The Bridges of Madison County... Missouri
Posted Wednesday, September 3, 2008 @ 11:52 am

Missouri's Madison County doesn't have any covered bridges.

Or Clint Eastwood.

But the Fredericktown area does have some of best mountain scenery in Missouri, with a few interesting bridges to explore.

Route E over St. Francis River

One of the best scenic byways in Missouri is Route E between Arcadia Valley and Fredericktown. Surrounded by the rugged St. Francois Mountains, it's almost possible to squint your eyes and pretend this is Colorado.

West of Fredericktown, Route E crosses the St. Francis River at a massive steel truss bridge that offers an excellent view of the river.

Last week, the national news carried a curious story out of California about a small town fighting a battle with the government to change the spelling of the name from Smartville to Smartsville.

In my previous blogs, I've described two scenic places in the Mark Twain National Forest west of Van Buren: Falling Spring and Cupola Pond. This area also features another attraction: Greer Spring, the second largest spring in Missouri.

Cupola Pond in Ripley County might be one of the most bizarre natural places in Missouri. Somehow, a piece of "Swampeast Missouri" has been transplanted into the Ozark Mountains.

What happens when you combine a spring and a waterfall? You get this:

My earlier suggestion to convert the old Iron Mountain railroad tracks into a hiking/biking trail generated several positive comments, both on and off the blog.

Today's newspaper brings good news and bad news.

Heavy rains in northern Missouri almost caused the destruction of the Union Covered Bridge in Monroe County over the weekend. After 6-10 inches of rain Read more >> | Browse comments

We all know the feeling. You tell somebody from out of state that you're from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and they will ask in a snarky tone, "I thought Missouri was landlocked" or "Shouldn't a cape be next to the ocean?" or even "Your city fathers must have been drunk."

Here are the answers to my earlier quiz about the 200th anniversary of the incorporation of Cape Girardeau.

The city of Cape Girardeau is on the verge of entering its third century. On July 23, 1808, a petition was submitted to incorporate the town and create the first municipal government.