<P> The Meramec River ( / ˈmɛrɪmæk / ) is one of the longest free - flowing waterways in Missouri , draining 3,980 square miles ( 10,300 km ) while wandering 218 miles ( 351 km ) from headwaters near Salem to where it empties into the Mississippi River near St. Louis at Arnold and Oakville . The Meramec watershed covers six Missouri Ozark Highland counties -- Dent , Phelps , Crawford , Franklin , Jefferson , and St. Louis -- and portions of eight others -- Maries , Gasconade , Iron , Washington , Reynolds , St. Francois , Ste . Genevieve , and Texas . Between its source and its mouth , it falls 1,025 feet ( 312 m ) . Year - round navigability begins above Maramec Spring , just south of St. James . The Meramec 's size increases at the confluence of the Dry Fork , and its navigability continues until the river enters the Mississippi at Arnold , Missouri . </P>
<P> The Meramec River ( / ˈmɛrɪmæk / ) is one of the longest free - flowing waterways in Missouri , draining 3,980 square miles ( 10,300 km ) while wandering 218 miles ( 351 km ) from headwaters near Salem to where it empties into the Mississippi River near St. Louis at Arnold and Oakville . The Meramec watershed covers six Missouri Ozark Highland counties -- Dent , Phelps , Crawford , Franklin , Jefferson , and St. Louis -- and portions of eight others -- Maries , Gasconade , Iron , Washington , Reynolds , St. Francois , Ste . Genevieve , and Texas . Between its source and its mouth , it falls 1,025 feet ( 312 m ) . Year - round navigability begins above Maramec Spring , just south of St. James . The Meramec 's size increases at the confluence of the Dry Fork , and its navigability continues until the river enters the Mississippi at Arnold , Missouri . </P>
where does the merrimack river start in missouri
where does the merrimack river start in missouri
near Salem
near Salem