Trail of Tears' Lake Boutin will not reopen this summer

An overgrowth of vegetation masks the areas of the Lake Boutin dam worn away by erosion, but officials at Trail of Tears State Park say the damage caused by 2008 rains is significant enough to cause serious concerns about its structural integrity.

The lake has remained closed to swimmers for more than a year, and park staff get constant complaints and questions about when it will reopen, said assistant park superintendent Jim Griggs.

About 9 1/2 feet of water was drained from the lake in an effort to relieve the pressure on the dam, reducing the beach to the point where it no longer meets Missouri Department of Natural Resources safety standards. The department budget will not allow the necessary repairs to be made within the next year, said department spokeswomen Sue Holst.

Safety guidelines dictate that a swimming beach must contain a sloping grade that gradually gets deeper, Holst said.

Dropping nearly 10 feet of water from the lake, previously about 30-feet at its deepest point, moved the point where swimmers would enter the water, meaning they'd be swimming near a major drop-off point where the water suddenly plunges in depth.

An engineering crew that examined the dam gave a $1 million estimate for the necessary repairs, Holst said.

"With the budget situation the way it is now, we can't make the repairs," she said.

The beach will remain closed to swimmers but is still accessible for fishing and boating, Holst said.

The nearly 1 foot of rain that pelted the region within 24 hours last March not only caused the erosion to the dam, but nine landslides on the popular Sheppard Point Trail at Trail of Tears, which has been closed since.

One 50-foot landslide destroyed a chunk of the trail itself, making it necessary for crews of staff and volunteers to work at rerouting it, said Denise Dowling, interpretive resource coordinator at Trail of Tears.

"It just kept sliding and sliding even after the rains were over," Dowling said.

The new 1/2 mile re-route will start at Greensferry Shelter, but brush still needs to be cleared and a small bridge must be built over a drainage ditch, Dowling said.

"If I could get the entire city of Cape Girardeau to come volunteer for two hours we could have it open tomorrow," Dowling said Thursday.

The closures have led to a drastic drop in visitors and campers to the park this summer, Griggs said.

As of Wednesday, 815 campsite rentals had been sold in 2009, compared with 1,436 last year, and there were about 53,480 fewer visitors so far this year than in 2008, Holst said.

"It's amazing how popular the lake is," Griggs said.

Park staff have fielded numerous calls about the lake, and many people, ave said they won't return for camping until the lake reopens, Griggs said.

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