Hercules Glades Wilderness

The Hercules Glades Wilderness is a 12,314-acre wilderness area in Taney County in the Ozarks of southwest Missouri. The United States Congress designated it a wilderness in 1976, making it the oldest wilderness area in Missouri. It is one of eight wilderness areas in the Mark Twain National Forest and is within the Ava-Cassville-Willow Springs ranger district, about 10 miles northeast of Branson, Missouri. Hercules Glades Wilderness derives its name from the open limestone glades that dot its landscape. The high points of Coy Bald and Pilot Knob stand 600 feet above Long Creek and offer splendid views of the drainage. Near the middle of the wilderness area is the main set of waterfalls, though Long Creek has several other smaller waterfalls and cascades along its path.

The flora is a mix of typical oak and hickory forests interspersed with open post oak savannahs and rocky, desert-like glades; it is home to many species of plants and wildlife. This includes some that are often considered to be southwestern species. prickly pear cacti, roadrunner, scorpions, collared lizard, pygmy rattlesnakes, and even tarantulas call Hercules Glades Wilderness home, not to mention other wildlife more common in Missouri like the white-tailed deer and wild turkey. Hercules Glades Wilderness is also home to many species of plants that are Ozark endemics. Some of these plants are Bush's skullcap , Ozark corn salad , purple penstemon , and Trelease's larkspur . Depending on past land-use histories some places within Hercules Glades Wilderness exhibit floral diversities that rival most other areas in Missouri.

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