Looking for gifts for your nature-loving friend, relative or yourself? Publications on how to enjoy Missouri and Illinois nature areas near St. Louis run from free to inexpensive.

 

MAGAZINES

Missouri Conservationist

What • It covers outdoor activities — hiking, biking, hunting, fishing, trapping — from border to border and includes articles about environmental issues, public and private land management, history and conservation. Read this over the course of a year and you'll be an authority on Missouri conservation.

How much • Free, monthly issues.

Publisher • Missouri Department of Conservation.

Subscribe • Visit mdc.mo.gov/conmag

Outdoor Illinois

What • This monthly magazine is aimed at the outdoorsy individuals and families who are looking for fun. It touts all levels of outdoor recreation, but it's less hard core than the MDC mag. Also, it's interactive with photo contests, public contributions, events and features such as campfire recipes.

How much • $15 a year; less if you subscribe more years. Subscription includes a wall calendar. Also, subscribers will receive regular emails from the publisher.

Subscribe • Visit dnr.state.il.us/oi/

Publisher • Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Missouri resources

What • Outdoors also means rock collecting, exploring caves, archaeology, natural wonders, appreciating sunshine, following the maintenance of land, air and water. This is a high-quality slick-page magazine for people who want to know about the preservation of the environment and history — all the way back to the mastodons — with respect to the outdoors. One issue addressed ozone, asbestos, idling cars and beautiful state parks.

How much • Free, published three times a year.

Subscribe • Visit dnr.mo.gov/magazine/subscription.htm

Read online • Visit dnr.mo.gov/magazine/index.html and includes back issues.

Publisher • Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

 

BOOKS

By Robert Rubright • "Walks and Rambles in and Around St. Louis," $20; and "Weekend Walks in St. Louis and Beyond," $16.

What • Both are still in print while Rubright trods the television and talk show circuit around St. Louis. Rubright is the investigative journalist of hikers. His books present some obscure trails, and he creates routes in areas not considered trails. His radius is 150 miles. He mixes urban hikes with country hikes. His details are precise, and he has walked every inch he writes about.

Where to buy • Online and bookstores.

Publisher • Backcountry publications.

MDC library

What • The website has a set of about 30 books, including "Conservation Trails," $5; "Field Guide: Trees of Missouri," $7.50; "Missouri's Wild Mushrooms," $14; "Missouri Wildflowers," $14; "Tried & True Missouri Native Plants," $6. Other books cover Missouri orchids, reptiles and amphibians, shrubs and woody vines, butterflies and moths, fish, insects and water plants.

How much • Books range from $5 to hardbacks for $40.

Where to buy • Visit mdcnatureshop.com/. Many of the books are available at Powder Valley Nature Center, Columbia Bottom Visitor Center, Missouri Botanical Garden and bookstores.

"60 Hikes in 60 Miles: St. Louis"

What • The title is self-explanatory. What's best is that author Steve Henry has updated it regularly since 1982. The book also includes directions, detailed descriptions, GPS mapping and other helpers.

How much • $9 to $14 depending on where you purchase it.

Where to buy • It's widely available online and in bookstores.

Publisher • Menasha Ridge Press, MenashaRidge.com.

"Hiking Missouri" and "Hiking Illinois"

What • Both are from Human Kinetics of Champaign, Ill. The Missouri book features 127 hikes; Illinois, 107 hikes. The descriptions by the authors — Kevin Lohraff for Missouri and Susan Post for Illinois — include information about bicycling and horseback riding as well as hiking. Each natural area has a starred map on the page to show the location of the trail in the state. The book is divided into regions. The segments for central and southern regions in the Illinois book are enormous.

How much • $10 to $15, depending on where you purchase them.

Where to buy • Available online and in bookstores.

Publisher • Human Kinetics of Champaign, Ill.

"Walking St. Louis"

What • Judith Galas and Cindy West put together a touristy book on hikes, in the city and suburbs. Many are walks the authors mapped in St. Louis neighborhoods, historic cemeteries and local parks — for example, routes in the St. Louis Zoo, Missouri Botanical Garden and St. Charles Main Street. Appendices include landmarks and boutique restaurants and diversions.

How much • $11.

Where to buy • Bookstores and online.

Publisher • Falcon Guide.