Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area, Highlandville MO
| Address | Highlandville, MO | ||||||||||||||
| Phone | (417) 895-6880 | ||||||||||||||
| Hours |
|
||||||||||||||
| Website | mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places/busiek-state-forest-wildlife-area | ||||||||||||||
| Categories | State Park, Government Office, National Forest, Tourist Attraction | ||||||||||||||
| Rating | 4.2 5 reviews | ||||||||||||||
|
Similar companies nearby Big Lake State Park — 204 Lake Shore Dr, Craig, MO Pershing State Park — 29277 Missouri 130, Laclede, MO Pomme De Terre Dam Outlet Park — Hermitage, MO, United States First Missouri State Capitol State Historic Site — 200 S Main St, St Charles, MO |
Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area reviews
5The trails are full of loose rock, but this is a fabulous wilderness area. I can't wait to see it 8n the spring and fall!
My husband recently met a member of the Busiek family who donated this property to the state. When he thanked her for her family's selfless gift she replied "take care of it. It's yours now. "
I can honestly say after hiking it today people are doing just that. The trails see a lot of local traffic but are virtually trash free. Tons of wildflowers and butterflies. Gorgeous cascading rocks and tiny waterfalls in smaller creek. Beautiful example of Ozarks woodlands and glades.
This was a fairly clean place. The water was clean and could see through it even the deeper parts of it.
Due to the closures at Andy Dalton and Pleasant Hope gun ranges, it was time to explore further and Busiek fit the bill.
We encountered several other groups at the open range and they were friendly and very safety conscious, asking and recieving cease fire while we set targets and vice versa.
The concrete benches are firearm ready, with the addition of a ground cloth to protect the rifles finish, the backstop was riddled but serviceable for target mounting (bring a stapler or Duct tape and targets), it was not crowded (on a Friday before noon) and it was relatively clean.
We didn't find a restroom or portapotty but we didn't look hard for one, we saw horses on the equestrian trail on the way out and several backpackers taking a hike.
Not sure what the politics are regarding the other conservation range closures but hopefully Busiek will stay open for awhile.
Edit 2-15-2023 since my previous review, the gun range seems to have gone the way of the world: loonies shooting at homemade targets placed fifteen feet from the firing line, rapid fire cowboys shooting with a pistol in each hand, and a tweaker snatching up my brass almost as it hit the dirt. It was a Wednesday at 11: 00 am, I can't imagine what a weekend looks like here.
Had a good hike there but returned to find our vehicle damaged by gravel chips thrown by a irresponsible motorist who did multiple donuts in the parking lot. We heard them as we approached the end of our hike but they were long gone before we returned. Advised to drive a vehicle you don't care about to use this facility!