Take a day trip just past the borders of St. Louis and discover a variety of natural and historic sites. Whether your journey takes you to a place of natural beauty or historical importance, every destination within the St. Louis region promises to be a memorable experience.

Missouri Wineries
Drive an hour west of St. Louis and a different side of Missouri unfolds. The rolling tree-covered hillside is home to many small towns with German heritage and 150 years of wine making history. The restoration of several original wineries and vineyards in the 1960s signaled the rebirth of Missouri commercial wine production. Today the state boasts over 40 wineries.

Hermann, Mo., a small town nestled on the bank of the Missouri River, is home to seven wineries which offer tours and tasting and are highlighted each fall during the town's Oktoberfest.

Katy Trail State Park
Running nearly 225 miles across the state, the Katy Trail offers bicyclists and hikers an extraordinary opportunity to travel through Missouri's diverse landscape. The Katy Trail is built on the former corridor of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT) Railroad, better known as the Katy, and closely follows the Missouri River through forests, prairies, pastureland, and farm fields. Trail heads, which provide parking areas and other amenities, are located periodically, and many towns along the trail offer services including overnight accommodations.

Shaw Nature Reserve
Located thirty minutes west of St. Louis, Shaw Nature Reserve is the rural research center of the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. This 2,500 acre botanical laboratory and conservation project is restoring the native tall grass prairies, glades, wetlands, savannas, and woodlands. Fourteen miles of hiking trails traverse the Reserve, which includes the historic Bascom House. Inside are exhibits on the history of land use in the lower Meramec Valley.

Elephant Rocks State Park
This park is known for the large outcroppings of crystalline red granite that formed 1.5 billion years ago when tons of hot magma erupted to the Earth's surface and cooled into huge boulders. Through time these massive rocks have split, fallen, and weathered to reveal a shape that resembles the back of a line of elephants. Travel time from St. Louis south to Elephant Rocks State Park is one hour and thirty minutes.

Boyhood Home of Mark Twain
Hannibal, Mo., a 19th century river town, was the boyhood home of author Samuel L. Clemens, best known by his pseudonym, Mark Twain. Twain lived in this now restored town during the early part of the 19th century. Sites of interest include Mark Twain's boyhood home and other places immortalized in his novels "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn." Hannibal is a two-hour drive north of St. Louis.