Take a drive and visit an area that’s new to you, explore and eat, then hop in your car and head back home. We found seven of our favorite nearby destinations, perfect for a daytrip or even a weekend getaway.
Pickle Springs Natural Area
Pickle Springs
Less than 10 miles outside of Farmington, there’s a natural wonderland called Pickle Springs. This National Natural Landmark is a geological and biological treasure.
On the nearly 2-mile loop Trail Through Time visitors can experience the diverse spectacle of the state’s geology — rock outcroppings, a double arch, box canyons and waterfalls. Hughes Mountain is a large igneous knob that provides a scenic overview of the surrounding countryside. The moderate level trail, which can take more than an hour to complete, has a few steep sections to reach the Devil’s Honeycomb rock at the highest point.
People are also reading…
It’s taken millions of years to create this topography — sandy beaches of an ancient sea turned into Lamotte Sandstone, which was buried under deposits. Over time, erosion carved the tunnels, arches and hoodoos. Plant fossils dating to the Ice Age inhabit the area, along with 250 vascular plant species. Glacial relict species at Pickle Springs include the four-toed salamander, hay-scented fern, large whorled pogonia and ground cedar, all species of conservation concern, as well as rattlesnake plantain and shining clubmoss, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Pickle Springs is adjacent to southwest corner of Hawn State Park, one of the most stunning parks in Missouri and filled with miles of trails worth exploring.
Where: Just south of Highway 32 east of Farmington or west of Interstate 55. Take Highway 67 south to Highway 32 east to Missouri Highway AA and watch for the sign at the gravel road leading to Pickle Springs Natural Area. It’s about a 1-hour 15-minute drive from Arnold. Detailed directions at alturl.com/dzdab.
More information: 573-290-5730, Missouri Department of Conservation southeast regional office.
— Aisha Sultan
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum traces the president’s life from his boyhood to his death.
Springfield, Illinois
Illinois is the Land of Lincoln — it says so right on the license plates. And in Illinois there is nowhere more Lincolny than Springfield.
You can tour the house the Great Emancipator lived in for 16 years — it’s the only house he owned — and learn more about his life before he became president, and also during his presidency, at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. You can see the pew where he and his family worshipped and the tomb that is his final resting place.
If you’ve had your fill of Lincolniana, Springfield offers plenty more to do. The Dana-Thomas House is a terrific example of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie School architecture, and it is filled with the original Wright-designed furniture and light fixtures. The Old State Capitol is being renovated, but the current state Capitol is open for tours. And for a frothy bit of fun, the Ace Sign Co. has its own sign museum with more than 85 signs on display, a significant number of which are neon.
And if you are very, very hungry, try the signature local dish, available at a number of restaurants. The Horseshoe Sandwich is Texas toast covered with meat, cheese sauce, eggs and French fries.
Where: Take Interstate 55 north to Springfield; follow I-55 Business Route into downtown. The Visitors Center is at 1 Old State Capitol Plaza
More info: Springfield Visitors Center, 217-789-2360
— Daniel Neman
Division of Missouri Tourism Stone Hill Winery in Hermann, Mo.
Hermann, Missouri
Fresh off the release of “A Christmas Vintage” (now available on Prime Video, Peacock, Roku and Xumo streaming services), which was filmed in Hermann, the small Missouri town is ready for its closeup.
Hermann is known for wine and its German heritage, and it’s easy to get a dose of both on a short day trip. Beverage tastings are the biggest draw to the area. Adam Puchta Winery, featured in the movie and a longtime favorite of mine, offers six tastings for $10 and you keep the glass. You may even catch a glimpse of a shop cat or two. Hermanhoff and Stone Hill are two of the biggest wineries in the area and offer beautiful patios on nice days. At Stone Hill, take the tour, which takes you underground to the largest series of arched underground cellars in the U.S. If you are not a wine drinker, the Tin Mill Brewery is in the middle of town, and Copper Mule Distillery and Pickney Bend are just outside of town.
For that taste of Germany, don’t miss the Hermann Wurst House, a market and restaurant where you will want to try the bratwurst or grab some to take home. Explore historic German homes at the Deutschheim State Historic Site.
Finish your trip with a fun visit to Doxie Slush, which has an abundant menu of frozen cocktails as well as inventive seafood dishes. Dance the night away with live music at 1837 Cellar Bar, but then at that point you may want to just spend the night.
Where: Hermann is about an hour and half west of downtown St. Louis.
More info: visithermann.com
— Amy Bertrand
Founders and owners of Scratch Brewing Company, Marika Josephson and Aaron Kleidon, display a selection of roots, shoots and leaves, ingredients for Scratch beers.
Murphysboro-Ava
If you visited 17th Street BBQ when it boasted an outpost in the metro east, you know the baby-back ribs rubbed with Magic Dust are worth the two-hour drive south to the original Murphysboro, Illinois, location. Call it a barbecue pilgrimage — and a tribute to 17th Street’s late, great pitmaster Mike Mills. Mills’ daughter Amy now stokes the 17th Street legacy and has expanded its reach, opening the cafe Faye nearby.
Make a day of it in southern Illinois with lunch at 17th Street followed by a visit to Scratch Brewing Co. in Ava, Illinois, about a 20-minute drive from 17th Street. A nationally renowned brewery in a lovely woodsy setting, Scratch brews its beers with locally sourced — sometimes even foraged — ingredients. Don’t fill up on too much barbecue at 17th Street. Scratch also bakes pizza and bread in its wood-fired oven. (Hit the ATM before you head to Scratch; the brewery is cash-only.)
