Places to Go: Frost Island CA

Frost Island CA

Unique, but not a misfit

It is easy to see how one might confuse a place named Frost Island Conservation Area (CA) with a location from a Rankin/Bass animated Christmas special, but a visitor here is more likely to find sand prairies, fishing, or an occasional badger hole instead of a red-nosed reindeer, elfin dentists, or misfit toys. 

Located on 1,233 acres in northeast Missouri’s Clark County, Frost Island CA also has a secret as mysterious as Frosty’s stovepipe hat — it isn’t really an island. Bordered on the north and west sides by the Des Moines River, it is more of a peninsula, but it might not have always been that way, said Wildlife Biologist Matthew Schwend, Frost Island CA manager.

“If you look at the map, there’s an old water slough, so that might have been why it’s called that,” Schwend said. “Historically, it was, way back in the day, but it’s not anymore.”

And while its name and location suggest a frigid environment, it also features southern elements, he said.

“There are two sand prairies, which is kind of unique for the area,” he said. “It’s our only upland sand prairie in this part of the world that MDC manages.”