Bootheel
Big Oak Tree State Park protects champion bottomland giants
A rare surviving patch of old-growth Bootheel bottomland forest, with some of the largest trees in the state, sits in this county and is an official, free natural destination.
Big Oak Tree State Park is near East Prairie. It protects a rare piece of bottomland forest. Bottomland forest is wet, low woods that grow near rivers and swamps. This kind of forest once covered much of the Bootheel, the southeast corner of Missouri. Most of it was later drained to make farmland. This park saved a small part of it.
The park is famous for very big trees. Several are among the largest of their kind in Missouri. A boardwalk, which is a raised wooden walkway, lets you walk into the wet forest without harming it.
Missouri State Parks is the best source for the trees, trails, and what to expect. Check the park’s page before you go. Water and boardwalk conditions in wet forest change with the seasons.
References
Where this fits: this note belongs to Mississippi County. See every local note for the county on its page.