Corkwood Conservation Area is in Butler County, about one mile west of Neelyville on Highway 142. The Conservation Department purchased this 434-acre area, which is one of the few remaining tracts of bottomland forest in southeastern Missouri, in 1984 in order to protect and manage its forest communities and the rare and endangered species they support.
This area contains part of an unusual sand dune field with many forested dunes that rise two-four feet above adjacent swales. The forested dunes support plant species often associated with upland areas, including white oak, sugar maple, black walnut, Kentucky coffeetree, sassafras, and pawpaw. Corkwood, a rare shrub found in wet swales on the area, has the lightest wood of any wood plant in North America and occurs in only three southeastern counties in Missouri. Other species found in the wet swales include buttonbush, willow, cottonwood, and swamp red maple.
The bottomland forest at Corkwood Conservation Area is dominated by willow oak and includes swamp red maple, hickories, sugarberry, green ash, overcup oak, winged elm, red mulberry, persimmon, and deciduous holly. Tree seedlings and acorns have been planted in most open fields to help restore the diverse forest communities that the land once supported. Over time, these areas will add to our dwindling supply of lowland bottomland forests.