Construction will soon begin at MDC’s Pleasant Hope Conservation Area Shooting Range

PLEASANT HOPE, Mo. – Construction will soon be underway at Pleasant Hope Conservation Area Shooting Range.

The Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) unstaffed shooting range has been closed since July 2021 due to public misuse and safety concerns. The range was a popular destination with more than 14,000 visitors in 2015 based on a public use survey.

After an in-depth review, MDC has developed a plan for a new unstaffed shooting range at the conservation area. In May 2026, the Conservation Commission awarded a contract to Crossland Construction Company, Inc. (Crossland) for the construction of a modern unstaffed shooting range for $11,181.204.24.

Construction will soon begin and, while work is in progress, access to the area will be restricted due to the main entrance road's location within the construction zone.

As a part of the construction contract, the old, south-facing range will be demolished and a new one oriented to the north will be constructed. The modernized shooting range will feature 100-yard, 50-yard, and 25-yard shooting lanes and tall sidewall and downrange berms. The 50- and 100-yard lanes will have a “no blue sky” firing line cover and the 25-yard lanes have a firing line cover that allows standing and seated shooting for pistols and rimfires. Each shooting lane will have shooting benches located beneath covered pavilions. Each firing line cover will have sound absorbing panels in the roof.

The range is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2027 and will open to the public.

MDC has other shooting ranges in the Southwest Region people can use while Pleasant Hope Conservation Area Shooting Range is under construction.

Andy Dalton Shooting Range is located at 4897 N. Greene County Farm Road 61. The staffed range is open Wednesday-Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and is closed Monday and Tuesday. Learn more at mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places/andy-dalton-shooting-range-outdoor-education-center.