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Mingo NWR Storm Damage

Mingo National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center and roads are open to visitors for regular operating hours. For the next week trails will be undergoing cleaning and some will be closed until maintenance is finished. 

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Mingo National Wildlife Refuge Spring Hours

The Visitor Center will have temporary spring hours starting March 22, 2025. The Visitor Center will be open 10 am to 4 pm, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday through April 19th, 2025. 

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Guided Hike available at Pilot Knob National Wildlife Refuge

Learn more here 

Call or email Mingo National Wildlife Refuge to register. 573-222-3589 or mingo@fws.gov

Mingo National Wildlife Refuge provides a number of great opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. The mixture of bottomland forests, wetlands and swamps creates great waterways for canoeing and kayaking, and has miles of wildlife drives, a variety of hiking trails, and prime locations for hunting and fishing.
Refuge Updates

As of 2/28/2025 the Visitor Center is open on Wednesdays and Fridays 10am to 4pm. Closed on Federal Holidays.

The Ozark Highlands Auto Tour will be open starting Saturday, March 1st, 2025. 

Visit Us

Find the Refuge Bird Count Here

National wildlife refuges offer us all a chance to unplug from the stresses of daily life and reconnect with our natural surroundings. Visiting Mingo National Wildlife Refuge is an opportunity to see how much of southeast Missouri appeared before development, when 2.5 million acres were bottomland hardwood forest and cypress-tupelo swamp. This rich habitat supports many species of wildlife and provides us the chance to appreciate them in a variety of ways.

Location and Contact Information

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    About Us

    Mingo National Wildlife Refuge consists of 21,592 acres of bottomland hardwood forest, cypress-tupelo swamp, marsh and upland forest ecosystems. The refuge is managed for wildlife habitat and people. The primary purpose of the refuge is to provide food and shelter for migratory waterfowl and to protect the bottomland hardwood forest.

    What We Do

    The National Wildlife Refuge System is a series of lands and waters owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Wildlife conservation is at the heart of the refuge system. It drives everything we do from the purpose a refuge is established, to the recreational activities offered there, to the resource management tools we use. Selecting the right tools helps us ensure the survival of local plants and animals and helps fulfill the purpose of the refuge.

    Our Organization

    A bright blue sky obstructed by fluffy white clouds reflected off of a stream shot from inside a kayak
    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages an unparalleled network of public lands and waters called the National Wildlife Refuge System. With more than 570 refuges spanning the country, this system protects iconic species and provides some of the best wildlife viewing opportunities on Earth.
    Program
    Washington,DC

    Our Species

    The habitat at Mingo National Wildlife Refuge provides resources for a large variety of common and rare animals and has served as a site for supporting threatened and endangered species. A total of 279 resident and migratory bird species, 38 mammal species, 30 species of amphibian and reptiles and nearly 50 species of fish use the refuge throughout the year.