In his 1980 book Hard Head I, the late Ray Heady wrote:

"The Ozark Wilderness Waterways Club is a misnomer. But it is a beautiful misnomer. It should have called itself the Kansas City Canoe Club, because canoeing was the main attraction for joining the club which was born in 1955. It was (and is) a family club composed of papas, mamas and children. And it was and is an active club. It floats some river or stream twice a month, rain or shine, year around. That includes New Year's Eve and Day, which can be terribly cold in Missouri.

But there were those far-sighted individuals among the club's charter members who could look ahead and see that at the rate Ozark streams were being clammed by the Corps of Engineers, there would come a day when the canoe would be a relic of the past. In other words there would be no clear water streams left to float. Only a series of big reservoirs.

So they left the word "canoe" out of their title and concentrated instead on three things: the Ozarks, wilderness and waterways. In other words they intended to keep the horse in front of the buggy where it belonged."

Little has changed since then. The 150+ family club publishes a monthly newsletter and yearly Ozark and Close to Home schedules of canoe, kayak, backpack, hiking, bicycle, and other outdoor trips. The organized clean-up of an Ozark stream has been an annual event since 1960.

This site is for registered dues paying members of OWWC.

To join, print, complete, and mail the membership application found on OWWC's public webpage that you may access from the section below titled "Group E Mail Addresses" "Related Link" Click the link: http://owwckc.org