A Shut-in on Rocky Creek

This is a view of Rocky Creek, Missouri, from the shut-in downstream the length of the pool below the falls (if you can call them that). Where streams narrow to find passage through hard rock, usually rhyolite, you get a shut-in with falls before the stream opens up and erodes a pool below. These are a distinctive part of the Ozarks' landscape. This stretch lies on the Ozark Trail between Klepzig Mill to the north and Rocky Falls to the south. You can see the OT going off on the right side; it climbs out of view to the left to get around the shut-in. By the way, the creek is straight here. The panorama makes it look as if it curves in the middle of this view. March 2010.