Best National Forest Springfield Near Me

Cabey Baby: It's a wonderful place. Complete nature.

Martin Hradecky: Great place to hike

Michele Firth: 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.Restrooms: No services

louis scaringella: Beautiful hiking trails

Melissa Schultz: This was a fairly clean place. The water was clean and could see through it even the deeper parts of it.

Jacob Tipton: Great place to go to walk. I take the dog when I can. There are good maps of the trails if you zoom in on Google maps. Shows ones the park maps don't. Also pay attention to the streams on the map they are water crossings .

Michael Romero: 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.Restrooms: There are NO restrooms , portapotty , etc .

Smoe Jith (moriskod): 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!

Sloane Deterding: amazing hiking trails and good shooting range!

Derek Raulston: great hiking trails and very pretty place

Laurie Lundberg: I always love hiking here. It is always beautiful no matter what time of year.

deependablereviews: Beautiful wildlife area with nice hiking and running trails. The trails are marked really well and there are signs at each trail intersection. There are also other trails that branch off of the main trails but they are kind of slippery with all the falling leaves in the fall.

Allison Beebe: A great way to enjoy fresh air, foliage, wildlife, and some history as well! It has hiking, biking and horseback riding trails. My favorite part was visiting the Carter Cemetery established in 1891. There are also downloadable maps and information at the Missouri department of conservation website. It’s free to go and enjoy and it has good parking. These photos were taken mid September.

Caroline Murski: It's become exponentially more popular since Covid and I wish it hadn't but I still love this park to hike and camp.

Erika Morin: Stunning. The trails were clean, no trash or other debris infringing upon the beauty of the place. The trails were very stony and in some places downright treacherous. The orange and purple trails are uphill. Very uphill. Take a walking stick and water. The bicycle riders never let us know they were coming up like they do at the trails run by City of Springfield. There is a shooting range on-site that is pretty loud and apparently causes the wildlife to disappear. We did finally see a single crow and a baby snake (not together. Lol). All in all it was a beautiful day. Oh, and getting back out on the highway was a little tense. There's no where to safely merge.

ELisha Piatt: Really loved the purple trail, will be returning to finish the rest of them 😊✨💖

jr and: Free camping with permit. Campsites are clean and mowed with a fire pit. Pets allowed shooting range close to camp sitesPlayground: No playground but has a creek and trailsRestrooms: No restroomsDog-friendliness: People have their pets with them on trails all the timePicnic area: No picnic area but campsite 3 has a stone picnic table

Cliff Henbest: Nice spring fed creek.

Troy Collins: Extensive hiking trails, they never look the same twice! Visibly marked, none are hard

Bibin Mathew: Great place to hike...