Bunch Hollow is Carroll County prairie, savanna, and timber restoration

Bunch Hollow gives Carroll County an upland conservation story. MDC places it north of Carrollton, reached by Highway 65, Route Z, and County Road 130. Carroll County can easily read as river-bottom country from a distance. Bunch Hollow points to another layer.

The area began with a 1,409-acre purchase in 1984. MDC says later acquisitions grew it to 3,294 acres, including old fields and pastures, timber, and crop fields. About 1,000 acres in the center are managed as a prairie, savanna, and forest complex restoration project using prescribed fire to encourage a native plant community.

The memorable part is what responds to that work. MDC names Indian grass, bluestem, rattlesnake master, compass plant, coneflower, and blazing star. Those are not random plant names. They are the clue that this place is being managed back toward a more open prairie-and-savanna mix.

For a local reader, that explains why a visit here feels different from Little Compton Lake or the Missouri River bottoms. For a hunter, hiker, rider, or birder, the MDC page is the current source for access, seasonal closures, and allowed uses.