Outdoors

It's tulip time in Missouri. These harbingers of spring are in full bloom, and there are a number of opportunities around the state to take in their beauty—and maybe pick a bouquet or two. But don't wait. They won't be here much longer.

At one time, more than one-third of Missouri was covered in prairie—a landscape known for wide-open expanses of verdant grassland. Although much of this habitat has since been depleted, efforts are underway to conserve what remains.

Bennett Spring State Park is well-known among anglers for its excellent trout fishing, but visitors also enjoy its hiking trails, Niangua River access, campgrounds, cabins, and meals served in the park's rustic 1930s dining lodge.

A favorite of conservationists and Scouts, this hilly hideaway in the St. Francois Mountains features a number of special superlatives: highest mountain peak and tallest waterfall in Missouri, and one of the rarest plants in the United States.

Now is the time to indulge in Missouri’s favorite mushroom—the morel. In Reeds Spring, this festival brings together first-time and experienced foragers alike for a mushroom hunt in an Ozark canyon bottom, followed by a night of live music.

A collection of caves and underground streams. Osage influence. Historical ties to a ring of outlaws. Crumbling castle ruins. Tales of a curse. The only thing bigger than the views at Ha Ha Tonka State Park are the stories you'll hear.

There are thousands of mushrooms waiting to be found in Missouri.

Sam A. Baker State Park encompasses 5,323 acres of lush wilds. Whether they come for the camping, floating, fishing, hiking, or horseback riding, outdoors enthusiasts find an abundance of beauty and a nostalgic take on park hospitality.

Parks and trails lace Missouri like cracks in cobblestone, places where you can escape from urban life and commune with nature among windswept glades and shady forests. Missouri’s wilderness beckons exploration.