Bootheel
The Mingo basin survives as protected wetland on the county's edge
Mingo preserves a remnant of the bottomland-hardwood swamp that once covered much of the region, a federal contrast to the drained cropland that surrounds it.
On the western edge of Stoddard County, near the Wayne County line, sits Mingo National Wildlife Refuge. It covers more than 21,000 acres in both counties. The land is a low basin in an old, abandoned channel of the Mississippi River.
Long ago, this part of Missouri held millions of acres of swampy bottomland-hardwood forest. Starting in 1914, drainage ditches dried much of it out so the land could be farmed. The refuge was set aside in 1944 to protect a piece of that old wetland and the birds and other wildlife that need it. Today it holds one of the largest tracts of this forest still left in southeast Missouri.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service runs the refuge. It sets its own rules for entry, hunting, and fishing, and you need an entrance permit. Check the refuge’s official page before you go, since the rules differ from general public-land rules.
Where to see it
- Mingo National Wildlife Refuge
Check the refuge page for entrances, permits, and current rules.
References
More from Stoddard County: browse every local note for the county.
Last checked against the sources above: June 20, 2026.