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Magnolia Hollow Conservation Area

Magnolia Hollow Conservation Area is located near Bloomsdale, Missouri, but is also close to Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. GPS tried to take us through Ste. Genevieve to reach the area, but this was wrong as you need to go through Bloomsdale, Missouri. It is located in Ste. Genevieve County. We camped here on May 17, 2025.

We first walked down the trail at the end of the road. It was a nice short hike.

Down the trail you begin to see glimpses of the Mississippi River through the trees.

There is a platform at the end of the trail and the Mississippi River is barely seen in the distance. We did see big birds flying, but Eagles are seen from here.

To the right we could see barge traffic.

In the foreground of this photo is the Establishment Creek. It is murky waters, not such a lovely view, but certainly and interesting view.

Lewis and Clark traveled this section of the Mississippi River in 1804 and camped across the river from Ste. Genevieve to the right of this photo.

Across the Mississippi River is the cities of Prairie de Rocher and Fort de Chartres in Illinois.

Also somewhere in the distance is Schmidt's Island, but we also saw on the phone map Establishment Island up to the left of Schmidt's Island.

When we came off the trail, two men in an ATV (which we had seen when we first entered the area up the road) were trying to break into our camper. The left when they saw us coming off the trail and we jumped in the truck and followed them until they left the park. I knew my Lone Peak camper would be a target for stealing, but I did not think it would happen so soon. They managed to get one of our locks off, and a belt buckle scratched the back as they stood on the tailgate, but otherwise there was no harm. I could hear them trying to open the doors to the camper, testing to see it was locked, as I came off the trail. I think they were locals as they left the park in their ATV.

There is a designated camping area, but with our new Lone Peak camper, we wanted to stay in the parking lot with the view. There was someone else at the campground already and we also wanted quiet. There is another parking area with a trail, but we did not go down it, leaving it for a return trip.

We leave no trace when we camp, being we hardly get out of the camper. We watched the sun going down and the long shadows from the camper.

This was our view for the evening.

In this tree was an annoying whippoorwill in this tree RIGHT next to the camper! At first it was fun, but it was SO loud, and then it continued literally ALL night long. I had no idea whippoorwills were night birds, similar to owls. As soon as morning came, it stopped, just like the owls do.
This place is known for bird-watching and we sure did hear a lot of different birds. Our Merlin app picked up a lot of them.

As is the new thing to do, we just have to take photos of our Lone Peak camper in the scenic views.