OUTDOOR CORNER: KELSO SANCTUARY PROVIDES HANDY REFUGE

A 10-minute drive is all that separates bustling, downtown Cape Girardeau from the comparatively quiet refuge of the forest. Here you can escape from asphalt and concrete to a natural community of plants and animals that has existed at this site for thousands of years.

Giant tulip poplars three to four feet in diameter root deeply into rich loess soil and tower over the steep north-facing slope. American beech trees, with their smooth, gray bark and thick limbs, remind one of Sherwood Forest and Robin Hood. A bright yellow Kentucky warbler sings from a pawpaw thicket in the distance until he is cut short by the loud, slow drumming of a pileated woodpecker on a nearby snag. The forest floor is covered with the heart-shaped leaves of wild ginger and dotted with the blooms of yellow violets. The occasional purple or white trillium, doll's eyes, or patch of umbrella-like May apples completes the scene.

This oasis of relatively undisturbed forest is the Kelso Sanctuary Natural Area, located just inside the city limits of Cape Girardeau. To reach the area, take Highway 177 (Big Bend Road) north through Cape Girardeau. As you reach the city limits, the highway bears east. After you pass County Road 643 on your left, continue about a half mile, and you will see two some masonry columns marking a drive on the south side of Highway 177. This drive is an entrance to Kelso Sanctuary.

The 23-acre natural area lies on the opposite side of Juden Creek. In lieu of a bridge, there is a series of concrete piers designed as stepping stones, with a steel cable for a hand rail. These piers provide good access, except when floodwaters of the Mississippi River back up into Juden Creek. A trail leads up the slope to a ridge top trail that runs west through the area.

The natural area can also be accessed from Twin Trees Park on Cape Rock Drive. From the stone columns mentioned earlier, continue east on Highway 177 and turn right on County Road 657. Bear right on Cape Rick Drive, cross Juden Creek, and park near the sign for Twin Trees Park. Hike up the steep slope to the west and then follow the ridge trail west to the natural area.

Kelso Sanctuary Natural Area is owned by the Missouri Audubon Society and is managed by Southeast Missouri State University. It is part of the Missouri Natural Areas System, which includes 167 areas across the state that total over 37,000 acres. They range from small areas that protect single features to landscape scale areas like Stegall Mountain Natural Area in Carter County, where entire ecosystems are managed.

Missouri Natural Areas are biological communities or geological sites that are managed to perpetuate the natural character, diversity and ecological opportunities for casual nature study and appreciation as well as scientific research. The system has representatives of many of Missouri's original features, including forests, woodlands, glades, prairies, fens, swamps, sinkhole ponds, caves and springs.

Management of some areas consists simply of protecting them from unnatural disturbances. Many areas, however, require active management such as prescribed burning or control of exotic species to maintain and improve their biological diversity.

For more information on Missouri Natural Areas, contact the Missouri Department of Conservation at 290-5730 and ask for a free copy of the Directory of Missouri Natural Areas. A new, updated edition of this publication will be available in July.

~Doug Newman is a natural history regional biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation.