GraceyFoundation.org

Welcome to the Official Friends of Maple Woods Natural Area Website.

The Friends of Maple Woods organization is a not-for-profit organization founded solely for promotion and preservation of the Maple Woods Nature Preserve. The group is non-partisan, non-political, volunteers will not be paid.

Thank you for visiting my page at ANGELFIRE. Please come back and visit again!

4/25/10 Sort of a cold and windy day to be in the woods but finding Morels right off the path was a bonus. Didn't like finding a new campfire site and we definitely need to get out of trail for trash removal.

4/1/10 Nice walk in the Preserve last evening. The Dutchman's Britches are already in bloom so if you want to see them this year you have about a week left.

3/22/10 To date the Friends of Maple Woods Nature Preserve has collected over 4,000 dollars to help upkeep and protect the area. We have raised awareness of this amazing local treasure. On March 8th the Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation sent the money from our account and the money has been deposited in the special account at Gladstone Parks and Rec. This account will only be used for Maple Woods Natural Area. Greg

Dutchman's Britches

New Bench thanks to Dylan Cochran of Troop 179

The area is unique in several ways. It is a National and State recognized historic natural area. This area contains virgin uncut stands of Hard Maple, Oak and Hickory trees. The Maple stand is said to be the largest in the Midwest. The Maple Woods Nature Preserve is owned by the Missouri Conservation Department and the visitor trails are maintained by the City of Gladstone Parks and Rec. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1980. The Natural area was one of Missouri's first. It has never been logged or farmed and KC Wildlands has removed most invasive species. The understory is paw paw and woodland flowers including rare native orchids.