Welcome to Mark Twain National Forest

Missouri Outdoor Connections

Creating opportunities to connect land stewards across the state.

Get Involved!

The Forest is waiting, come explore!

Encompassing 1.5 million acres of beautiful public land in 29 counties in Missouri, Mark Twain National Forest maintains a healthy, working forest and restores Missouri's natural communities.

Mark Twain National Forest has a wide range of popular recreation opportunities. The forest has over 750 miles of trails for hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, and motorized use. Sections of the Ozark Trail wind through the forest. More than 350 miles of perennial streams, suitable for floating canoeing and kayaking, meander through its canopied expanses. Our campgrounds offer visitors a variety of forest experiences, including semi-primitive and wilderness camping for solitude.

  • Your Input Matters!

    Forest Service employee in winter gear records vistor survey responses on a smartphone while the visitor remains in their car.

    The National Visitor Use Monitoring (NVUM) survey is happening on Mark Twain National Forest until September 2023. If you see us conducting surveys during your visits, stop and take the survey! It's a great opportunity to let us know how your recreational expectations are being fulfilled on Forest Service lands.

    During the NVUM the public may encounter employees working in developed and dispersed recreation sites and along Forest Service roads. They will be out in all types of weather conditions, wearing bright orange vests, and will have signs that say, “Traffic Survey Ahead.”

    All survey responses are confidential.

Features

Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project

Image of restoration completed, shortleaf pine woods with mature trees in a wide range of sizes.

Leading the way in restoring natural communities through collaboration

From 2012-2022, the forest will collaborate with partners to restore more than 100,000 acres near Doniphan, Winona, Van Buren and Poplar Bluff, Missouri, in a Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project (CFLRP).

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