Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge

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Mound City, MO
Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge

Located near Mound City, Missouri. Take exit 79 from I-29 in NW Missouri and proceed south 3 miles. Welcome

This is an official page of the U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service. To learn more about our social media efforts, and to find a list of official USFWS social media sites, please visit our social media hub:http://www.fws.gov/home/socialmedia/

Our agency is known for our scientific excellence, our stewardship of lands and natural resources, and our dedicated conservation and wildlife professionals. While we hope that this page will help y

ou stay connected to our work, we also hope that it will keep us connected to you and the issues you care about. Your participation on this page is vital and all feedback is welcome--both good and bad. Your perspective is welcomed and we hope that conversations about the Service can be productive, fun, and engaging. Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge offers something to everyone no matter the age. Explore the refuge via our 13-mile auto tour route, explore its Loess Hills on its three trails that offer sky views of the refuge below. Bring your children to the refuge to experience the refuge. Eagle Days are always the 1st weekend of December and offers the public views of our hundreds of Bald Eagles and hundreds of thousands of Snow Geese. Originally known as Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge the name was changed to Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge on January 11, 2017 in order to remove the derogatory word squaw from the name.

03/18/2026

The USFWS will be conducting prescribed burns today, 3/18, and tomorrow, 3/19, in the northwest corner of the refuge. Road closures are not expected but please adhere to posted speed limits and watch out for fire personnel that may be working on or near the auto tour.

The habitat, waterfowl, and bald eagle survey from March 17th, 2026 has been uploaded to our website. View this survey here:

https://www.fws.gov/media/loess-bluffs-waterfowl-survey-03-17-2026

Photo: Overlooking Eagle and Pelican Pool from the Loess Bluffs Trail, 3.7.26 - USFWS

03/13/2026

The USFWS will be conducting a prescribed burn today, March 13th, in the north end of Eagle Pool. Smoke impacts on the auto tour are expected to be minimal. Please use caution when traveling the auto tour and keep an eye out for fire personnel that will be working near the road along the east side of the auto tour loop.

02/25/2026

***Update***

As of 2:00pm, all road closures have been lifted and the auto tour is back open to one way traffic.

The USFWS will be conducting a prescribed burn today, February 25th, along the east side of Eagle Pool. The stretch of road shown in red on the map will be closed from approximately 10:00 am until firing operations are complete and smoke has cleared the auto tour. The auto tour shown in blue will remain open to two way traffic during this time. The main entrance to the refuge and auto tour, shown in white, may be temporarily closed during firing operations for up to an hour. If this occurs, traffic will be redirected to the visitor center parking lot where volunteers will be available to provide directions to the north entrance of the refuge or stop in the visitor center until the main entrance closure is lifted. Please use caution when traveling the auto tour and watch out for fire personnel that may be working near the road.

The habitat, waterfowl, and bald eagle survey from February 24th, 2026 has been uploaded to our website. View this survey here:

https://www.fws.gov/media/loess-bluffs-waterfowl-survey-02-24-2026es

02/14/2026

The visitor center will be closed tomorrow, February 14th, through Monday, February 16th, and will reopen on Tuesday. The trails and self guided auto tour are open every day from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset.

02/13/2026

Our refuge biologist will be presenting on the importance of Loess Bluffs NWR as a crucial wintering and migration stopover for trumpeter swans in the central US. The presentation will also highlight the refuge's role in the recovery of the species. Join this free webinar on February 19, 2026, to learn more about Loess Bluffs NWR, wetland management, and trends in trumpeter swan populations over the years. To attend, please preregister using the following link:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7n7A6ddHSIa4aY3P0u7NrQ #/registration

Right now is a fantastic time to witness the spring snow goose migration and observe our nation's largest native waterfowl, the trumpeter swan, at Loess Bluffs NWR. Tuesday's waterfowl count resulted in 50,000 snow geese. That number is considerably higher today and may continue to increase through the weekend. You can find our recent waterfowl and eagle surveys here:

https://www.fws.gov/library/collections/loess-bluffs-2026-waterfowl-and-bald-eagle-surveys

02/08/2026

The USFWS will be conducting a prescribed burn today, February 8th, in the wet prairie to the north of Eagle Pool. While no smoke impacts to the auto tour are expected, please use caution when traveling the auto tour and keep an eye out for fire personnel.

