Lane Spring Recreation Area
A rocky home
in the Ozarks

photo by Jeff Joiner

Whether we like it or not Missouri is home to many species of snakes, both poisonous and not. And just about anywhere you find a rock outcropping you'll likely find a few snakes hanging out.

In Lane Spring Recreation Area, in the Mark Twain National Forest south of Rolla, is an unusual jumble of rocks known as the Blossom Rock which is believed to be the remnants of a cave collapse. The Blossom Rock is an excellent spot to find snakes including the little fellow at right, a 6-inch-long northern red bellied snake.

The rock jumble is also home to multi-colored lichens that make the sandstone a mosaic of shapes and colors.

Lane Spring Recreation Area is 12 miles south of Rolla on the Little Piney River and includes a campground, picnic areas and hiking trails including the Blossom Rock Trail which takes visitors up the side of a steep ridge from the campground to the unusual outcropping.

For information about Lane Spring and facilites found there visit the U.S. Forest Service office in Rolla at 401 Fairgrounds Road, Rolla, MO 65401; or call (573) 364-4621. You can also find information about the Mark Twain National Forest by checking online.