Busekrus said.
More Campground 2 site upgrades will follow in the coming years, he added.
Other infrastructure improvements include new composite, cedar-shake roofs for the staff quarters at Camp Smokey and for the park office, plus a new metal roof for the maintenance building.
In the Ozark Chinquapin Nature Center, upgrades — including new flooring, new lighting and a new ceiling — will provide space for future new exhibits and displays.
New and updated interpretive panels for the park’s popular historic sites will also be installed in upcoming weeks, Busekrus said.
The site of the one-room Roaring River schoolhouse near Campground 1 will receive one of the new interpretive panels. The school building has remained where it was constructed, since 1912, the year the Roaring River School District decided it needed a new building. In later years, the district merged with Eagle Rock, then Cassville.
The re-opening of the one-room schoolhouse has been a labor of love for Lauren Akin, Roaring River State Park seasonal naturalist and natural resources student at Missouri State University. By using the research of former seasonal naturalist, Vada Jenkins (who died in 2017), plus more of her own, Akin has created visual displays depicting the history of the school. The building will be open for public viewing from 10-11 a.m. on Saturdays throughout the summer season.
New interpretive panels will also be on display at the Deer Leap trailhead, near the walkway to the spring, and at the pollinator garden, near Campground 3.
Another new interpretive panel will grace Russell Cemetery, where the graves of early Roaring River pioneers, Milo and Eunice “Nicey” Russell, are located. Fenced and maintained by state park personnel, Russell Cemetery is located on land adjacent to where the couple’s house once stood, on what is now state park property. According to history, the Russells were buried in the garden of their homestead. It’s said that Milo Russell, a Confederate sympathizer (as were most residents of the valley), rode a calf to a cave above his homestead, where he escaped detection from the passing Union troops and bushwhackers that plundered the area during the Civil War.
For hiking enthusiasts, the trailhead for Fire Tower Trail will be moved from its current location on the south side of Highway F, to a spot near the Equestrian Barn on the north side of Highway F. A new trailhead will be constructed. The move, Busekrussaid, will eliminate the need for hikers to cross the highway.
Americorps and NCCC crews assisted with glade restoration and fire line work across the park, Busekrus added.
“Work this past year totaled more than six miles of fire lines and six-and-a-half acres of glade restoration, as well as several prescribed fires, including one at the pollinator area of Campground 3,” he said.
Plans are in the works to replace trees in the park that were lost throughout the park from emerald ash bore and storm damage.
“The seeds of oak, dogwood and redbud trees were collected in the park this past fall,” Busekrus said. “They will be grown out at Forest Keeling nursery in Louisiana, Mo., as part of a partnership program, and then be planted here as saplings.”
In an announcement the park hopes will please its youngest visitors, Busekrus said new swing sets for the playground in the Zone 1 area have arrived and will be installed as soon as possible. The previous vintage swings were destroyed by the May 2024 windstorm.
Weather alerts
Because Roaring River State Park is located in an area susceptible to flash-flooding, state-of-the-art storm sirens, which will give both audible and visual warnings, have been installed.
“The park is also partnering with the Global Resilience Institute at Northeastern University to help us better understand flooding in the park, aided by the use of the NOAA national water model,” Mike Busekrus said.
Inaugural Learn 2 Trout Fish program to happen March 15
The first ever Learn 2 Trout Fish program will be held at Roaring River on March 15. This program will introduce visitors of all ages to the sport of trout fishing. Space is limited. Registration information can be found on mostateparks.com or on the official Roaring River Facebook page with the red “Making Missouri Memories” icon and the blue verified check mark.
Volunteers welcome
Volunteers are needed and welcome to assist with maintaining the native plant garden at the Ozark Chinquapin Nature Center. Interested volunteers may reach out to Anna Skalicky, at the nature center, for information regarding dates and times.
Concessions, Campground 1 now open year-round
Concessions at Roaring River State Park — now in the hands of Roaring River Adventures, a subsidiary of ExplorUS — are now open year-round. The restaurant and the new sports bar in the Emory Melton Inn and Conference Center, as well as the park store, will now serve guests on weekends and for special holiday events throughout the winter season.
The sports bar features a new “Sports on The Fly” menu, for patrons who want to catch up on the latest games while getting a little fishing in on the side.
Nature center programs and more
Under the direction of Anna Skalicky, park naturalist, the Ozark Chinquapin Nature Center has educational fun in store for visitors to Roaring River State Park.
Offerings include:
• Earth Day: Saturday, April 19, 2025
• Kids’ Free Fishing Days: Saturday, May 17 and August 16.
• H2Olympics, July 12, 2025, 10 a.m.
• Women in Nature
• Schoolhouse programs
• Evening amphitheater programs
• Hatchery tours
• Free Fishing Weekend: June 7, 2025
• Veterans’ Free Fishing Day: September 20, 2025
• Geminid meteor shower watch party
• Eagle Days: January, February
• First Day Hikes: January 1
• Christmas Candlelight Stroll: To be announced
In perhaps one of the most popular new events of the year, the Christmas Candlelight Stroll brought some 500 visitors to the river on the evening of Dec. 21, where they strolled alongside the river and on pathways illuminated by staged lights.
The lower level of the historic CCC Lodge – constructed by the Civilian Conservation Crew in the 1930s – is now the cozy site of many park activities.
“We just cleaned it out, rearranged some furniture and brought in tables and chairs,” Busekrus said.
Formerly the superintendent at the Nathan and Olive Boone Homestead, near Ash Grove, Busekrus brought with him ideas for Christmas activities.
“I went for a walk in nature to envision what types of Christmas decorations the pioneers would have used,” he said.
Busekrus’ wanderings led him to the gathering of cedar boughs and other natural elements which he fashioned into wreaths and door sprays. He brought the craft idea with him to Roaring River State Park, where guests were invited into the revamped and homey CCC Lodge to learn how to make the old-fashioned décor items during a Cassville Area Chamber of Commerce Christmas Open House.
Another new event, “Fly Tying and Coffee,” will be held on the lower level of the CCC Lodge the third Saturday of every month, from 10 a.m. to noon.
