Missouri's Free Birding Campgrounds

.....This is a summary of Missouri Birding areas in which free camping is allowed.
.....See Below for State Parks, where basic camping is only $6.oo per night

..... The state of Missouri maintains a network of over 900 state Conservation areas, which are supported by a special 1/4% sales tax. Because of this tax base, these facilities are constantly expanding, and are able to admit outdoorsmen, free of any use fees. More than one-third of them offer free primitive camping.
..... The list below shows those which offer free camping, and which are particularly productive to birders, mainly for their abundance of passerine species. Some of them (marked by *) are notable for the abundance of shorebirds, instead, during migration season.
..... They are arranged alphabetically by county. A full-sized road map of Missouri showing all areas under the jurisdiction of the [Missouri Department of Conservation] is available free at many locations in the state, or from the Department at P.O.Box 180, Jefferson City MO 65102.
..... Many other State Conservation areas also have free camping. those listed below are those designated by the Department as having abundant bird-life present. I have also added a list of selected Missouri State Parks that have unusually good birding. While state parks have free day access, there is a nominal camping fee.
Missouri has a particulary abundant population of ticks and chiggers. Elemental Sulfur powder (cheap at any drug-store) is an excellent deterrent to chiggers, dusted on shoes, socks and pants-cuffs before exposure.
..... The designation `CA' indicates Conservation Area. `Access' is a smaller tract, primarily used as a boat access to a waterway. For Reservoirs, local inquiry should be made to determine the location of campgrounds.

Jim Turner, Salem, Missouri
I welcome your [COMMENTS or SUGGESTIONS].

..... (See below for State Parks information, and also some remarks about free camping locations in Kansas)

Conservation Areas

COUNTY------NAME OF AREA / * = Shorebird habitat

Adair.....Union Ridge CA
...Andrew.....Honey Creek CA
...Andrew.....Nodaway Valley CA *
...Andrew.....Rock Quarry Access
Barton.....Bushwhacker Lake CA
...Bates.....Four Rivers CA *
...Bates.....Old Town Access
...Bates.....Peabody CA
Benton.....Big buffalo Creek CA
Benton.....Truman Reservoir
...Bollinger.....Amidon Memorial CA *
...Bollinger.....Castor River CA
...Bollinger.....Dark Cypress Swamp CA
...Bollinger.....Duck Creek CA
...Bollinger.....Little Whitewater CA
Boone.....Rocky Forks Lake CA
Boone.....Tri City Community Lake
...Buchanan.....Bluffwoods CA
...Buchanan.....Jentel Brees Access
...Buchanan.....Sunbridge Hills CA
Butler.....Big Cane CA
Butler.....Wilhelmina CA
...Caldwell.....Hamilton City Lake *
Callaway.....Whetstone Creek CA
...Cape Girardeau.....Apple Creek CA
...Cape Girardeau.....Maintz Wildlife Preserve
Carroll.....Little Compton Lake CA *
...Carter.....Current River CA
...Carter.....Peck Ranch CA
Cedar.....Stockton Reservoir
...Chariton.....N.B.Floyd Memorial CA
...Chariton.....Lewis Mill Access
...Chariton.....Sterling Price Community Lake *
Christian.....Busiek State Forest
...Clark.....Buck and Doe Run CA
...Clark.....Charlie Heath CA
...Clark.....Clark CA
...Clark.....Fox Valley Lake CA
...Clark.....Neeper CA
...Clark.....Rose Pond CA
Cole.....Honey Creek Access
Cole.....Marion Access
...Cooper.....Lamine River CA
Daviess.....Gallatin CA
Daviess.....Jamesport City Lake
...Dent.....White River Trace CA
Dunklin.....Hornersville Swamp CA *
...Gentry.....Elam Bend CA
...Gentry.....E & L Seat Memorial CA
Green.....Little Sac Woods CA
...Harrison.....Bethany City Lake *
...Harrison.....Grand Trace CA
...Harrison.....Pawnee Prairie CA
...Harrison.....Wayne Helton Wildlife Area *
Henry.....Montrose CA
Henry.....H.A.Pogue CA
...Hickory.....Cross Timbers Access
Holt.....Bob Brown CA
Holt.....Riverbreaks CA
...Howard.....Davisdale CA
Howell.....White Ranch CA
...Iron......Graves Mountain CA
Jackson.....Bergan Lake CA
Jackson.....Lake Jacomo
...Johnson.....R.& M. Perry CA
Knox.....Henry Sever Lake CA
Knox.....White Oak Bend Access
...Laclede.....Bear Creek CA
...Laclede.....Osage Fork CA
Lafayette.....Baltimore Bend CA
...Lawrence.....R.E.Talbot CA
Lewis.....Deer Ridge CA
Lewis.....Tolona Access
Lewis.....Upper MIssissippi CA
...Lincoln.....Cuivre Island CA
...Lincoln.....W.R.Logan CA
...Lincoln.....Norton Woods Access
Linn.....Fountain Grove CA
...Macon.....Atlanta City Lake
...Macon.....Thomas Hill Reservoir *
Marion.....Black Hawk Access
Marion.....Callaghan Mound Access
Marion.....Dunn Ford Access
...Mercer.....Lake Paho CA*
Miller.....Saline Valley CA
...Mississippi.....Seven Island CA *
Moniteau.....Plowboy Bend CA
...Morgan.....Carpenter Memorial CA
...Morgan.....Proctor Towersite
Nodaway.....Bilby Ranch Lake CA
...Osage.....Ben Branch Lake CA
Ozark.....Bull Shoals Reservoir
Ozark.....Norfork Lake *
Ozark.....Caney Mountain CA
...Perry.....Red Rock Landing CA
...Perry.....Seventy-six CA
Pike.....Dupont Reservation CA
Pike.....Ranacker CA
Pike.....Louisiana Access *
Pike.....Ted Shanks CA
...Platte.....Platte Falls CA *
...Platte.....Sharps Station Access *
Putnam.....Rebels Cove CA
...Ray.....Crooked River CA *
St. Clair.....Birdsong CA
St. Clair.....Black Jack Access *
St. Clair.....Schell-Osage CA
...Saline.....Grand Pass CA *
...Saline.....Miami Access *
Scotland.....Ella Ewing Lake
Scotland.....Indian Hills CA
...Shelby.....Hunnewell Lake CA
Stoddard.....Crowley's Ridge CA
...Sullivan.....Locust Creek CA
Taney.....Drury-Mincy CA *
...Vernon.....Cephas Ford Access
Warren.....Reifsnider State Forest
...Wayne.....Coldwater CA
...Wayne.....Wappapello Reservoir
...Wayne.....Flatwoods CA
Worth.....Denver Access
...Wright.....J.A.Fuson CA

