Beta

GuidedFloats is in beta. The full site launches March 1, 2027. The mobile app follows.

Guides: claim before March 1, 2027 and your first full season of Premium is free. Claim your founding spot →

Log in List your guide serviceFor guides
Home › Waters › Missouri › Roaring River
Spring creek · Ozarks · Missouri

Roaring River Fishing Guides

A spring-fed trout park in a steep Barry County hollow near Cassville, running from a 200-foot-deep spring down to Table Rock, with the same three-zone management as Missouri's other trout parks.

A canoe resting on calm water below tall timber

Map of the Roaring River

10 numbered points: 4 campsites, 1 park or conservation area, 2 agency offices, 1 regulation section limit, 1 spring, 1 USGS gauge. Tap a marker for details. Reviewed Sep 6, 2026.

Printable version →
  • Campsite (4)
  • Park / conservation area (1)
  • Agency / conservation office (2)
  • Regulation section limit (1)
  • Spring (1)
  • USGS gauge (1)
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Points are curated from OpenStreetMap and state agency sources; confirm access and hours before you go.

Print it. Bag it. Bring it.Phones die, screens crack, and most of this water has no signal. Print this map, fold it into a zip-top bag or dry bag with your license, and you have a backup your electronics can’t give you. Every marker is numbered so you can say exactly where you are.

Open the printable map
All 10 points on this map
#PointTypeLat, LonNotes
1Roaring River Spring
Head of the river - Roaring River State Park		Spring36.59146, -93.83240The river starts here, out of the base of the bluff at a steady 57F. Everything downstream is spring-fed, which is why it holds trout in July and in January.
2Roaring River Hatchery
Missouri Department of Conservation		Agency / conservation office36.59244, -93.83277MDC hatchery and raceways at the spring pool. The raceway outlet is the top of the park's fishing water; staff here are the people to ask about flow and stocking.
3Campground 1
Roaring River State Park		Campsite36.58714, -93.84127Upper campground, closest to the spring and the hatchery end of the fishing water.
4Roaring River State Park Office
Missouri State Parks		Agency / conservation office36.58519, -93.83820Park office. Daily tags, zone maps and the posted zone signs all start from here.
5USGS 07050152 - Roaring River near Cassville
Live flow and water temperature		USGS gauge36.58097, -93.83369Check it before you drive. A spring creek this size comes up and colors fast after a hard Ozark rain and drops just as fast.
6Campground 2
Roaring River State Park		Campsite36.57999, -93.83392Middle campground, right on the water in the heart of the stocked reach.
7Campground 3
Roaring River State Park		Campsite36.57877, -93.82925Lowest of the three main campgrounds; the old dam at its downstream end is a posted zone boundary.
8Zone 2 / Zone 3 boundary - old dam below Campground 3
Approximate - marker sits on the campground		Regulation section limit36.57877, -93.82925Zone 3 runs from this old dam down to the park boundary. Zones are posted on the ground; read the signs and the park zone map, they are what count.
9Camp Smokey
Group camp - reservation only		Campsite36.57844, -93.82543CCC-era group camp on the river below Campground 3. Not a walk-up campground.
10Roaring River Conservation Area
Missouri Department of Conservation		Park / conservation area36.57057, -93.80742MDC ground along the river below the state park. Boundaries are posted and the area map is worth having; do not assume the far bank is public.

Guides on the Roaring River

Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.

About the Roaring River

Roaring River rises from a spring at the head of a steep, wooded hollow in Barry County, southwest Missouri, a few miles south of Cassville. The spring pool is around two hundred feet deep and discharges roughly twenty million gallons a day at a steady mid-fifties temperature. From there the river runs about two and a half miles through Roaring River State Park before leaving park boundaries and eventually reaching the White River arm of Table Rock. The setting is the most dramatic of the Missouri trout parks: bluff walls, heavy timber and a narrow valley that keeps the water shaded and cold.

Management follows the standard trout-park pattern. Rainbow trout are stocked daily through the tagged season, which opens on the first of March and runs through the end of October, and a smaller number of brown trout hold over and reach good size in the deeper pools below the hatchery. The park is split into three zones — flies only, flies and artificial lures, and a bait-permitted reach — which spreads anglers out by method. Scuds, sowbugs, midges and small streamers cover the fly water; marabou jigs and small spinners cover the rest. From the second Friday in November into February the park runs catch-and-release with artificial lures and flies only, and those winter mornings in the hollow are the quietest and often the best fishing of the year.

Below the park boundary the river warms and changes character, picking up smallmouth bass and Ozark bass as it works down toward Table Rock. That lower water is lightly fished and worth exploring in summer when the trout water is busy.

The gauge in the state park reads the spring-fed reach. Discharge is stable, so the reading matters most after heavy Ozark rain, when the river colours and rises quickly in the narrow hollow.

This water needs a real photo

The photo at the top of this page is not Roaring River.

It is a regional stand-in, honestly captioned but generic — we will not put a name to a river we cannot prove. Send us a photograph you took here and it replaces the stand-in, with your credit on it.

Add a photo of this water See the badges

Pioneer badgeUnclaimed

Add a photo of this water

Landscape, not fish — the water itself. Reviewed by hand before it appears. The first one published here earns the Pioneer badge.

Never published. It is how the badge is held for you until member accounts open.

Posting to Roaring River.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. Landscape orientation looks best at the top of the page. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name printed under the photo and on your badge. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Fished this water? Add a photo

Reviewed by hand before it appears. Pick the water, not the spot — we never publish exact locations.

Never published. We use it only if we need to ask about the photo.

Posting to Roaring River.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Flow alert

Tell me when the Roaring River cfs

Now: 15.3 cfs, read 11:40 pm CDT, Wed Oct 21, 2026 (USGS 07050152, Roaring River at Roaring River State Park).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Roaring River State Park spring pool — parking at the head of the river and the top of Zone 1.
Zone 1 flies-only reach — improved bank access immediately below the spring.
Zone 2 flies-and-lures reach — mid-park access along the park road.
Zone 3 bait-permitted reach — lower park access toward the park boundary.
Park campgrounds and lodge — walk-in bank access the length of the river.
Roaring River hatchery — access adjacent to the stocking operation.
Below the park boundary on Highway F — warmwater access for smallmouth and Ozark bass.

Seasons

Spring: opening day is March 1; the hollow is busy and the river is stocked daily.
Summer: tagged fishing continues and the shaded hollow stays cool; fish early for space.
Fall: the tagged season ends October 31, with the best colour and weather of the year.
Winter: catch-and-release with flies and artificial lures from the second Friday in November — few anglers, best browns.

From the water

No logged trips yet. Be the first to put this water on your map.

Log this water

Fished it or cleaned it? Log in or create a free account to log a trip with photos and earn the waterway badge.

Questions

What is the current flow on the Roaring River?

As of Oct 21, 11:40 pm, the USGS gauge Roaring River at Roaring River State Park reads 15 cfs. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Roaring River?

Anglers target Brown Trout, Ozark Bass, Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass on the Roaring River in Missouri.

Are there fishing guides on the Roaring River?

GuidedFloats lists 1 guide and outfitters on the Roaring River. Claimed profiles accept booking requests; unclaimed profiles are built from public records and link to the business.

Where can you access the Roaring River?

Roaring River State Park spring pool — parking at the head of the river and the top of Zone 1. Zone 1 flies-only reach — improved bank access immediately below the spring. Zone 2 flies-and-lures reach — mid-park access along the park road. Zone 3 bait-permitted reach — lower park access toward the park boundary. Park campgrounds and lodge — walk-in bank access the length of the river. Roaring River hatchery — access adjacent to the stocking operation. Below the park boundary on Highway F — warmwater access for smallmouth and Ozark bass.

When is the best time to fish the Roaring River?

Spring: opening day is March 1; the hollow is busy and the river is stocked daily. Summer: tagged fishing continues and the shaded hollow stays cool; fish early for space. Fall: the tagged season ends October 31, with the best colour and weather of the year. Winter: catch-and-release with flies and artificial lures from the second Friday in November — few anglers, best browns.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Roaring River?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Missouri agency site: https://mdc.mo.gov/fishing/regulations