Best Hikes—Ozark Greenways

No matter where you live in Springfield, a comfortable, accessible stroll is nearby.

Within Springfield city limits
Click here for a page of PDF MAPS

We’ve all seen Greenway trails in one form or another. Directions could be as easy driving to Sequiota Park, but we wanted something a little more scenic than walking along Sunset Street, so sue us. A quarter of a mile or so south of James River Freeway, just off West Bypass, is the trailhead of one of Greenway’s many branches, the South Creek Greenway. This is actually the western edge of the trail that eventually ends at Sunset Street and National Avenue.

Coming from Sac River and Hercules Glades, it’s hard to get excited about a trail coated in asphalt and/or wood chips, especially after getting stuck behind a line of trucks hauling fallen branches to the nearby yard-scrap dump right before we could reach the parking lot.

That said, the Greenways, which span a deceiving 130 miles, isn’t a trail system designed only to display the finer parts of the outdoors like the state forests do. It shows it all. As previously stated, Sac River Trail is also part of it. The system is designed to give anyone the opportunity to experience the outdoors; the website even mentions wheelchair accessibility. Wheelchair-accessible hiking almost seems like an oxymoron, but not when talking about Greenways trails.

South Creek Greenway puts the diverse idea behind the trail system on display. There are scattered trees framing a casual stroll beside a well-kept creek, and a few stone benches set for convenience. It feels too similar to a day at the park with the family, but that doesn’t make it any less relaxing. It’s perfect for those afternoons when you just want to feel like you’re on the cover of a Boys’ Life Magazine, but don’t feel like driving to do it. Personally, on a day when caffeine was losing the battle to a hangover, I didn’t mind at all.

The Rundown

• Camping: No
• Hunting: No
• Mountain biking: Yes
• Road biking: Yes
• Horseback: Yes,  certain areas
• Wheelchairs:  Apparently