Nature Viewing
Whether it's backpacking a remote trail or waiting for a butterfly to alight on a flower, nature viewing is an outdoor activity available to people of all ages, interests and abilities. We manage more than 900,000 acres of land, thousands of miles of rivers and streams, and 610 lakes for you to explore and enjoy. Many of our areas also have boardwalks and paved paths to provide wheelchair access.
Take a spring drive to enjoy flowering dogwoods, a summer hike to see eastern collard lizards sunning on a glade, a fall visit to a wetland to watch waterfowl migration or a winter trip to a river to see bald eagles. The Conservation Department is committed to help the public enjoy nature-viewing opportunities in the state.
You know them as frogs, toads, snakes and lizards. Get acquainted with all of Missouri's fascinating "herps," including 43 amphibians and 63 reptiles.
The great variety of Missouri's birds makes seeing and learning about them a delightful, endless challenge.
Take a historic driving tour of deer run, a unit of the Current River Conservation Area and learn about the historic driving tour of Grandin, Missouri.
Plentiful before European settlement, elk disappeared from Missouri by 1865. In July 2010, the Conservation Commission directed the Department to reinstate plans to restore elk to a suitable area in southeast Missouri. Use these pages to follow restoration milestones, read the plan, view restoration zone maps and trace the history of elk in Missouri.
More than 200 kinds of fish occur in Missouri. Learn how Missouri's different kinds of fish are adapted to different kinds of habitat.
If you love clean water, thank Missouri's mussels. As filter feeders, they clean impurities from the water as they "eat." Fawnfoot, hickorynut and fat pocketbook are a few of the fun names of Missouri's 65 mussel species. Get acquainted with them here.
Insects are the largest group of animals on earth. In fact, there are more different kinds of insects than all other species of animals combined. Missouri's native insects include beautiful butterflies and beneficial bees. Learn about them here.
Nearly 70 species of wild mammals live in Missouri. Use this page to get acquainted with the mammals you're most likely to see in your neighborhood or at a conservation area.
A professional photographer shares his ideas about capturing wildflowers on film.
We know more about the hunting behavior of raptors, aptly known as “birds of prey,” than we do about many of Missouri’s other native predators.
These legendary arthropods inspire strong feelings--fear of spiders and scorpions, and hunger for delicious crayfish. All these creatures deserve our respect, and all are fun to watch. Several are on state or federal endangered species lists.
Different kinds of trees grow in different kinds of forests. Explore Missouri's many kinds of forests, and get to know the trees that grow in them.
