Missouri National Recreational River
Imagine a 100-mile stretch of North America's longest river, a vestige of the untamed American West. The Missouri National Recreational River is where imagination meets reality. Two free flowing stretches of the Missouri make up the National Park. Relive the past by exploring the wild, untamed and mighty river that continues to flow as nature intended.
Fees & passes
Free. No entrance fee here.
There are no fees to enter Missouri National Recreational River or the Lewis and Clark Visitor Center adjacent to Gavins Point Dam. However, our state park partners do charge.
Hours
| Park Hours | Daily · All Day |
When to go
July draws the most visits here and February the fewest, averaged over 2021 to 2025.
Campgrounds
| Bow Creek Primitive Camping | 5 sites | |
| 5 first-come | ||
| Green Island Primitive Camping | 5 sites | |
| 5 first-come | ||
| Goat Island Primitive Camping | 2 sites | |
| 2 first-come | ||
Every campground here has its own page on Campsite Atlas, with site counts, hookups, rig limits and booking windows. All of them on one page → How park camping works
Visitor centers
- Missouri National Recreational River HeadquartersPassport stamp
The Missouri National Recreational River has a visitor contact station located inside their headquarters building in Yankton, South Dakota. Information about the park including junior ranger booklets, passport stamps, park maps, and an 18-minute video are available 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday…
Explore
Things to do
- Hunting in the MNRR
Hunting & trapping is permitted in Bow Creek and Goat Island Recreation Areas in accordance with site-specific regulations.
Opens on the Park Service site - Wildlife Watching in the MNRR
Missouri National Recreational River is a great place to go to observe mammals in their native and wild habitat. Wild animals are an important and vital part of our natural ecosystem. We humans can learn a great deal by carefully observing animals.
Opens on the Park Service site - Stargaze at Spirit Mound
stargaze
Opens on the Park Service site - Fishing in the MNRR
Fishing is a main recreational activity in the Missouri National Recreational River.
Opens on the Park Service site - Backcountry Camping in the MNRR
Missouri National Recreational River offers primitive, Leave-No-Trace camping available at Bow Creek, Green Island, and Goat Island Recreation Areas.
Opens on the Park Service site - Paddle the MNRR
Paddle the two free-flowing sections of the Missouri, North America's longest river, a vestige of the untamed American West.
Opens on the Park Service site
Show all 12Hide
- Boating in the Missouri NRR
Whether you are fishing or enjoying the scenery and wildlife, boating is a great way to experience the river.
Opens on the Park Service site - Biking in the MNRR
Various partners have different biking paths.
Opens on the Park Service site - Become a MNRR Junior Ranger30-45 Minutes
Do you care about exploring, learning about, and protecting the Missouri River? If yes, become a Junior Ranger! There are many ways to earn a Junior Ranger badge at Missouri National Recreational River, and this fun activity book is a great place to…
Opens on the Park Service site - Watch "River of Change"18 Minutes
This 18-minute film tells the story of Missouri National Recreational River. Learn about the park's wildlife as well as the history of the river, explorers, and people who lived along the river.
Opens on the Park Service site - Tour the Mobile Ranger Station
The Mobile Ranger Station travels to schools, special events and programs and is often set up in various sites along the MNRR. If you're interested in its schedule contact Park Ranger Dugan Smith at 605-665-0209 Ext 28 or visit our park calendar on…
Opens on the Park Service site - Walk the Historic Meridian Bridge30 Minutes
The bridge allows you to cross from South Dakota to Nebraska while offering splendid views of the Missouri National Recreational River. The bridge also connects to the City of Yankton Forest Tract with hiking trails that lead to the river.
Opens on the Park Service site
Films
National Park Service productions, public domain.
Map
Interactive map by the National Park Service
Guidebooks for South Dakota's national parks and South Dakota
We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.
Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject.
