Ridge Runner Trail - Hiking trail near Willow Springs, Missouri, United States - Description

The Ridge Runner Trail, a National Recreation Trail, is 22 miles long and extends from Noblett Lake in the north to the North Fork Recreation Area in the south. The trail leads you through a part of the Missouri Ozarks known for its beauty and limestone karst topography. The landscape varies from gently rolling to very steep terrain with rock outcrops and bluffs. Vegetation along the trail is diverse and includes oak-hickory, short leaf pine, and bottomland forests. Remnant prairie plants can be seen, a reminder of a time when repeated wildfire burned the Ozarks allowing fingers of prairie to extend into the woods.

The northern trailhead of the Ridge Runner Trail begins near Sugar Hill Campground in Noblett Recreation Area. The trail goes around the campground, through Clearwater Picnic Area, and around the 27-acre Noblett Lake in an 8-mile loop or the moderately rated main trail heads 22 miles south to North Fork Recreation Area. The trail does not have bridges – plan for wading across the streams, and be especially careful during high water. Practice "leave no trace" techniques while traveling.

From Willow Springs, MO, take Hwy 76 west 12 miles to Hwy 181. Take Hwy 181 south to Hwy AP; go south on AP for 3 miles to the Noblett Lake Recreation Area.

From West Plains, MO take State Rt. CC west 16 miles to the North Fork Recreation Area.