Wilderness and wild lands provide important recreational opportunities. In response to growing demands for such areas, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources established a Missouri Wild Area System in 1978.
The Missouri Wild Area System was partially modeled after the National Wilderness Preservation System. Wild areas are protected by the benefits they provide for hiking and backpacking as well as the benefits they provide as outdoor classrooms for environmental education and as increasingly important reservoirs of scientific information.
According to the Department of Natural Resources’ policy, a wild area must be a “spacious” tract of land generally 1,000 or more acres in size. Generally, it must appear to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, and to possess outstanding opportunities for solitude and unconfined recreation.
In establishing Missouri’s Wild Area System, a wide variety of qualifying areas were selected to represent the broadest cross section of the state’s natural heritage. Today, almost 23,000 acres are designated as Missouri wild areas. Each of the protected areas is unique and you are invited to visit these as you tour Missouri’s state parks.
| Wild Area | State Park | Total Acreage | Designation Date |
| Big Sugar Creek | Cuivre River State Park | 1,675 | 9/10/1981 |
| Coonville Creek | St. Francois State Park | 2,256 | 1,700 acres - 7/8/1978 165 acres - 4/2/1980 271 acres - 11/17/1982 120 acres - 5/6/1985 |
| East Fork | Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park | 1,110 | 1,050 acres - 3/29/1979 60 acres - 2/8/1985 |
| Elk River Hills | Big Sugar Creek State Park | 1,168 | 5/13/2016 |
| Gans Creek | Rock Bridge Memorial State Park | 720 | 5/24/1978 |
| Goggins Mountain | Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park | 5,000 | 3/31/1995 |
| Indian Creek | Trail of Tears State Park | 1,300 | 5/24/1978 |
| Mudlick Mountain | Sam A. Baker State Park | 4,420 | 4,180 acres - 1/28/1981 240 acres - 9/22/1983 |
| Northwoods | Cuivre River State Park | 1,113 | 830 acres - 7/6/1978 252 acres - 4/2/1980 31 acres - 4/25/2013 |
| Patterson Hollow | Lake of the Ozarks State Park | 1,275 | 1,200 acres - 5/24/1978 75 acres - 1/3/1983 |
| Roaring River Hills | Roaring River State Park | 2,075 | 5/24/1978 |
| Whispering Pine | Hawn State Park | 2,080 | 1,770 acres - 8/16/1979 310 acres - 2/8/1985 |