| Big Sugar Creek | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Missouri, Arkansas[1] |
| Cities | Powell, Missouri, Pineville, Missouri |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Natural springs |
| • location | near Seligman, Missouri, Barry County, Missouri, Missouri |
| • coordinates | 36°31′11″N 93°57′32″W / 36.51972°N 93.95889°W |
| Mouth | Elk River |
• location | Pineville, Missouri, McDonald County, Missouri, Missouri |
• coordinates | 36°35′18″N 94°22′57″W / 36.58833°N 94.38250°W |
| Length | 47 mi (76 km) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Powell, Missouri |
| • average | 137 cu/ft. per sec.[2] |
Big Sugar Creek is a 47-mile-long (76 km)[3] waterway in the Ozark Mountains of southwest Missouri. The creek starts near the Arkansas state line. Big Sugar starts from three tributaries. One flows north from Garfield, Arkansas, and one, west near Seligman, Missouri, and another, south from Washburn, Missouri. Big Sugar flows west down Sugar Creek Valley, where in the Jacket community it is joined by Otter Creek, from Pea Ridge, Arkansas.
Starting near Powell in McDonald County, Missouri and continuing for approximately 25 miles (40 km) and then ending at the creeks confluence with Little Sugar Creek, is a stretch popular for canoeing and kayaking. Approximately 24 miles (39 km) of this is floatable during the spring and summer. In addition to being a scenic place to paddle a canoe, kayak or raft, Big Sugar is also noted for its fishing opportunities. Around the creek is a natural area that is known and used for camping and other outdoors recreation activities.
Southwest of Powell, Big Sugar Creek is crossed by the Powell Bridge, a National Register of Historic Places site that was built in 1915 before being closed to vehicular traffic in 2014 and currently serves as a pedestrian bridge. A recent improvement to the area is the Big Sugar Creek State Park, in which about 80 percent of its more than 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) have been designated as the Elk River Breaks Natural Area, and is protected as an undeveloped area. This area of the state has a distinct natural history, featuring many plants and animals that are less common or absent in other areas of Missouri.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Big Sugar Creek
- ^ "USGS Surface Water data for Missouri: USGS Surface-Water Annual Statistics".
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed May 31, 2011