SHUT-IN TO PARADISE

B.D. was the first in the water, followed quickly by his closest friend, Mark Jones of Jackson. For several moments they swam alongside one another in the cool water, pausing occasionally to rest on one of the large granite rocks that jutted out of the Castor River.

Jones' strokes were strong and determined, B.D.'s less so. In fact, B.D.'s manner, with his head poking from the water and his limbs moving in short, slow strokes, was less swimming and more dog-paddling.

Rightly so.

B.D. is a dog. In fact, his initials actually stand for his name -- Black Dog.

Jones brought his dog out to the Amidon Shut-ins near the headwaters of the Castor River for an afternoon of relaxation in the water. They had the river nearly to themselves.

It was their first time to the Amidon Shut-ins. In the past, Jones had taken B.D. to Johnson Shut-ins, an hour further west in Iron County. He had just recently heard about the Amidon Shut-ins from a friend.

"It's nice here," Jones said in an understated, matter-of-fact way.

The granite shut-ins -- part of the 1,630-acre Amidon Memorial Conservation Area of Madison and Bollinger counties, located near Fredericktown -- will remind many of Johnson Shut-ins.

Though perhaps not as breathtakingly beautiful as Johnson Shut-ins, Amidon has its own features to recommend it. There are no blacktop pathways or wooden boardwalks to take away from the natural beauty of the area, and there are far fewer people crowding the waters.

One gets to the shut-ins by taking the Cedar Glade Trail, a rustic dirt hiking trail surrounded by greenery and wildflowers in the northern section of the Amidon Conservation Area. As one gets closer to the river and the shut-ins, the path, at times, seems almost nonexistent.

A sign near the river announces that the Conservation Department is in the midst of an ecological restoration project in the area, designed to restore the area's glades and savannahs.

Coming up on the river, one can see the granite rocks of the shut-ins jutting out of the river. The once jagged edges of the rocks have been softened over the years by the beating of the white foam waters on the rocks. For the adventurous who are ready to get into the river, it is nature's own waterslide.

The Amidon Memorial Conservation Area is named for Ellsworth and Evelyn Amidon, who donated a portion of the area to the Conservation Department. Other tracts were acquired from private landowners and the U.S. Forest Service.

Some eight miles east of Fredericktown on state Highway J, the Amidon Memorial Conservation Area also includes a forest with species of trees ranging from mixed hardwoods to short-leaf pine to cedar glades.

On the west side of Fredericktown, along the St. Francis River, is the Silver Mines Recreation Area. At Silver Mines, the river constricts over a series of granite rocks, forming shut-ins.

In the spring, the high waters of the St. Francis River -- the only river in Missouri classified as "white water" -- attracts kayakers and white water enthusiasts from throughout the nation. The Silver Mines Recreation Area holds annual kayak races in March or April when the water is high and has been the site of the national Olympic trials.

Silver Mines is named for the historic mining operations that once took place in the area and that can still be seen on the grounds. The Einstein Mining Co. began operations in 1877, mining about 50 tons of lead and 3,000 ounces of silver in its few years of operation.