Columbia Bottoms Conservation Area - St. Louis County, MO
Posted by: YoSam.
N 38° 48.826 W 090° 07.585
15S E 749502 N 4300033
Parking lot near the confluence. There is a walkway from the east end of the parking lot for a couple hundred yards that leads you to an overlook on the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.
Waymark Code: WMKHZJ
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 04/19/2014
Views: 3
County of site: St. Louis County
Loation: Columbia Bottoms Conservation area
About This Area
Columbia Bottom Conservation Area is in north St. Louis County at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.
The Conservation Department purchased this 4,318-acre area in 1997 to create an urban conservation area. The area includes a view of the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, more than 6.5 miles of river frontage, about 800 acres of bottomland forest and a 110-acre island.
A small town once known as Columbia and later St. Vrain, was located in this river bottom. It was shown on plat maps from the mid 1800s, but was gone by 1870.
A flood protection levee protects most of this bottom from minor floods. The great flood of 1993 overtopped this levee and flooded most of the area, depositing sand, and debris. The area will continue to be prone to occasional flooding.
The Conservation Department is managing Columbia Bottom to create a mosaic of bottomland habitats that includes shallow wetlands, bottomland hardwoods, prairie, and cropland. These habitats attract a wide variety of resident and migratory wildlife for the enjoyment of all of our state's residents and visitors.
Public access facilities, including roads, trails, a river access and a viewing area at the confluence were constructed in 2002. A Visitor Center and a series of Exploration Stations were completed in 2004.
A more detailsed look, you can read all the details right here