Hiking Loess Bluffs Trail | Hiking Missouri

Missouri

May 28

Hiking Loess Bluffs Trail and the National Wildlife Refuge Auto Tour | Hiking Missouri

I recently headed to northwest Missouri to hike the Loess Bluffs Trail and drive the Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge Auto Tour. Loess Bluffs Trail, pronounced “luss,” is located about 1.5 hours north of Kansas City just outside of Forest City, Missouri. Loess Bluff Trail is a short 1 mile loop trail offering panoramic views of the National Wildlife Refuge below, and on clear days you can see Kansas and Nebraska from the top of the bluffs.

Loess Bluffs Trail - AllTrails

Loess Bluffs Trail

Type: Loop | Rate: Easy | Traffic: Low | Length: 1mi | Elevation Gain: 190ft

The trail begins right beside the Loess Bluffs NWR Welcome Center. There is parking, restrooms, water fountains, and picnic tables available.

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Mississippi Flyway

Established in 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt "as a refuge feeding and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife,” as they migrate along the Mississippi Flyway which spans 3,000 miles from the Gulf of Mexico in southern Louisiana to northern Alaska. This 7,440 acre refuge includes wetlands, grasslands, and forest providing home and sanctuary to 41 known mammal species, 37 reptile species, and more than 310 species of resident and migratory birds. During the fall and winter seasons the refuge hosts an average of 200,000 ducks and upwards of one million snow geese. In December 2020 a record 661 bald eagles were counted proving its status as one of America’s Top 500 Globally Important Bird Areas, as named by the National Audubon Society in 2001.

Loess Bluffs Trail & Auto Tour

In essence there are two parts to the Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge, the trail system along the bluff and the auto tour through the wetlands. Starting from the trailhead at the Welcome Center the hike meanders through forest before arriving at a staircase of 200 rough stone steps hand-laid by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s ascending the bluffs. At the top of the steps sits a similarly hand-built stone shelter with a panoramic view of the refuge below. Driving the auto tour is an immersion into the wildlife and an opportunity to view hundreds of bird species up close, or even closer through the lens of a camera or binoculars. Muskrat mounds also dot the refuge like little islands in the water.