Lost River - Karst Information Portal

2007 NSS Convention Guidebook
170
Figure 60. The True Rise of Lost River. Photo by Byrd and Strunk, 1992.
Figure 61. Cross-section of the True Rise of Lost
River. From Steve Maegerlein, about 1978.
long east to west, 30 feet wide north to south,
and 11 feet deep confined by mud banks on
the east side of the Lost River. An underwater
opening near the east end of the channel is a
nearly vertical slot that allows divers to descend
to a depth of 160 feet. Most of the water rises
in this slot-like passage, as yet unexplored, at
about the same stratigraphic position of the
gypsum beds in the lower part of the St Louis
Limestone. Chemical analyses indicate higher
sulfate percentages. The True Rise is available
for visitation by smaller field trip parties. An
old iron bridge over the dry bed of Lost River
limits bus traffic. See Figures 60 and 61.
Travel to State Road 56 and
French Lick
From the Orangeville Rise, travel westerly
and southerly almost 5 miles through the Lost
River Valley and Crawford Upland to the
intersection of County Road 725W with State
Road 56 just east of Prospect. This drive allows
reexamination of the topographic transition
from the Crawford Upland to the Mitchell
Plain, the general Chester Escarpment and