St. Francis/Little St. Francis River
Where do I even start?
This river is both incredibly beautiful and incredibly dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. The river starts at both Buford Mountain and Elephant Rocks State Park and features many different shut-ins along it's way through the St. Francois Mountains. This is the only classified whitewater river in Missouri, despite the fact that both the Black River and Castor River feature class III+ rapids. During the rainy season this river is very dangerous to float. The Missouri Whitewater Championships are held at Millstream Gardens every spring. It is mostly fed by rain water and has a lack of springs, a rarity in the Ozark region. I HIGHLY advise against attempting to float the upper section of this river unless you have a really good understanding of what dangers are ahead.