Lower Ozarks Preserves

Lower Ozarks
© F. Oberle/TNC

Locations: Dent, Reynolds, Shannon, Carter, Ripley, Oregon, Howell and Texas Counties

The varied geology and terrain in the Ozarks creates almost infinite types of habitats, with all combinations of bedrock, acidity, moisture, slope and exposure.

There are more than 200 species of plants and animals found only in the Interior Highlands. As we study this area, new species continue to be discovered.

The remoteness of the Ozarks has not protected them from the advance of the modern age. Timbering, fire suppression, grazing, mining and development have all exacted their prices. Natural communities once common are now rare or even lost.

Perhaps the most critical element of our conservation strategy is working within the community to identify and encourage economic activities that produce income for local people while protecting the lands, waters, plants and animals of the Ozarks.

Chilton Creek

Size: 5,657 acres

Location: Carter County, north of Van Buren

Not only does our Chilton Creek have the distinction of being one of the Nature Conservancy’s Last Great Places and the Missouri Chapter’s largest preserve, but it is one of the most intensively studied Conservancy Preserves in the nation.

It is characterized by rugged, steeply dissected valleys and hollows; covered by a large expanse of relatively continuous woodland. This is, floristically speaking, the richest site in The Nature Conservancy portfolio. Chilton Creek is part of the Interior Highlands, a region that extends from southern Missouri into northern Arkansas harboring more than 1000 known vascular plants, with over 700 found at Chilton Creek. Spring and summer are prime viewing times.

Shut-In Mountain Fens

Size: 550 acres

Location: Shannon County, east of Eminence

"Shut-in", a colloquialism of the Ozarks, is the constriction of a stream in a narrow rocky gorge. Thus, this preserve is named for these little canyons, the three small fen communities and the ancient rocky knob that are protected there.

Shut-In Mountain itself is a rugged red rhyolite dome rising 350 feet above the adjacent valley. Extremes of moisture, elevation, acidity and nutrient availability provide habitat for a diversity of plants and animals throughout the preserve.

Each microenvironment offers a unique opportunity for exploration. One of the three fens is a large wet, gravelly expanse with scattered low sedges and grass pink orchids. Another fen is an intricate mixture of glade-like rock outcrops with small seepage zones. The third fen is a stretch of tall sedges and wildflowers on a saturated mat of quaking muck.

A hike up the sloping flanks of Shut-In Mountain moves a visitor through a sparse woodland of blackjack oak and black hickory. The summit of the mountain is a mixture of open igneous glade and gnarled stunted trees clinging to crevices in the exposed rock. Late spring and early fall are among the more rewarding times to explore Shut-In Mountain Fens.

Grasshopper Hollow

Size: 245 acres

Location: Reynolds County, southwest of Centerville

In a narrow, green Ozark valley, at least fifteen fens of various types can be found. This is the largest, most significant fen complex in unglaciated North America. Wet stony ground with knee deep water is laced with beaver runs among grasses and sedges.

Here a visitor may find swamp agrimony and arrowleaved tear-thumb. A visit to the largest known prairie fen in Missouri may reveal prairie cordgrass, big bluestem, Indian grass, New England aster, rough-leaf goldenrod and Michigan lily. Here, the rare four-toed salamander and the rare wood frog are protected. A fall visit, when the leaves change, is perhaps the most spectacular.

Bat Cave

Size: 10 acres

Location: Shannon County, north of Winona

Albeit that Bat Cave is one the Missouri Chapter's smallest preserves, it is one of only eight caves in the nation used as a hibernation by the federally endangered, gray bat.

Thirty thousand fuzzy, flying, insect-devouring mammals make this site their home. The cave's entrance facing the Current River has been permanently gated to protect this wildlife refuge. Prior to the 1970's it was a nursery for the bats but disturbances at the cave ended that use. Management is working to reverse that by curbing summer trespasses.