Turnback Creek is a

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

in the

Ozarks The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant port ...

of southwest

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. The stream headwaters are in western

Christian County Christian County is the name of several counties in the United States: * Christian County, Illinois * Christian County, Kentucky * Christian County, Missouri Christian County is located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Missouri. ...

just southwest of

Billings Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metrop ...

. The stream flows north-northwest after passing under U.S. Route 60 and on through the extreme southwest corner of Greene County and into Lawrence County. In Lawrence County the stream flows northwest passing under

Interstate 44 Interstate 44 (I-44) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. Although it is nominally an east–west road as it is even-numbered, it follows a more southwest–northeast alignment. Its western terminus is in Wichita Fal ...

southwest of Halltown and into southeast Dade County. In Dade County the stream flows generally north and enters the

Sac River The Sac River (pronounced, sock) is a river in the Ozarks of Southwest Missouri. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 31, 2011 with headwaters in western Green ...

arm of

Stockton Lake Stockton Lake is a reservoir located in southeastern Cedar County, Missouri, Cedar County, northeastern Dade County, Missouri, Dade County, and southwestern Polk County, Missouri. The lake is 'V' shaped, and covers , with of shoreline. It has th ...

U.S. Route 160 U.S. Route 160 (US 160) is a 1,465 mile (2,358 km) long east–west United States highway in the Midwestern and Western United States. The western terminus of the route is at US 89 five miles (8 km) west of Tuba City, Arizo ...

east of

Greenfield Greenfield or Greenfields may refer to: Engineering and Business * Greenfield agreement, an employment agreement for a new organisation * Greenfield investment, the investment in a structure in an area where no previous facilities exist * Greenf ...

. The stream source is at , and its

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

is at . Turnback Creek was named from an incident in the 1830s when a group of pioneers "turned back" and headed back east due to harsh winter weather.

Dilday Mill Dilday Mill, also known as Finley Mill, was a historic grist mill building located at Greenfield, Dade County, Missouri. It was built in 1867, and was a water-powered, grist mill standing two stories above ground level and three stories above Tur ...

was formerly located on Turnback Creek.Dade County National Register Listings

References

Rivers of Christian County, Missouri Rivers of Dade County, Missouri Rivers of Greene County, Missouri Rivers of Lawrence County, Missouri Rivers of Missouri {{Missouri-river-stub

See also

References