01/21/2026

***Update*** All road closures have been lifted, and the entrance off of Hwy 118 is now open.

The USFWS will be conducting a prescribed burn today, January 22nd, along the west side of the refuge. There will be smoke impacts to the auto tour and the route shown in red on the map will be closed from approximately 11am to 4pm. The route shown in green will be open to two-way traffic, and all visitors will need to use the Hwy 159 entrance during this time. An update will be provided here once the auto tour is reopened.

01/16/2026

Trumpeter swan numbers continued to increase this week, while most eagles started migrating back to their breeding grounds. Our resident breeding pairs of eagles can be seen tending to their nests in preparation for nesting season. There are currently four eagle nests on the refuge. Three are visible from the auto tour.

The habitat, waterfowl, and bald eagle survey from January 13, 2026 has been uploaded to our website. View this survey here:

https://www.fws.gov/media/loess-bluffs-waterfowl-survey-01-13-2026

Photo: Swan Yoga - Dave Hoffman (trumpeter swan stretching on top of a muskrat lodge)

01/07/2026

This week continues to offer excellent bald eagle and trumpeter swan viewing opportunities from the auto tour. Snow goose numbers are on the rise as frozen wetlands thaw and open water habitat becomes available.

The auto tour and trails are open every day from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. The visitor center is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am to 3 pm, and closed Sunday and Monday.

The habitat, waterfowl, and bald eagle survey from January 6, 2026 has been uploaded to our website. View this survey here:

https://www.fws.gov/media/loess-bluffs-waterfowl-survey-01-06-2026

Photo: Roosting bald eagles with Loess Hills in the background - Rick Bozada

12/31/2025

We have a new bald eagle record! Yesterday, 1,012 bald eagles were observed on the refuge during the survey. The previous record from January 3, 2022, was 833 eagles. If you've been considering making the trip to see eagles this winter, now is the time! Our visitor center will be open today, Friday, and Saturday this week from 10am to 3pm, and closed tomorrow for the holiday. The auto tour and trails are open every day from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. Happy New Year!

The habitat, waterfowl, and bald eagle survey from December 30, 2025 has been uploaded to our website. View this survey here:

https://www.fws.gov/media/loess-bluffs-waterfowl-survey-12-30-2025

Photo: Recent adult bald eagle in flight at Loess Bluffs NWR - Dan Staples

12/07/2025

46th Annual Eagle Days going on TODAY at Loess Bluffs NWR! Lots of free activities for the whole family.

Come on out and enjoy a live eagle show by World Bird Sanctuary, drive the auto tour and stop at a biologist staffed spotting scope station to get up close with a bald eagle, trumpeter swan, or other waterfowl, or stop in the visitor center to make a button or visit other vendors. The eagle show is in a heated building along with an area inside to enjoy food that is available for purchase from the Maryville Scouts.

We have three remaining live eagle shows today at 12:00, 1:00, and 2:00 with the event ending at 3:00 pm.

Thank you to everyone that was able to make it out and enjoy their national wildlife refuge yesterday!

Due to recent website updates we were unable to post our recent waterfowl survey from last week. Even with a majority of the wetlands frozen, there are still excellent eagle, swan, and waterfowl viewing opportunities! We still have close to 2,000 trumpeter swans, hundreds of eagles, and thousands of ducks and geese. See photos for the 12/2 count. See past surveys here:

https://www.fws.gov/library/collections/loess-bluffs-2025-waterfowl-and-bald-eagle-surveys

Photos: Live Eagle Show and USFWS Staffed Spotting Scope Station - USFWS

Address

US-159 South Off I-29 & Exit 79
Mound City, MO
64470

Telephone

+16604423187

Website

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Loess_Bluffs/

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