1
Fountain Grove Conservation Area
Managed by Missouri Department of Conservation
4,889 acres12.1 mi of trail
Locust Creek Riparian Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Outdoors · Parson Creek
Parson Creek, MO parks, trails & bike paths
About 27% of Parson Creek is conserved land, roughly 9,656 acres. There are about 19 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Fountain Grove Conservation Area (12.1 mi) and Pershing State Park (3.6 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Parson Creek, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Parson Creek outdoors
Conserved land
27%
9,656 of 36,176 acres
Trails
19 mi
0.3 mi per sq mi · 17 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
2
named on the map
Bike routes
0.0 mi
0.0 mi lanes · 0.0 mi off-road paths
Conserved land is a share of the whole town area. Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number or a place below to zoom in© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Parks & preserves with trails
Ranked by mapped trail miles. Directions go to the nearest marked trailhead or public parking.
2
Pershing State Park
Managed by Missouri State Parks
2,848 acres3.6 mi of trail
Locust Creek Riparian TrailBoardwalk Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Boat launches in Parson Creek
Unnamed boat launch in Fountain Grove Conservation Area
Unnamed boat launch in Fountain Grove Conservation Area
Unnamed boat launch in Fountain Grove Conservation Area
Unnamed boat launch in Fountain Grove Conservation Area
Trails
Named trails
Unpaved 6.3 mi
- Locust Creek Riparian Trail6.2 mi
- Boardwalk Trail1.2 mi
Water
Lakes & rivers
Showing 1–10 of 12 places
Che-Ru LakereservoirJo Shelby LakelakePond 1pondPond 10pondPond 2pondPond 3pondPond 4pondPond 5pondPond 7pondPond 8pond
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
9,656 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 1,434 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes0.0 mi
- Off-road bike paths0.0 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.0 mi
Courts & fields
- Tennis2
- Baseball1
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Parson Creek
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
State Conservation Area 5,192 acState Park 3,030 acConservation Easement 2,596 ac
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fountain Grove Conservation AreaState Conservation Area | Not recorded | 4,944 | Restricted |
| Pershing State ParkState Park | Not recorded | 3,030 | Open |
| Locust Creek Natural AreaState Conservation Area | Not recorded | 248 | Restricted |
History
Historic places to visit
Bethel CemeteryCemetery
Nearby
Parson Creek and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parson Creek | 26.7% | 18.5 mi | 2 |
| Jefferson | 6.7% | 2.8 mi | 5 |
| Wheeling | 6.5% | 3.7 mi | 1 |
| Grand River | 12.3% | 1.4 mi | 1 |
| Cunningham | 31.2% | 39.3 mi | 4 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Parson Creek's trails yet. Muddy, icy, a bridge out, where to park: a quick post helps the next person.
Sources: trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US). Measured against the Census town boundary.
How we measure
"Trails" are OpenStreetMap paths, bridleways, public tracks and unpaved footways, plus footways inside a park or preserve or on a named trail route. Sidewalks are left out. Areas are counted on a 26-meter grid, so overlapping parcels count once. "Conserved" includes conservation easements, which protect land from development but are usually private property. Trailheads are the nearest marked trailhead, public parking lot or information board within about 150 meters of a preserve. Dog rules come from OpenStreetMap when someone has tagged them; otherwise we show what's typical for the land manager, or say the rules aren't recorded.