Greenwood Forest Community in Shannon County (Ozark, Willow Springs: for sale, houses, buy)

[gregalbr]

Greetings,

I am interested in finding out more about Shannon County, and specifically the Greenwood Forest community. What is life like in this part of the world?

We are starting to plan for retirement, and this is one of the areas we are considering moving to.

Thanks,

Greg

[OA 5599]

Greenwood Forest is an a very scenic area and pretty isolated, just north of the Jack's Fork River. Great short hikes, canoeing, swimming, and fishing. Shannon County is very rural and is the economically poorest county in Missouri. Around 1,100 square miles in the county and around 7,000 residents if I remember right. The Current River, also in the county, is quite popular with canoers from around the Midwest all summer long, but the county is quite empty in the fall, winter, and spring. Most people in the county tend to be older, and the only real industry is logging, raising cattle and hay (mainly in the southern portions of the county and around Summersville, near Greenwood Forest), and tourism. The local people are generally very friendly, but close knit. I had a summer job where I drove down nearly every backroad in the county hanging gypsy moth traps, and a lot of people stopped to ask if I was OK, and when my car broke down in the middle of nowhere I walked to the closest house (several miles!) and a very nice lady let me use the phone, gave me a few glasses of ice water, and some religious books.

Shannon County is also probably the wildest county in Missouri, there are some very isolated areas east of the Current River, and west of it around Round Springs. Lots of public and protected land, deep hollows, springs, and places miles from roads.

As far as Greenwood Forest goes, what are you looking for out of it? From what I know about it, most of the people living there tend to be older hippie types (I don't mean that in a bad manner) originally from outside the area who moved to the Ozarks for the rural lifestyle. I've also heard they tend to argue and bicker a lot over what goes on in Greenwood Forest but I can't confirm this. If you want to move to Shannon County and not deal with the rules I'd imagine Greenwood comes with, you could just as easily buy some land and a house on your own.

I'd really recommend spending a week or two in Shannon County before you decide to move there. It is an absolutley beautiful area, the nicest in Missouri IMO, but it is not for everyone, as it is very rural, isolated, and you'll have to drive about 2 hours to do any real shopping outside of a Wal Mart. Let me know if you have any other questions.

[gregalbr]

Hi OA 5599,
Thank you for your response to my post. I am interested in the area for many of the reasons that you had posted regarding the wildness of the County. The main reason I was thinking of that specific area is there are current houses in that area that are sustaining life "off of the grid" and have been doing so successfully for some time now. I know that there are other communities through out the country that are doing this as well, but fell in love with the beauty of the Ozarks and the romance of living life in that setting. From the research that I have done, the property the group purchased borders government land as well, so the entire package is like being in a secluded wilderness setting (or at least that is how I am envisioning it to be)

I like your suggestion of giving the area a "test drive" before making a final decision. I also will research other alternatives in the area to see what is available. I know that in several areas it is becoming more difficult to go green with ordinances dictating a lot of what can an can not be built based on individual community zoning standards. I am sure that is the same with this community, and they do have a code of deed restrictions that anyone joining must follow... But they lean more toward the "green" side of things than many municipalities allow.

Thanks again for the information, I appreciate the feedback.

Greg

[OA 5599]

Greenwood Forest does indeed join up with some government land. The southern border is with the Ozark National Scenic Riverways on the upper Jack's Fork. The park is about a mile or two wide buffer zone along the Jack's Fork River. Lots of good fishing, hiking, and canoeing in that section...it is very close to Jam Up Cave, many smaller caves, bluffs, springs, sinkholes, and swimming holes.

Its been awhile since I've been in Greenwood Forest, but I remember it being pretty much entirely wooded with homes scattered throughout. I'll attach a pic of one home you can see from the Jack's Fork River (this is on top of the bluff over Jam Up Cave, you can see the house as little brown square in about the middle of the pic below the ridge line), although nearly all of them are back a lot farther from the park, where it is pretty flat.

I understand wanting to live in a more off-the-grid community. I'd talk to some long-time residents and see what they have to say about it. As I said earlier, if you decide not to go with a community, you can pretty easily buy some land just about anywhere in the Ozarks and build your own place, with no restrictions on what you can and can't build, but you won't have the same community atmosphere.

[gregalbr]

Hi,
Thanks again for the suggestions, and the photo. It really looks beautiful in that area. Just out of curiosity... have you ever heard of "Davey's Hollow"? And if so, is this photo anywhere near that area?

I will do some more investigation of other potential places in the area that might be for sale as well. I just like the fact that the area is preserved and wouldn't be developed any time soon... and that I would be, in a small way, a part of preserving that land as well...

Thanks again,

Greg

[OA 5599]

I haven't heard of Davey's Hollow. There is a hollow right behind where that pic was taken, but it is called Lost Hollow. I was about to take a look online and try to find it, but my favorite topo map site, TopoZone, has been sold to another company and you can't look at maps for free anymore!

I understand on the land being preserved. The land I grew up on and where my parents live in Willow Springs always felt pretty isolated despite being only 4 miles from town, until a few years ago when someone bought 160 acres of logged off land adjacent to it, and sold it in parcels on Ebay (for about 3x what its really worth), and now we have neighbors, after nearly 30 of my family owning that land with no one within half a mile.