Boone County, Missouri in the context of "Columbia metropolitan area (Missouri)"

Columbia is a city in Boone County, Missouri, United States, and its county seat. It was founded in 1821 and had a population of 126,254 as recorded in the 2020 United States census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Missouri. Columbia is a Midwestern college town, home to the University of Missouri, a major research institution also known as MU or Mizzou. In addition to the university and surrounding Downtown Columbia are Stephens College and Columbia College, giving the city its educational focus and nearly 40,000 college students. It is the principal city of the Columbia metropolitan area, population 215,811, and the central city of the nine-county Columbia–Jefferson City–Moberly combined statistical area with 415,747 residents. The city is the fastest-growing municipality in Missouri, with a growth of almost 40% since 2000, and a population estimated at 130,900 in 2024. Columbia is among the most-educated cities in the United States with about half of citizens being college graduates and about a quarter holding advance degrees.

The city is built on the oak-forested hills and rolling prairies of Mid-Missouri, near the Missouri River, where the Ozark Mountains transition into plains and savanna. At the city's center is the Avenue of the Columns (8th Street), connecting Francis Quadrangle and Jesse Hall to the Boone County Courthouse and City Hall. Surrounding Columbia is a greenbelt including Rock Bridge Memorial State Park, Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area, the Mark Twain National Forest, Katy Trail State Park, Finger Lakes State Park, and the Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge. Limestone bedrock forms bluffs and glades while rain dissolves the bedrock, creating karst (caves and springs) which water the Hinkson, Roche Perche, Flat Branch, and Bonne Femme creeks. Within city limits, there is an extensive city parks and trails system with a focus on non-motorized transportation, including the MKT Trail. The Columbia Agriculture Park is home to the nationally-regarded Columbia Farmers Market.

The Boone County Courthouse is the location of the 13th Judicial Circuit of Missouri, covering Boone and Callaway counties. The courthouse is in the Boone County Government Complex in downtown Columbia, Missouri. It is the third court at this location. The first housed a studio of George Caleb Bingham and is the subject of the 1855 painting Verdict of the People.

The courthouse, at 705 E. Walnut Street, is a contributing property to the Downtown Columbia Historic District.

Rock Bridge Memorial State Park is a geological preserve and public recreation area encompassing 2,273 acres (920 ha), five miles (8.0 km) south of Columbia in Boone County, Missouri off of Missouri Route 163. The state park is home to 12 caves and is noted for its excellent examples of karst landforms including the rock bridge, sinkholes, and an underground stream at the cave known as Devil's Icebox. The rock bridge was created by the collapse of a section of a cave which resulted in a small arch of rock being left to form a natural bridge over the creek. The park is the only known home of Kenkia glandulosa, a flatworm commonly known as the pink planarian.

Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area is a nature preserve and wetland in Boone County, Missouri. Located mainly in the Missouri River floodplain southwest of Columbia, Missouri and managed by the Missouri Department of Conservation, the wetlands are a refuge for migrating birds and home to several breeding pairs of bald eagles. The area is named after these eagles and the tall bluffs along the eastern edge of the Missouri River floodplain. Perche Creek flows through the refuge. McBaine, Missouri is located at the north entrance to the area. The Katy Trail State Park traverses the area.

The conservation area was created after the Great Flood of 1993 destroyed farmland. Water for the wetlands is provided by the Missouri River, but also, an innovative system to supply wastewater from the City of Columbia's treatment plant.

Finger Lakes State Park is a public recreation area consisting of 1,138 acres (461 ha) in Boone County near the city of Columbia, Missouri, and adjacent to the Rocky Fork Lakes Conservation Area. The state park is unusual in that the site was reclaimed after having been strip mined for coal. It is one of two state parks in Missouri used for off-road vehicles. The history of the other, St. Joe State Park, is also connected with mining.

Hinkson Creek is a stream in Boone County in the U.S. state of Missouri. Its middle section runs through the city of Columbia, Missouri It was named after Robert Hinkson, a pioneer citizen who lived along its banks. Several trails, conservation areas, and parks are along its path. it eventually empties into Perche Creek southwest of Columbia. The MKT Trail follows the creek in Boone County.

The stream headwaters arise at 39°07′50″N 92°10′51″W / 39.13056°N 92.18083°W / 39.13056; -92.18083 approximately two miles northeast of Hallsville at an approximate elevation of 880 feet. The stream flows south-southwest past Hallsville and through the east side of Columbia where it passes under US Route 63 and I-70. South of Columbia the stream turns to the west-southwest and reaches its confluence with Perche Creek at 38°55′19″N 92°24′51″W / 38.92194°N 92.41417°W / 38.92194; -92.41417 at an elevation of 558 feet.

Perche Creek, or Roche Perche Creek is a stream in Boone and Randolph counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. Besides the Missouri River it is the largest stream in Boone County, Missouri and forms much of the western border of the city of Columbia, Missouri. The northern source is in southeast Randolph County approximately six miles south of Moberly.

Perche Creek was named for a natural bridge on a cliff of the Missouri River near the former location of the mouth of the Perche. The Missouri French called it Roche Perche ("pierced rock") and the Kentuckians and Virginians who settled Boone County adopted the name from them. Currently the Roche Perche flows into the Missouri River about a mile north of Providence.

Bonne Femme Creek (also known as Big Bonne Femme Creek) is a stream in Boone County in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is a tributary of the Missouri River. The creek is one of the "three creeks" of Three Creeks Conservation Area. According to tradition, Bonne Femme ("good woman") was the nickname of an Indian who helped a French settler recover from his wounds. Its two major tributaries are Turkey Creek and Bass Creek.