Cardareva Bluff

Points of Interest:

• Take a float along the scenic Current River and marvel at the bluff top 500 feet above you.
• Hike along the top of the bluff looking down to the scenic river valley below.
• Fish for smallmouth bass, goggle-eye, walleye, and suckers along the Current River.

Natural Features Description:

This natural area contains a scenic stretch of the Current River and is a part of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. The Current River is of global conservation significance according to The Nature Conservancy and provides habitat for 35 global priority aquatic species of which an outstanding 25 have their best or only populations on Earth in this river. The Nature Conservancy considers the Current River and its watershed to be the crown jewel of Missouri’s native landscapes.

In addition to game fish the river here supports a variety of darters and shiners indicative of good water quality including the Current River saddled darter (endemic to the Current River watershed), rainbow darter, Ozark shiner, and bleeding shiner. Birders might catch a glimpse of the rare cerulean warbler in the tall sycamores, oaks and maples along the river and lower slopes. The forests of this area change considerably over a short horizontal distance. On the ridge black, white and scarlet oaks predominate with scattered shortleaf pines (the largest pines were harvested in the early 1900s). Clinging to the dolomite cliff faces are ancient eastern red cedars. At the base of the bluffs grows a rich mix of tree species including northern red oak, basswood, sugar maple, white ash, and sycamore. Along the river sycamore, silver maple, box elder and Ward’s willow grow along gravel bars.