Where: 17th Street BBQ, 32 North 17th Street, Murphysboro, Illinois
More info: 618-684-3722; 17bbq.com
Where: Scratch Brewing Co., 264 Thompson Road, Ava
More info: 618-426-1415; scratchbeer.com
— Ian Froeb
Facing the brick-lined Hill Street is Hannibal’s most famous house, the Mark Twain Boyhood Home. The home is the centerpiece of the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum complex that includes two museums and the restored home of Becky Thatcher, Huck Finn, Twain’s father’s Justice of the Peace office and the Grant Drugstore.
Hannibal, Missouri
The folks of Hannibal know why you’re there: to see Mark Twain stuff. And they deliver.
Mark Twain is of course the famous humorist who wrote “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” both of which are set in St. Petersburg, Missouri, a thinly veiled Hannibal, Mark Twain’s birthplace.
The two boys, Tom and Huck, were best friends and visited grave yards, explored caves, painted fences (or got their friends to), and famously drifted down the river on a raft with a runaway slave. You can follow in their footsteps (not drift down the Mississippi on a raft, but the other stuff) in Hannibal.
The first stop should obviously be the Tom and Huck statue. They’re at the base of the somewhat massive staircase that leads up to the Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse, which offers a great view of the Mississippi River, where Twain worked for several years as a steamboat captain. (Mark Twain is actually a riverboat term and it indicates the depth of the water (12 feet). Twain’s real name was Samuel Clemens.)
Make your way down from the Lighthouse to North Street and head to the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum Properties. With just one ticket, you can tour Mark Twain’s boyhood home, the Becky Thatcher House, the Huckleberry Finn House, and the J.M. Clemens Justice of the Peace Office. There’s also an interpretive center and museum gallery.
Now, not all of those people are real, so they couldn’t have possibly had houses in Hannibal, but the exhibits explain a lot about the characters and that the houses are based on the fictional homes from St. Petersburg.
Right across from Becky Thatcher’s house is a fence with a bucket and a brush so you can get a photo of yourself painting a mock up of the famous fence from “Tom Sawyer.”
When you get tired of Mark Twain, you can hop on a steamboat and tour the Mississippi River or head up to the home and museum for the “Unsinkable” Molly Brown, a famous Titanic survivor. (Yes, surprisingly, Hannibal has two famous former citizens.) But we also urge you to head to the Mark Twain Cave, a pivotal location in “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.”
Where: Take Interstate 64/Highway 40 west to Highway 61 north. The Tom and Huck statue is on North Street near Main Street.
More info: Hannibal Convention and Visitors Bureau, visithannibal.com, 573-221-2477
— Rosalind Early
Elephant Rocks State Park is so named because of the enormous rocks that look like the backs of elephants.
Elephant Rocks State Park
Elephant Rocks State Park is usually an add-on when people visit Johnson Shut-Ins, which is about 20 minutes away. But Elephant Rocks is a great destination in its own right and, unlike the Shut-Ins, which typically require some camping trip to explore properly, is great for a day trip.
Nowadays, you can get food (hot dogs, nachos, etc.) at the park itself from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, but we recommend a quick stop at Mom’s, Volpi or Gioia’s (or another favorite deli) to pick up some sandwiches and drinks for the cooler before heading out.
The park is about 90 minutes away from St. Louis, and what it contains is pretty much in the name, Elephant Rocks. The giant rocks look like the landscape of Mars and offer plenty of Instagram friendly photos and fun spots to climb, play and sit to take in the view.
Even if you’re not outdoorsy, Elephant Rocks has an easy, informative trail (there’s even an electric seated scooter for people with mobility issues) that will loop you back to the parking lot so you’re guaranteed not to get lost. If you have the time and energy, definitely take the extended Engine House Ruins trail to see, well, the ruins of an old railroad engine house and to enjoy more time in the park.
Remember that lunch we told you to pack? If the weather is nice, the park has a ton of picnic tables for you to eat at.
Where: Take Interstate 55 south to Highway 32 west to State Highway N. (Printing out directions as a safeguard is a good idea.)
— Rosalind Early
TA view from the town square of a church in Ste. Genevieve.
Ste. Geneviève
You don’t have to be a lover of history to be swayed by the charms of Ste. Geneviève, the oldest permanent European settlement west of the Mississippi River.
But if you do enjoy history, that is a definite plus: The city of 5,000 is home to an array of fabulous old buildings dating back as far as 1790 (note the unusual vertical log walls), a few of which are open to the public. And don’t miss the Centre for French Colonial Life, which vividly depicts what life was like for the area’s original French settlers.
Aside from the history, Ste. Gen is a lively small town, its enchanting streets dotted with shops, restaurants and the occasional bar that service residents and tourists alike. For visitors, there are plenty of gift shops, art galleries and antiques stores.
And the Mississippi River is never far away; a short walk brings you to the Ste. Gen-Modoc River Ferry, which is fun to watch even if you aren’t crossing into Illinois.
The local restaurants offer plenty of options (seriously, don’t miss the onion rings at the Anvil Saloon — it’s been in business since 1855), but for more elegant surroundings, be sure to head to Chaumette Winery. When the weather is nice, you can dine on the porch with stunning views of vineyards spaced across gently rolling hills.
If it is still light when you head back from the town, and if you’re going north, do yourself a favor and head up Route 61 instead of the interstate. You’ll be wowed by the sudden pastoral vistas that add an exclamation point of beauty to a wonderful day.
Where: Take Interstate 55 south to Exit 150 (Mo. Routes A, B and 32). Follow Route 32 east into Ste. Geneviève, where it will become Center Drive, which will curve into 4th Street. Follow 4th Street to the center of the town.
More info: visitstegen.com
— Daniel Neman
