Mammoth Spring Dam and Powerhouse

The Mammoth Spring Dam and Powerhouse is home to a long stone dam, built by hand in the 1880s, that carries a curtain of white water across its whole face. Right beside it stands a squat brick powerhouse from 1927, where the Arkansas-Missouri Power Company turned that falling water into electricity until 1972. The mix of moving water and historic old brick work well together, especially when they are paired with the calm lake above and the churning pool below. You can easily set up just downstream on the shoreline to capture the water tumbling over the dam and the powerhouse anchoring the frame. There is a loop trail that circles the lake providing lots of shooting angles as it crosses the top of the dam. If you are able to come early on a still morning, the light is soft and the surface upstream holds a clean reflection. A grey overcast day suits the water and the weathered brick just as well. Autumn is the best season to plan around, the Ozark colour turns and reflects beautifully in the lake. All of it sits within Mammoth Spring State Park, with parking near the visitor center and free paths that loop straight past the dam. Plus the powerhouse is often open to visitors if you want to experiment with capturing the historic machinery. (Mammoth Spring, Arkansas, USA)