page_title: Meramec River
section_title: Ecology
hierarchical_section_title: Meramec River / Ecology
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context_page_description: The Meramec River, sometimes spelled Maramec River is one of the longest free-flowing waterways in the U.S. state of Missouri, draining 3,980 square miles while wandering 218 miles from headwaters near Steelville to where it empties into the Mississippi River near St. Louis at Arnold and Oakville. The Meramec watershed covers
  six Missouri Ozark Highland counties—Dent, Phelps, Crawford, Franklin, Jefferson, and St. Louis—and portions of eight others—Maries, Gasconade, Iron, Washington, Reynolds, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve, and Texas. Between its source and its mouth, it falls 1,025 feet. Year-round navigability begins above Maramec Spring, just south of St. James. The Meramec's size increases at the confluence of the Dry Fork, and its navigability continues until the river enters the Mississippi at Arnold, Missouri.
context_section_description: At one time, the river was listed as one of the most polluted rivers in Missouri. Local and state government along the river have taken tremendous steps in cleaning it up. Today the river is one of the most diverse waters in Missouri. The river is plentiful in black crappie, channel catfish, flathead catfish, largemouth bass, paddlefish, rainbow trout, brown trout, rock bass, smallmouth bass, walleye, white crappie, and some of the richest mussel beds in the state. The endangered Eastern Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis) also lives in the river.
  The Meramec River includes one of only three Red Ribbon Trout Areas in the state of Missouri, hosting healthy rainbow trout and brown trout populations where large springs flowing into the river provide the cool water required by these species. Red Ribbon trout streams are managed by the Missouri Department of Conservation to produce trophy-sized fish.
  Maramec Spring is the fifth-largest spring in Missouri. Maramec Spring Park, south of St. James, is the home of an historic iron works and trout fishery.
caption: The Meramec River flowing through Castlewood State Park near St. Louis
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