Short walks from any of the parking areas may turn up a feeding flock, any of Missouri’s resident woodpeckers, and in summer a variety of species singing on territory. At the 5th lot there is a picnic table with a small open area. Check it for woodpeckers and small passerines. A short two-track road leads to a garage building and beyond is a short trail that loops around a food plot.

Breeding warblers include Louisiana Waterthrush, Ovenbird, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Worm-eating, Black-and-White, Kentucky, Hooded, and Pine. Among other breeders are Chuck-will’s-widow, Whip-poor-will, Acadian Flycatcher, Eastern Wood-pewee, Eastern Phoebe, Great Crested Flycatcher, Wood Thrush, Yellow-breasted Chat, Eastern Towhee, Summer and Scarlet Tanager, Blue Grosbeak and Baltimore Oriole.

This area has been designated by Audubon Missouri as an Important Bird Area
(IBA).

Directions: From Jonesburg (I-70 exit 183), take Rt. Y southwest for 5 miles, then continue southwest on Tower Rd. for 2 miles into the area.

Although the MDC site description touts hikes through “deep valleys, woodlands, savannas, glades and rugged hills,” it should be noted that of 3,523 acres, only 5 acres are described as “glade”, only 10 as non-praire grassland and 50 acres as “savanna”. Four ponds total 4 acres; thus 3,451 acres are forest and woodland. The “deep valleys…and rugged hills” is certainly an accurate description. Tower Rd. bisects the area in a generally northeast/southwest direction, for the most part running along a ridge top.

The pine stands along Tower Rd. often harbor nesting Pine Warblers that may arrive on territory as early as March. If the first stand has no warblers, try the next one, as the warblers may not be in all of them.

At the fork, a right off Tower Road leads past a small pond very near the parking area at the split. At the end is a parking/horse staging/camping area offering an open area for viewing into trees and grass, with a pond nearby.

Staying left on Tower Road leads to three more lots (all on the left). There are two ponds on the right. Pond #1 can be seen from the road and examined more closely with a very short walk. A food plot behind the last lot offers a rare opportunity to bird a flat open area and the adjacent ecotone. 

The 923-acre Razor Hollow Natural Area is best accessed from the third parking
area (first on the left) via Area Access Trail 1213.