Welch Spring

 Welch Spring is located along the Current River within the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. A first magnitude spring ranked #6 in Missouri, it rises 350 feet inside the gated and closed cave, one of the few large Ozark springs to do so. The Current River doubles in size as a result of Welch Spring which flows 105 million gallons per day.

This area was settled in 1855 by Thomas Welch whose family ran a gristmill at the site until 50 years after the Civil War. The spring and 40 acres were sold in 1913 to Dr. Christian Diehl of Roxana, Ill., who spent the next thirty years alternately practicing medicine in Illinois during the winter, and building and promoting a sanatarium for asthma sufferers at the spring, trying to take advantage of the supposedly medicinal cave air. The ruins of the hospital are still standing against the bluff.

 Inside the gated entrance is an undergound lake 10-18' deep which has living cave above. There is dry passage which extends into the bluff from this lake area which has been mapped in the past. There is a rather large beaver living back in here which is responsible for the wood branches you see in some of the pictures above. The spring then descends to 149' and then gently ascends to the 100' area at the current end of the line. The rather poor visibility in this system is typical of Missouri springs and varies with weather. Exploration of this system will hopefully continue in the fall of 2008.

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