Missouri State Park Designated Wild Areas

Wilderness and wild lands provide important recreational opportunities. In response to growing demands for such areas, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources established a Missouri Wild Area System in 1978.

The Missouri Wild Area System was partially modeled after the National Wilderness Preservation System. Wild areas are protected by the benefits they provide for hiking and backpacking as well as the benefits they provide as outdoor classrooms for environmental education and as increasingly important reservoirs of scientific information.

According to the Department of Natural Resources’ policy, a wild area must be a “spacious” tract of land generally 1,000 or more acres in size. Generally, it must appear to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, and to possess outstanding opportunities for solitude and unconfined recreation.

In establishing Missouri’s Wild Area System, a wide variety of qualifying areas were selected to represent the broadest cross section of the state’s natural heritage. Today, over 26,000 acres are designated as Missouri wild areas. Each of the protected areas is unique, and you are invited to visit them as you tour Missouri’s state parks.