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Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuge |
Welcome to Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuge Boyer Chute is now open to the public for day use - including fishing! Driving access to the refuge has been restored from the main entrance gate along CR-34 south to the main parking lot, Sauger fishing pier and south chute confluence trail. Walking access from the main parking lot to the island is open across the chute bridge. Due to long term impacts resulting from severe area flooding, partial driving tour road closures still exist. All sections of the chute driving road north of the main entrance gate will remain closed indefinitely. The catfish fishing pier was destroyed in the flood and has not been replaced. For further information please call 712/388-4800.
The area that is now Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) was originally an island of sand and sediments deposited in the Missouri River by the Boyer River. Gradually, the Missouri River eroded channels (chutes) through the sediment. One of the major channels was Boyer Chute, named after the Boyer River, which in turn got its name from a settler who hunted and trapped in the watershed before the time of Lewis and Clark. Missouri River explorers, including Lewis and Clark, John J. Audubon, Prince Maximillian, and Major Long, navigated through the area as they traveled up the river. The Refuge is a joint Federal and local conservation partnership designed to restore a portion of the Missouri River habitat that flows through the 2 1/2 - mile long chute and parallels the main flow of the river. Riparian woodland, tallgrass prairie, and palustrine and riverine wetlands are the major upland wildlife habitats that are being restored and protected. These habitats benefit Missouri River fishes, migratory birds, endangered species, and resident wildlife.
Become a refuge "Friend" or volunteer. Contact the Friends of Boyer Chute and DeSoto NWRs for more details at: http://www.friendsofboyerdesoto.org
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In the centuries before European settlement in this area, the Missouri River had multiple, braided channels. During times of flooding, the river would change course suddenly and unpredictably across its wide floodplain. Between 1820 and 1937, natural meandering of the river moved it 3 miles eastward from the Fort Calhoun bluffs (site of historic Fort Atkinson) to its present location.
