About Gans Creek Wild Area
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources determined that the permanent preservation of large areas of undeveloped state park land as wilderness was necessary to provide opportunities for solitude and unconfined recreation, as a reserve for native species and ecological communities for scientific study, and for its own intrinsic worth. There are just twelve places in the state of Missouri that meet these wild area criteria. The Gans Creek Wild Area is one of those twelve.
Part of the Rock Bridge Memorial State Park system, the state parks website describes the Wild Area:
The solitude and scenic vistas of the 750-acre Gans Creek Wild Area allow visitors to forget the bustling city of Columbia is only a few miles away. Small streams dissect the hills and flow into Gans Creek, which is surrounded by high bluffs. The bottom and sides of Gans Creek are often solid bedrock while other stretches of the stream have gravel bars. Except during heavy rain events, the water flows slowly over riffles and into pools. Spring wildflowers are abundant. Basswood and walnut trees grow on moist, shaded hillsides. Scattered white oaks grace more open forested area. The rocky bluff tops have small glade openings filled with grasses and wildflowers. Coyote and Shooting Star bluffs provide vistas of hills and trees as far as the eye can see.
The state park contains a wide diversity of natural and cultural resources, including some of the state’s best examples of karst topography, restored grasslands, forests and streams, and is home to the endangered gray bat and pink planarian, a flatworm found only within the park’s boundaries.
Gans Creek is also listed as one of only five Outstanding State Resource Waters within Boone County and 44 within the state, and takes center stage within the Wild Area. These high-quality waters are recognized for their significant aesthetic, recreational, and scientific value. Preserving this unique ecosystem holds significant ecological importance.
The Gans flows from east of 63, through the city’s Southeast Regional Park, through the Gans Wild Area, and then under 163 where it joins Clear Creek to become the Little Bonne Femme.
