Angeline Conservation Area
North of Eminence to Summersville, accessed by Highway 19 and 106 or Highway D.
Angeline Conservation is a 38,820 acre area, consisting of the combination of Alley Spring, Flat Rock and Clow conservation areas.
Angeline areas of interest include a scenic overlook on Highway 19, Bay Creek Shooting Range, Flat Rock Lookout Tower, Lick Hog Hollow Nature Trail (.7-mile trail), and Pipestem and Spurgeon Hollow Natural Areas.
Pipestem Hollow Natural Area is 217 acres and features 15 caves, and dolomite cliffs from 50 to 80 feet rising up along both sides of the narrow hollow. Springs flow through the rocky bed of the stream that is responsible for the formation of the pipestem hollow.
Spurgeon Hollow Natural Area is 96 acres with dolomite glades and woodlands. This area is a fine example of the habitat in the lower Ozarks. The plant life and wildlife on the glades or rocky meadows is diverse, and includes at least 20 species of amphibians and reptiles.
Logan Creek Conservation Area
Rocky Creek gets its name from the waters that flow from area streams. In the area you’ll find Powder Mill Cave. This 100 acre area features a limestone cave with a population of federally endangered Indiana bats. To protect these animals, the entrance to Powder Mill Cave is gated.
The 180 acre, Mill Mountain Natural Area is also located in Rocky Creek. This area contains upland forests of mixed oak, shortleaf pine and eastern red cedar on soils formed from igneous rocks.
Peck Ranch Conservation Area
Hwy H, Winona. Northwest Carter County and eastern Shannon County.
The 23,048 acres of rugged hills and hollows. Stegall Mountain is the highest point at 1,348 feet in elevation. Eleven miles of the Ozark Trail winds through the area, connecting trails through the Ozark National Scenic Riverways and the Mark Twain National Forest. Rogers Creek an Mill Creek flow through the area on the way to the Current River.
There is a 1/2 mile trail, near the headquarters, provides opportunities to see granite glades, wildflower savannas, beaver ponds, oak and pine forests. Habitat for pileated woodpeckers, turkey, hawks, deer, beaver, lizards, bobcat and black bear.
Current River Conservation Area
Located east of the Current River and south of Highway 106 in Reynolds, Shannon and Carter counties. North of Ellington. Highway 106, B, F, and Y. Reynolds County.
Logan Creek Conservation contains 7 large blocks of land totaling 11,813 acres in the southeast Ozarks. Logan Creek lies north of the Black River and east of the Current River. The area is the heart of the continues shortleaf pine growth. Current forest management practices are geared to growing large diameter pines. Water areas consist of sinkholes, fens and seeps.
Pond shrub swamp communities occur in natural upland depressions, and contain plant life such as, buttonbush, swamp rose, bulrush and panic grass. White oak forest surround the swamp.
Sunklands Conservation Area
North of Eminence and South of the Current River. Accessed from County Road 19-324 on the east side, and Highway KB on the West.
Few regions today preserve the wild and natural beauty of the Ozarks as well as The 37,440 acres of the Sunklands Conservation Area. Sunklands is valuable for its array of native plant and animal species. The area is the only known habitat in Missouri for the monkshood wildflower.
The name, Sunklands, originates from the geological feature, formed when the roof of a huge underground cavern collapsed and left a mile-long depression containing a number of sinkholes. Among the sinkholes in Sunklands, is, Devil’s Den. Devil’s Den is the deepest, most impressive sink in Missouri.
Rocky Creek Conservation Area
Located between Eminence and Winona and consists of multiple tracts totaling 38,298 acres.
Several conservation areas were combined to create the 28,000 acre Current River conservation area. The Deer Run area began as a game refuge and state park. This area was used to reestablish Missouri’s deer population in the 1940’s. As a result, Deer Run has been protected from fire and grazing damage longer than any other forested tract in southern Missouri.
Also located in the Current River conservation area is Blue Spring natural area. At 300 feet deep, this is Missouri’s deepest spring. Blue Spring ranks sixth in the state in average daily flow (90 million gallons).