The Roger Pryor Pioneer Backcountry is a 61000 acre (247 km²) area of private land that is managed by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources

Missouri Department of Natural Resources

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources of the government of the U.S. state of Missouri consists of the Division of Environmental Quality, the Division of Geology and Land Survey, the Division of State Parks, the Environmental and Energy Resources Authority, and the Field Services Division....

 for hiking

Hiking

Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...

 and backpacking

Backpacking (wilderness)

Backpacking combines the activities of hiking and camping for an overnight stay in backcountry wilderness...

 by the public. The land is part of the largest private forest

Forest

A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

 in the state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

, the Pioneer Forest, owned by Leo Drey

Leo Drey

Leo A. Drey is a Missouri timber magnate, conservationist, and philanthropist.Born January 19, 1917, in St. Louis, Missouri, to a wealthy manufacturer of glassware, Drey began acquiring timberland in the Missouri Ozarks for reforestation and conservation in 1950...

's L-A-D Foundation.

The area is crossed by 27 miles (43 km) of trails: the 13 miles (21 km) Blair Creek Section of the Ozark Trail

Ozark Trail (hiking trail)

The Ozark Trail is a hiking, backpacking, and, in many places, biking and equestrian trail under construction in the Missouri Ozarks in the United States. It is intended to reach from St. Louis to Arkansas. Over of the trail have been completed as of 2008, and the estimated length when finished...

, the 12 miles (19 km) Brushy Creek Trail, and a 2 miles (3.2 km) Laxton Hollow Trail, which connects to the Ozark Trail. Two significant wilderness areas are included in the managed area: the Current River Natural Area contains 400-year old trees, and the Pioneer Natural Area adjacent to the Current River

Current River (Missouri)

The Current River forms in the southeastern portion of the Ozarks of Missouri and becomes a 7th order stream as it flows southeasterly out of the Ozarks into northeastern Arkansas where it becomes a tributary of the Black River, which is a tributary of the White River, a tributary of the...

 is home to old-growth cedar and hardwood

Hardwood

Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...

trees.