Reference
Wildlife
Seen this monthOsprey 7× · Belted Kingfisher 1× · American White Pelican 1× · Eastern Fox Squirrel 1×Research-grade observations within 25 km, last 30 days, via iNaturalist
Full checklist: 230 birds, 49 mammalsHide
Raptors & owlsAmerican Kestrel · Bald Eagle · Broad-winged Hawk · Cooper's Hawk · Eastern Screech-Owl · Great Horned Owl · Long-eared Owl · Merlin · Osprey · Red-tailed Hawk · Sharp-shinned hawk · Swainson's Hawk · Turkey Vulture
Waterfowl & wadersAmerican Black Duck · American Coot · American White Pelican · American Wigeon · Black-necked Grebe · Blue Goose · Blue-winged Teal · Bufflehead · Canada Goose · Clark's Grebe · Common Goldeneye · Common Loon · Common Merganser · Double-crested Cormorant · Great Blue Heron · Great Egret · Greater Scaup · Greater White-fronted Goose · Green Heron · Green-winged Teal · Hooded Merganser · Horned Grebe · King Rail · Least Bittern · Lesser Scaup · Northern Pintail · Pied-billed Grebe · Red-breasted Merganser · Red-necked Grebe · Ring-necked Duck · Ross' Goose · Ruddy Duck · Tundra Swan · Western Grebe · Wood Duck
Shorebirds & seabirdsAmerican Avocet · American Golden Plover · American Woodcock · Baird's Sandpiper · Black Tern · Black-bellied Plover · Bonaparte's Gull · California Gull · Caspian Tern · Common Snipe · Dunlin · European Herring Gull · Forster's Tern · Franklin's Gull · Glaucous Gull · Greater Yellowlegs · Hudsonian Godwit · Killdeer · Least Sandpiper · Least Tern · Lesser Yellowlegs · Long-billed Dowitcher · Marbled Godwit · Piping Plover · Red-necked Phalarope · Ring-billed Gull · Ruddy Turnstone · Sabine's Gull · Sanderling · Semipalmated Plover · Semipalmated Sandpiper · Solitary Sandpiper · Spotted Sandpiper · Stilt Sandpiper · Thayer's Gull · Upland Sandpiper · White-rumped Sandpiper · Willet · Wilson's Phalarope
Gamebirds & dovesMourning Dove · Northern Bobwhite · Ring-necked Pheasant · Rock Pigeon · Sharp-tailed Grouse · Wild Turkey
WoodpeckersDowny Woodpecker · Hairy Woodpecker · Northern Flicker · Red-bellied Woodpecker · Red-headed Woodpecker · Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Hummingbirds & swiftsChimney Swift · Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Also on the checklistAlder Flycatcher · American Crow · American Goldfinch · American Pipit · American Redstart · American Robin · American Tree Sparrow · Baltimore Oriole · Bank Swallow · Barn Swallow · Bay-breasted Warbler · Bell's Vireo · Belted Kingfisher · Black-and-white Warbler · Black-billed Cuckoo · Black-billed Magpie · Black-capped Chickadee · Black-legged Kittiwake · Black-throated Green Warbler · Blackpoll Warbler · Blue Grosbeak · Blue Jay · Blue-gray Gnatcatcher · Blue-headed Vireo · Bobolink · Brown Creeper · Brown Thrasher · Brown-headed Cowbird · Bruant de LeConte · Canada Warbler · Canvasback · Carolina Wren · Cedar Waxwing · Chestnut-sided Warbler · Chipping Sparrow · Clay-colored Sparrow · Cliff Swallow · Common Grackle · Common Moorhen · Common Nighthawk · Common Yellowthroat · Connecticut Warbler · Dark-eyed Junco · Dickcissel · Eastern Bluebird · Eastern Kingbird · Eastern Pheobe · Eastern Towhee · Eastern Wood-Pewee · European Starling · Field Sparrow · Fox Sparrow · Gadwall · Golden-crowned Kinglet · Golden-winged Warbler · Grasshopper Sparrow · Gray Catbird · Gray Partridge · Gray-cheeked Thrush · Great Crested Flycatcher · Great Grey Shrike · Great-tailed Grackle · Harris' Sparrow · Hermit Thrush · Horned Lark · House Finch · House Sparrow · House Wren · Indigo