Middle Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge
Middle Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge
Rockwood, IL 62280
Phone:618-763-4420
Fax:618-763-4424
Web: www.fws.gov/midwest/MiddleMississippiRiver
Established: 2000.
Location:Along the middle Mississippi River between St. Louis and Cairo, Illinois.
Facilities:Trails, observation deck.
Activities:Hunting, fishing, hiking, bicycling, mushroon and berry picking for personal consumption.
Special Features:Refuge lands were purchased in response to the great flood of 1993 and are unique in the refuge complex. The former agricultural lands are being managed to restore the natural cycle of the Mississippi River floodplain and its riverine habitats. They will provide access to the floodplain for native fish during high water stages and create a corridor of floodplain forest habitat for migratory birds and resident wildlife.
Habitats: 4,300 acres floodplain forests, riverine wetlands of varous types and riverine aquatic habitat.
Access: Year round during daylight hours.
Wild life: Endangered pallid sturgeon, Indiana bat, northern crawfish frog, blue spotted salamander, and least tern, as well as hawks, eagles, herons, egrets, deer, lemmings, gophers, and mussels.
See other parks in Illinois.