MDC hosted 36th annual Poosey Conservation Area fall tour on Oct. 16

Chillicothe, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) hosted the 36th annual fall driving tour at the Poosey Conservation Area on Oct. 16. The weather and the fall foliage both cooperated. Bright sun streamed down through the yellow, burgundy, red, and green foliage as visitors drove the gravel roads through the area’s hilly interior. MDC crews counted 1,350 visitors at the tour’s start at Pike’s Lake.

The tour allows visitors to drive vehicles on service roads normally closed to the public. Visitors came on horseback, rode in horse-drawn buggies or wagons, straddled motorcycles, steered all-terrain vehicles, and drove cars or pickups to make the trek. Visitors received a pamphlet that explained tour stops that illustrated conservation management practices such as oak-hickory timber stands or early successional plant habitat that benefits species such as bobwhite quail. At a demonstration area visitors could stop and visit with conservation partners such as Missouri Master Naturalists. MDC private land services staff provided tips on habitat management.

A popular stop was the Panther Den. The park-like creek bottom has a trail leading to a limestone bluff with a hollow considered the den. Visitors petted Waylon, MDC’s German shorthair K9 agent, and talked with his handler Agent Caleb Pryor. The tour route led through what was once considered a pioneer community called Poosey.

MDC’s Poosey Conservation Area in northwestern Livingston County has a variety of fishing lakes and ponds, trails, forest habitat, savannas, woodlands, and restored grasslands. For more information, visit

https://short.mdc.mo.gov/ZSS. To learn more about conservation in Missouri, visit http://www.mdc.mo.gov.