MISSOURI STATE PARKS
$6.00 per night Camping

..........I have also added a list of selected Missouri State Parks, in which there is NO Daily Use Fee. Missouri State Parks are Free for the use of the public. However, note that there is NOT free camping in the state parks--an overnight camping fee will be charged. Missouri has the lowest State Park camping fees in North America. All State Park Campgrounds offer picnic tables, fire grills, and access to modern restrooms and hot showers. Yet, the daily camping fee is only $6.00 without electrical hookups ($12.00 with hookups).
..... The following selected Missouri State Parks are among the better birding locations in the state:

Adair.....Thousand Hills SP
Barry.....Roaring River SP
Barton.....Prairie SP
Boone.....Finger Lake SP
Camden.....Ha Ha Tonka SP
Camden.....Lake of the Ozarks SP
Cape Girardeau.....Trail of Tears SP
Clinton.....Wallace SP
Crawford.....Onondaga Cave SP
Dent.....Montauk SP
Franklin.....Meramec SP
Lincoln.....Cuivre River SP
Linn.....Pershing SP
MIssissippi.....Big Oak Tree SP
Montgomery.....Graham Lake SP
Platte.....Weston Bend SP
St. Francois.....St. Francois SP
Ste. Genevieve.....Hawn SP

And, there is plenty of free camping in KANSAS, too!

The state of Kansas also has a number of state facilities in which free primitive camping is authorized. Most of them are designated as State Fishing Lakes, and are named according to the county they are in. They are identified by the campground symbol on the Rand-McNally Road Atlas map of Kansas.
.....I have not attempted to list them all here, but most of the counties in the eastern third of the state have such a State Fishing Lake. They are all artificial impoundments, generally surrounded by wooded areas, and there has been very little development except for access roads and maintenance of fish stocks and habitat. The camping facilities would be comparable to those in Missouri's Conservation areas, and may or may not include restrooms, picnic tables or fire rings. As far as I know, camping is always free. There is a complete list of all [Kansas Fishing Lakes], which is up-to-date.
.....Further west in Kansas, the number of such lakes gradually diminishes. It was an ambitious project, which worked well in the east, but the rainfall and hydrography in the west militated against its success. Many State Fishing Lakes in Western Kansas failed, and they are now just waste old lakebeds, sometimes with access roads no longer passable. Local inquiry should be made in all cases. Even in the eastern part of the state, the access to them may not be well-marked, although if it is still a viable lake, the roads will be passable in all weather.
.....For anyone birding in Missouri, it will certainly be rewarding to expand your horizons to bird Kansas as well. It will be full of pleasant surprises, with more western species encountered at every meridian.
.....Within about an hour's drive of the Missouri state line, State Fishing Lakes can be found in the following Kansas counties, near the towns indicated (Reading north to south):

Brown Hiawatha
Nemaha Kelly
Atchison Atchison
Leavenworth Tonganoxie
(Jackson) Nebo Holton
Shawnee Hoyt
Douglas Baldwin City
Osage Carbondale
Miami New Lancaster
(Miami) Louisburg-Middle Creek Louisburg
(Linn) Marais des Cygnes Wildlife Area Pleasanton
Bourbon Uniontown
Woodson Batesville
Wilson Buffalo
Neosho South Mound
(Neosho) Neosho Waterfowl Area St. Paul
Montgomery Independence
(Montgomery) Big Hill Cherryvale

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