Outdoor Recreation
What can you do outdoors? Almost anything your time, energy and interests allow. Outdoor Missouri is a paradise for hunters and anglers, and there’s a long list of other fun things you can do to enjoy our state’s prairies and glades, fascinating caves, rivers and streams, Ozark mountain forests and shimmering wetlands.
Sharpen your outdoor skills
While it doesn’t take a lot of fancy equipment and special skills to enjoy outdoor Missouri, your nature activities can be safer and more satisfying if you increase your knowledge and hone your skills. At regional offices, shooting range and outdoor education centers, and other locations throughout the state, the Department offers outdoor skills classes, including hunting, fishing, bird watching, canoeing, kayaking and many others. For more information, contact your regional outdoor skills specialist.
Most of MDC's more than 1,000 conservation areas permit camping. Use this minisite to explore them and browse tips for safe, successful camping, including making your camp fire-wise and avoiding conflicts with bears.
Learn about caving groups and rules for going caving, read about Missouri cave bats, and find a list to the show caves of Missouri.
Although landlocked, Missouri has thousands of acres and miles of water to explore by boat. We also have hundreds of stream accesses throughout the state. Use this page to plan your next float trip.
Missouri's public forests are great places to hunt, hike, camp, enjoy scenery, watch birds, canoe or photograph nature. Use this place to find state and national forest lands near you.
Many species of mushrooms in Missouri are edible, but proper identification is essential to avoid illness and even death by toxic mushrooms. Get hunting, identification and cooking guidance here.
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.
Looking for a place to walk, hike, bike or ride your horse? Conservation Area trails provide recreational and educational opportunities as well as access to your conservation lands.