Bunting · Lapland Longspur · Lark Bunting · Lark Sparrow · Least Flycatcher · Lincoln's Sparrow · Loggerhead Shrike · Magnolia Warbler · Mallard · Marsh Wren · Mourning Warbler · Nashville Warbler · Northern Cardinal · Northern Rough-winged Swallow · Northern Shoveler · Northern Waterthrush · Orange-crowned Warbler · Orchard Oriole · Ovenbird · Philadelphia Vireo · Pine Siskin · Purple Finch · Purple Martin · Red-breasted Nuthatch · Red-eyed Vireo · Red-winged Blackbird · Redhead · Rose-breasted Grosbeak · Roughleg · Ruby-crowned Kinglet · Savannah Sparrow · Say's Pheobe · Scarlet Tanager · Sedge Wren · Snow Bunting · Song Sparrow · Sora · Spotted Towhee · Surf Scoter · Swainson's Thrush · Swamp Sparrow · Tennessee Warbler · Tree Swallow · Vesper Sparrow · Warbling Vireo · Western Kingbird · Western Meadowlark · Whip-poor-will · White-breasted Nuthatch · White-crowned Sparrow · White-throated Sparrow · Willow Flycatcher · Wilson's Warbler · Wood Thrush · Yellow Warbler · Yellow-bellied Flycatcher · Yellow-billed Cuckoo · Yellow-breasted Chat · Yellow-headed Blackbird · Yellow-rumped Warbler · Yellow-throated Vireo
Small mammalsAmerican Beaver · American Pygmy Shrew · Black-tailed Jack Rabbit · Brown Rat · Cinereus Shrew · Common Muskrat · Deer Mouse · Eastern Cottontail · Eastern Fox Squirrel · Eastern Mole · Franklin's Ground Squirrel · Hispid Pocket Mouse · House Mouse · Meadow Jumping Mouse · Meadow Vole · Plains Pocket Gopher · Plains Pocket Mouse · Prairie Vole · Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel · Western Harvest Mouse · White-footed Deermouse · common porcupine · mole shrew
PredatorsAmerican Badger · American Mink · Bobcat · Common Gray Fox · Common Otter · Coyote · Cross Fox · Least Weasel · Long-tailed Weasel · Striped Skunk · common raccoon
Hoofed mammalsAmerican Bison · Mule Deer · White-tailed Deer · elk
BatsBig Brown Bat · Black Bat · Eastern Pipistrelle · Eastern Red Bat · Evening Bat · Hoary Bat · Little Brown Bat · Northern Bat
Also on the checklistCatamount · Groundhog · Virginia Opossum
Activities
Activity guides for this park Birdwatching in the national parks · Camping in the national parks · Canoeing and kayaking in the national parks · Fishing in the national parks · Hiking in the national parks · Skiing in the national parks · Stargazing in the national parks · Wildlife watching in the national parks
All 38 activitiesHide
Questions people ask
Does Missouri charge an entrance fee?
No. Missouri is free to enter.
Source: National Park Service
Is Missouri open year-round?
Yes. The grounds are open 24 hours a day, year-round.
Source: National Park Service
Can I camp in Missouri?
Yes. The Park Service lists 3 campgrounds in Missouri: Bow Creek Primitive Camping, Green Island Primitive Camping, and Goat Island Primitive Camping. 3 are first-come, first-served.
Do any Missouri campgrounds have hookups or showers?
No. None of the 3 listed campgrounds report showers, electric hookups, or a dump station.
Source: Campgrounds
How busy is Missouri?
166,390 recreation visits in 2025, number 184 of 387 units that report visitation.
Source: Most visited parks
When was Missouri established?
1978.
Source: Wikipedia
Follow this park
- Alerts feed (RSS)
- Every active Park Service alert for this unit, one item each, rebuilt with the nightly data refresh.
- Add dates to your calendar (.ics file)
- Fee-free entrance days that apply here and each published hours exception, as all-day events.
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