Winoka Lodge

Compared to most cities, Springfield is graced with only a handful of popular urban legends. Basically, the most infamous legends in the area are that of the Albino Farm, and this, the Winoka Lodge. In case you've heard of the haunted girl scout camp here in Springfield, this is the place. Basically, rumors have spread over the years that this location was once a girl scout camp, and that girl scouts were brutally murdered on its premises. However, this rumor is completely false, and it was never even a girl scout camp to begin with! Located off of Highways 65 and 60 southeast of Springfield, the Winoka Lodge property consists of a handful of man-made structures, most of which have been reduced to crumbling walls and foundations (The swimming pool and bath house are, however, mostly intact). Fortunately, there's still plenty of cool things to see. There are at least 10 springs at one point near the entrance, and some even have little sculpted pools for the water to flow into. There's also a small but interesting cave closer to one of the highways. All in all, I was really impressed by the sights, so I can easily say this was one of my favorite places to visit I filled my camera's wimpy old 8mb memory stick with photos, and I'm kicking myself for not taking more. Also, I might mention that even though the girl scout rumors surrounding Winoka Lodge are false, the property itself is said to be haunted. I've often read about rocks being thrown at people by unseen forces, as well as disembodied voices and orbs and such occurring on the property. I also recall someone mentioning that a "Skinwalker" inhabits the premises. As creepy as that stuff sounds though, we didn't experience any of those things. I did get a bit of a creepy vibe in some places, but it was probably more of a sense of feeling completely alone in the woods than anything. I guess I'm a bit of a skeptic on that type of stuff.

Recommended by:	Spectral (found information on the internet)
Ninjas Involved:	Spectral, Sewer Shinobi
Hazards:	Thorns, bugs, poison ivy/oak, steep hills/treacherous terrain
Status:	Located on private property, no trespassing signs are posted. Strong police presence
Notable Features:	Numerous springs, a cave, and a swimming pool and bathhouse
History:	Was built as a hunting lodge in the late 19th century, and was then owned by the Schweitzer family in the 1920's. Ownership changed hands over the years, and fire eventually destroyed the main building. Additional Sources: Underground Ozarks Greene County Library

Looking off to the left on the bridge near the property entrance. It burns!	Shot of the bridge and surroundings, plus ghostly canoers. This place really is haunted!	Looking off to the right from the bridge, with the highway in the distance
A man-made channel emptying into the river	A retaining gate. I thought it looked somewhat out of place amidst the rest of the scenery	The small lake that eventually empties out into the James River. We later find out how it gets filled...
Inside one of the desiccated buildings, with graffiti and rubble everywhere	Outside the building. Wonder what this really was?	The remains of the bath house, plastered with graffiti as well
A very... interesting pool. Instead of water, this one's filled with debris and broken glass	The dark space underneath the bath house. Watch out for ghosts!	A view of "Tire Valley." Sadly, only one tire made it into the picture
The entrance to the decent-sized cave. This area obviously doesn't get a lot of sun	A neat ice formation on the bottom of the bluff	The craggy-looking entrance to the cave. A person's ankle could easily be twisted on the loose rocks
The inside of the rocky cave. It gradually gets smaller, and ends not too far up	Looking out of the cave	Weird ice formations closer to the entrance. We even saw little ice formations that resembled mushrooms
A strange ravine cut into the hill near the cave. Perhaps this was the result of a mud slide?	A pipe underneath the highway that leads to the other side. Jumpin-jahosevett-yehaw	A section of the trail that snakes around the property. It actually leads to the pool and bath house, but gets broken up along the way
A view of several springs, also with sculpted pools	The bottom of the now collapsed bridge	The actual entrance to the property