Deer Ridge Lodge

04/24/2025

Yes the rain has been generous to the trees this Spring so far . . . The trees are filling out beautifully.

04/22/2025

This , celebrate spring with us with this Fisherman’s Guide from 1950. “Hand drawn by fishermen” and copyrighted by M.S. Funk, it depicts five rivers in the Missouri Ozarks: Flat Creek, Roaring River, Kings River, White River, and James River, in Barry and Stone Counties. This map also includes notations for a variety of locations, including Naked Joe mountain, so named because, per the Ramsay Place Names, “long before the Civil War, two fellows fought a duel without clothing. A man by the name of Joe won the battle.”

As the weather warms up, April is prime time for fishing across Missouri, including at Roaring River State Park, where fishing was 50 cents per day in 1930, if our map is to be believed! Roaring River State Park was founded just two years earlier, in 1928, when one-time circus performer and millionaire soap manufacturer Thomas M. Sayman donated 2,400 acres of land to form the park, as well as one of the oldest fish hatcheries in Missouri, which propagates Brown and Rainbow Trout. Home to over 600 species of plants, including the now-rare Ozark chestnut, Roaring River is also home to natural wonders such as the Roaring River Spring.

Where will you be fishing this year? Let us know in the comments! 🎣

04/22/2025

We had a cancellation for this weekend if any one is looking last minute for a Glamping Site right up the road from Roaring River State Park.

Check out the link here to book or call for direct booking

RV/Camping ALL SET & READY FOR YOU

04/20/2025

One tree down across the road again.... haven't checked on the rest of the property yet. ..

04/17/2025

OPENING SOON. . .

And you will be able to Take a BREAK from your normal day and . . .

'Lounge on The Ridge' with one of many sitting and lounging areas that will be available to sit back and enjoy your favorite way to have well roasted coffee beans. . . just to your liking.

Will be serving. . . . Hot or Cold Brew . . . . I hear Cold Coffee done right is the BEST way to have coffee these days. All the rage!

What's your favorite? Simple Iced Coffee or actual COLD BREWED? Yep there is a difference LOL . . . I never knew!

Learning to be a Barista over here . . . way beyond my norm as a basic Filter Drip type of black coffee history drinker.

Yes COMING SOON.

04/16/2025

The trees are filling out . . . it won't be long and the view will be gone. . . there will just be a wall of bloomed out trees to see.

Hoping to have the 'Lounge of the Ridge' Coffee House and Internet Cafe all set and ready to open before long.

04/07/2025

Our Dogwood Cabin once again all set and ready for the next guests arriving for a wonderful week ahead . . . so glad we have beautiful weather in the forecast this week.

May the April showers bring us Early Spring Flowers.

04/02/2025

Good ole MO . . . .
One extreme to the other!

This line of storms will move through the region into this afternoon. In addition to tornadoes, threats include very large hail and damaging winds. Please prepare in advance for these storms.

03/28/2025

Leaf blowing is an endless job here . . . This time of year it’s fun to see what is coming up hiding under all the brown stuff showing spring is here before the trees leaf out and grass tries to grow their new growth . . .

03/25/2025

Some pics from early this morning as the Sun was coming up and if you look close enough you can see the Crescent Moon in the distance.

The upper screen porch on the second level is being newly arranged & decorated for the . . .

LOUNGE on The Ridge (coffee house and such) . . .

coming soon enough though not ready yet.

03/21/2025

It’s a nice Glamping (preset camping site) for guests …. I do feel bad they cannot burn right now as all campers love to do so for the lovely camp fires and cooking out over open flames …

BUT we are in a Severe DROUGHT that is NOT my fault …. Please do not shoot the messenger!

03/21/2025

Responded to a Structure Fire. This was a person simply grilling chicken for dinner. Folks, this is real! Please DO NOT BURN

03/21/2025

The OUTBACK Tear Drop ‘Glamping’ Site had its nice heavy log chairs painted …. always nice to see updates keeping things fresh and new looking.

Really looking forward to FRESH new blooms on the trees this year and all the foliage to be GREEN and beautifully bloomed…..

I think this severe drought might slow down the seasons new growth a bit….

03/20/2025

Same story, different day. Do not burn anything until we get some significant precipitation. If you’ve seen the news, you’ve seen Douglas County fire departments are on a huge outside fire that they’ve been battling for days. Be smart, don’t burn.

03/20/2025

Wildfire response continued to be very busy yesterday evening and into the night. Overall Mark Twain National Forest wildland firefighting personnel responded to 14 wildfires within its mutual aid response boundary. These wildfires totaled over 1,800 acres, with the largest being 550 acres in size. Most are contained as of this morning, and the ones that are still working on being contained have personnel actively working on them. The wildfires occurred on a mix of private, State, NPS, and Forest Service lands. Several are suspected to have been started by powerlines arcing due to the high winds.

Southern and central Missouri remain in a higher than normal fire danger level due to the high winds drying out grasses and brush that is dead or not starting to leaf out yet. Please be very careful with any pile burning as sunny conditions continue to dry out fuels today.

WILDFIRE LIST (Incident Name; Ownership; Size)
(FS is Forest Service and NPS is National Park Service)

Caney Creek Fire; FS, Private; 10 acres
Birch Fire; State; 220 acres
Dry Fire; FS; 10.1 acres
Perkins Fire; FS/Private; 60 acres
Fairview Fire; FS/Private; 8 acres
Charcoal Fire; Private; still active
Cane Creek Fire; Private; 3.5 acres
Sweet Water Fire; State/Private; 343 acres
Mason Hollow Fire; Doe Run/Private; 162 acres
Brawley Fire; FS/Private; 3.2 acres
Cave Hollow Fire; FS/Private; 250 acres
Alley Spring; NPS; 2 acres
Simpson Mtn ; State; 200 acres
MOS Spring Hollow; State/NPS; 550 acres
N Highway; State; 300 acres
Boone Creek Rd; State; 0.10 acres
Bluff; NPS; 5 acres

03/14/2025

Pretty sure every department in Barry County was out yesterday at some point or another fighting wildland fires.

Please do not burn. If you have burned in the last few days, double check and ensure it is completely out. The winds today will easily reignite old fires and spread them quickly.