WAYNE                       82 Mudlick Mountain

Mudlick Mountain Natural Area

A 1,370-acre area of Sam A. Baker State Park in parts of Sections 16-21, T30N, R5E, Brunot 7.5 min. topographic map. Designated February 10, 1981.

Natural Features--Mudlick Mountain Natural Area includes one of the most significant remaining old-growth forests of the St. Francois Mountains Section in the Ozark Natural Division. The eastern slope is heavily forested and strewn with igneous boulders. Much of this slope features old-growth white oak-black oak forest with a well-developed understory of flowering dogwood. The northern end of Mudlick Mountain is dissected by Big Creek, forming one of Missouri's largest and deepest canyon-like gorges with shutins, igneous glades, igneous talus slopes and sheer igneous bluffs. The rare yellowwood occurs on the rich talus slopes. Mudlick Mountain is one of the highest igneous knobs in Missouri and is subject to the impacts of windstorms, lightning, snow and ice. The natural features and weather phenomena of Mudlick Mountain are interpretive themes of the park's visitor center. The area is owned by the Department of Natural Resources. For further information contact the Park Superintendent, Sam A. Baker State Park, Patterson, MO 63956, phone 573/856-4411.

Mudlick Mountain Natural Area