Three Creeks Conservation Area is a nature preserve in

Boone County, Missouri Boone County is located in the U.S. state of Missouri. Centrally located the state's Mid-Missouri region, its county seat is in Columbia, which is Missouri's fourth-largest city and location of the University of Missouri. As of the 2020 U.S ...

. Its

Ozark The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as a small area in the southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cov ...

terrain has many

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

features including caves, springs, and sinkholes. It is located south of

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in Missouri, United States. It was founded in 1821 as the county seat of Boone County, Missouri, Boone County and had a population of 126,254 as recorded in the 2020 United States census, making it the List of cities in Misso ...

and the more well-known Rock Bridge Memorial State Park. The conservation area is named after the three streams which flow through it: Turkey Creek, Bass Creek, and Bonne Femme Creek. Its nearly 1500 acres are mostly forested and managed by the

Missouri Department of Conservation The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and the Missouri Conservation Commission were created by Article IV Sections 40-42 of the Missouri Constitution, which were adopted by the voters of the state in 1936 as Amendment 4 to the constitut ...

. There are numerous trails for hiking. In 2019, former

Columbia Daily Tribune The ''Columbia Daily Tribune'', commonly referred to as the ''Columbia Tribune'' or the ''Tribune'', is one of two daily newspapers in Columbia, Missouri, the other being the '' Columbia Missourian''. It is the only daily newspaper in Columbia wh ...

owners Hank Waters and Vicki Russell donated 207 acres adjacent to the park for the construction of a nature school. The school will be a cooperative effort between

Columbia Public Schools Columbia 93 School District, also known as the Columbia Public School District, is located in Columbia, Missouri, Columbia, Boone County, Missouri. The district is Accredited with Distinction by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secon ...

and the Missouri Department of Conservation. Much of the land around and in Three Creeks was purchased and farmed by African-Americans after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. The area is part of the Bonne Femme Watershed Project.http://www.cavewatershed.org/ Boone Femme Watershed Project

References

External links

Official siteArea map
{{Protected Areas of Missouri Conservation Areas of Missouri Protected areas of Boone County, Missouri Landforms of Boone County, Missouri African-American history in Columbia, Missouri

See also

References

External links