Grand Gulf State Park, Oregon County, 159 acres

Description. Grand Gulf State Park sits atop the Central Plateau Region of Missouri, an area the early explorer Henry Rowe Schoolcraft called “high oak prairies.” It is within the ecoregion known as the Howell-Oregon Counties Oak Woodland Dissected Plain. Centuries ago this region was a mosaic of prairie, savanna, and open oak woodlands.

Known as Missouri's Little Grand Canyon the geological features of this site demonstrate the formation and subsequent collapse of a cave system. The result is a canyon whose nearly vertical walls reach 100 feet or more and whose length reaches 3/4-mile long. The canyon here is deeper than it is wide. The stream, Bussell Branch, drains more than 20 square miles before dropping into the chasm and flows beneath a 200-foot long natural bridge. The natural bridge is the only piece of the cave roof which remains. It connects two loop trails and serves as the path for park visitors to cross the canyon. Bussell Branch continues through the canyon before entering the mouth of the cave which has been blocked by accumulating debris. There the water slowly passes underground before exiting again at Mammoth Spring, about three miles away in Arkansas.

A short, interpretive loop trail including overlooks guides visitors above the gulf, a stairway carries park visitors to the bottom of the gulf. A second loop trail (0.8 mile) across the canyon leads through an interesting old-aged forest whose dominant species in the canopy includes Spanish oak (Quercus falcata), more common in the southeastern United States, it is also found across the lower southern and southeastern counties in Missouri. The word “falcata” refers to the blade of a sword that pitches forward, concave near the hilt but convex near the point. This tree can be easily seen in its natural habitat in Missouri at Grand Gulf and Eleven Point state parks.

The L-A-D Foundation donates its lease of 159 acres of land to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MoDNR) to manage as a unit of the Missouri State Park System. MoDNR acquired an additional 150 acres. Grand Gulf State Park is a day-use park and includes several small picnic sites, an interpretive kiosk, several other interpretive panels, and pit latrine toilets.