Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, National Wildlife Refuge in Stoddard County, United States.
The refuge spans 21,676 acres of bottomland hardwood forest, marsh waters, and grasslands within an ancient channel of the Mississippi River.
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service purchased the Mingo Swamp in 1945 after the area experienced timber depletion and environmental deterioration.
Native American tribes including Quapaw, Osage, Shawnee, Delaware, and Mingo populations utilized this land for hunting over 7,000 years.
Visitors access multiple auto tour routes, a nature boardwalk trail, observation points, and designated areas for hunting and fishing throughout the year.
The refuge contains the final remaining large section of bottomland forest native to Missouri's bootheel region, shaped by the Mississippi River 25,000 years ago.
Location: Stoddard County
Inception: 1944
Website: https://fws.gov/refuge/mingo
GPS coordinates: 36.96820,-90.14690
Latest update: March 3, 2025 11:31
Missouri offers a mix of geological formations and historic sites that show the natural resources and industrial past of the state. The landscape includes massive granite boulders, deep limestone caves, and clear springs that bubble up from the ground. Parks and conservation areas preserve forests, creeks, and bluffs along the state's rivers. Visitors find hiking trails that wind through wooded hills, along stream beds, and to viewpoints that overlook broad valleys. Historic sites add layers of human history. Stone mills like Bollinger Mill and Alley Mill still stand, their waterwheels and timber structures recalling a time when grinding grain and making textiles happened locally. Ha Ha Tonka State Park displays the ruins of a stone castle perched on a bluff above a lake, while Watkins Woolen Mill contains a preserved 19th-century textile factory. Caves such as Onondaga Cave and Meramec Caverns open beneath the surface, revealing stalactites, stalagmites, and underground rivers. Elephant Rocks State Park shows giant pink granite boulders scattered across hillsides, and Dogwood Canyon Nature Park offers waterfalls and forest trails. These places provide a look at Missouri's natural geology and the communities that once used it.
Sam A. Baker State Park
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Lake Wappapello
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Bollinger Mill State Historic Site
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Rodgers Theatre
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Morris State Park
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Hargrove Pivot Bridge
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Stoddard County Courthouse
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Williams-Gierth House
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Butler County Courthouse
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Poplar Bluff Public Library
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Alfred W. Greer House
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Moore-Dalton House
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Garfield Historic District
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St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad Depot
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Wheatley Public School
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Scott County Courthouse
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J. Herbert Moore House
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Williamson-Kennedy School
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Sikeston St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway Depot
50.6 km
Bollinger Mill State Historic Site
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Burfordville Covered Bridge
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Lake Wappapello State Park
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Sam A. Baker State Park Historic District
45.5 kmReviews
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