Wayne - CR 302

Trail Overview

Wayne County Road 302, or Coldwater Access Road, is a gravel road that connects US-67 to the edge of the St Francis River within the Coldwater Access Missouri Department of Conservation land. This road offers great views of the far east Ozarks, with homesteads and farms built along the rolling hills surrounding the valleys below, which contain the St Francis River guiding its flow southward. The road features a slow transition from well-graded gravel to eventually coarse gravel, and lastly to transition to a dirt base. Along the first half of the track, the road passes three springs, all of which are on private land and have little spring houses built over the springheads, these all eventually feed into the Cedar Creek, which eventually feeds the St Francis. If you are looking for a quick escape from US-67 to adventure into the hills that are passing by, give this road a quick tour.

Photos of Wayne - CR 302

Want to see more?

Login

Difficulty

Wayne County 302, is given a base rating of 2/10 for the rutting, and mild erosion on the hills of the track but mostly for the dirt portion of the road that trails along the river where the dispersed campsites and river access points are, along this section you will also find surface mud, small 6-12" deep mud holes. Difficulty can change due to conditions, in the deepest of summer, all the mud terrain of the trail can dry up, causing a decrease, but can also increase in very wet conditions and inclement weather.

History

In the 1938 and 1949 Coldwater, Missouri topo of the area, several landmarks associated with the 302 are noted, the three springs that still exist to this day of course, but then two former sites that are no longer, first a location called Head Ford, a former sanctioned crossing of the St Francis River at roughly 37.306, -90.466 and second is the Paullus School, formerly located at roughly 37.302, -90.451. According to SHSMO.org, "Paullus School was a rural school in the northwest part of Cedar Creek Township, first known as Lower Cedar Creek School because of its location south of Cedar Creek School; then as Lower Coldwater School because it was south of Coldwater (q.v.) and finally as Paullus School, named for J.C. Paullus who gave the land for the school." No exact dates were given for the school's exact establishment, but if following the normal trends of the time, it shared similar build dates with the local Baptist Church of Coldwater which was first known as Cedar Creek Church when it was organized by James E. Paullus and Peter Price in 1844. This brings in the history of the Coldwater community, which started when Ed Settles established a store and post office somewhere between 1840 and 1844, shortly followed by the 1867 arrival of J.P. Ellis, of Tennessee, who built a store there, with the Cold Water spring often called Ellis Spring in his honor. Ellis took over the post office in 1868, at this time, the name Cedar Creek was renamed to Cold Water referring to the Cold Water spring the community was formed next to. Later in 1895 had a spelling change to Coldwater, both for the Spring and Township. By the 1980 Coldwater topo, both the Head Ford and Paullus School notations had been removed, yet landmarks such as the Coldwater Spring and Paullus Cemetery remain on the 2023 topo. - Christopher Menz (researched on 2/2025)

Technical Rating

Wayne - CR 302 can be accessed by the following ride types:

• High-Clearance 4x4
• SUV