Southwest Missouri
Lockwood sits on prairie at the edge of the Osage Plains
The Lockwood area sits in prairie country on the western edge of the Ozark border. The land is open Osage Plains grassland, and small remnant prairies like Niawathe Prairie survive nearby on protected ground.
Around Lockwood, the western side of Dade County is mostly open prairie and gently rolling grassland. This is the edge of the Osage Plains. It looks different from the wooded, rocky Ozark hills to the east and south. Because the land is open here, much of it is used for grazing, hay, and crops rather than tree-covered hill farms.
Long ago, tallgrass prairie covered much of this country. Small pieces of that native prairie still survive on protected ground. The Missouri Department of Conservation cares for several prairie areas near Lockwood. One is Niawathe Prairie Conservation Area, a 320-acre remnant prairie in Dade County that is also marked as a state Natural Area.
If you want to visit a prairie or check a site’s size or status, look it up first on the Missouri Department of Conservation site or call the area office. Treat any “largest” or “last remaining” claim as something to confirm.
References
Where this fits: this note belongs to Dade County. See every local note for the county on its page.