New Madrid Fault

[down_home]

Anyone visited the New Madrid Fault Zone?
I wonder if any of the features created in the 1811-1812 quakes still exist so they can be viewed, such as the giant 136 acre sand boil and any other features and attractions?
Worth the trip?
Campgrounds?

[caver]

Not much to see on the Missouri side. You could take a plane ride out of Sikeston and see sand boils but they will be more visible in the late summer after a dry spell and the crops in the boils die off.

[pbitschura]

The Gateway Arch in St. Louis has a time line in mural form of settlement and effect or the big quakes in the area, It was the only time since early settlement that population actually went down in the area.

[Matt_Colie]

Down,

If you go that way, the little museum in New Madrid is a good stop. In complete honesty, unless you are fascinated by strange history, it is about a 25 mile museum. Fortunately, it is close to I-55.

There is not much of the earthquake effects to be seen unless you are very much aware of what you are looking at and for.

Matt

[Kavoom]

You can see evidence of the fault in road cuts along there of the highway. But there is not much from a museum standpoint. The rocks are twisted. If you think about it, the violence of those earthquakes are the result of the pressures upon an entire continent. Most of the "bad" earthquake areas are closer to the edges of the tectonic plates. New Madrid is in the center. So, it doesn't go off as often but the pressures upon it are stupendous and so, when it does go, stand by...or rather fall down along with everything else and continental rivers run backwards. If you want to see physical evidence of the power of earth forces, lake Missoula in western MT all the way over to the coast is of interest. Grand Coulee is the biggest example of that. Imagine one of the larger great lakes emptying in three days and there you go. It is pretty amazing and starts in Missoula MT. You can see old lake shores from the at least 39 times it filled up and then emptied. Awesome. A good place to start is the national Bison Range there close to Missoula. Unto itself it is very nice and you have to drive to the top of a small mountain and at the top where you can look down into the Flathead valley. There are areas of rolling hills hundreds of feet high and miles long that are ripples. Just like a small stream but X thousands. You have to change your entire perspective to imagine it. You can follow I-90 from Butte north and see the sharp turns in the valley where the force of the water ripped into the rocks and they still look like the did after the last flood. Hellsgate canyon into the Missoula valley is still ripped up and as you drive in, you can look up to a slough between mountains about a half mile up where once the water ran 200 feet deep during the biggest floods. And then you can follow the drainage up through Spokane and the scablands west to the coulees. There's some good online info about it. So, if you are into geologic history, that is probably the most amazing trip imho. And it only happened maybe 12,000 years ago.

[Busdriver]

Has a lot of snakes, never understood why.

[Scottiemom]

Reelfoot Lake is an interesting phenomena. We camped in a campground right on the lake and were cautioned about snakes around the lake bank. There was a restaurant nearby that served the best catfish from the lake. It's been so many years ago I can't remember the name.

Dale

[Bosun]

Having lived in the area (Hickman, Ky) I only know of one feature you can see from the earthquake is Reelfoot lake. Good luck, have a good time!

Patrick
Semper Paratus

[stickdog]

You might be lucky and have a repeat while you're there.