The 132-acre Dillard Mill State Historic Site offers a fully operational turbine-powered roller mill which can be toured and a mill store built around 1899. There is also a day-use picnic area with a shelter and a mile-and-a-half hiking trail through a glade and wooded uplands east of the mill.
If flying fascinates you and aviation amps you up, take off for an incredible free air show Sept. 16–17, 2023. You’ll have a chance to marvel at military aircraft from decades past and catch captivating aeronautic performances and daredevil displays.
Lexington, Mo is brimming with annetebellum homes and amazing architecture, and is surrounded by beautiful landscapes. The Anderson House was used as a hospital during the Civil War. The site is most notable for the Battle of the Hemp Bales. Come find out why.
Visit Missouri’s “Little Grand Canyon” where you will find a true chasm, caves, a natural bridge, and picnic areas. Park managers have laid out trails and installed wheelchair-accessible boardwalks and overlooks at this 322-acre day-use park.
Most circuses — whether large and famous like Ringling Bros., and Barnum & Bailey, or small and regional — are traveling ones, and set up a big Big Top tent to perform in. But not this circus. It is traveling, but there is no Big Top tent involved!
Thomas Hart Benton is best known for the murals in our state capitol in Jefferson City. The home and studio that Benton and his wife Rita shared in Kansas City have been left perfectly preserved. The paints, furniture, sketches, and even his pipe sit right where he left them on the day he died.
Lake of the Ozarks State Park has an interesting history. Learn how the lake itself came to be. More than just a lake for boating and fishing, the park is filled with trails, caves, miles of shoreline, great fishing, camps, an airport, and so much more.
Casting about for a way to enjoy some fresh air and fun with your family? Here’s a reel-y fun – and free! – event you’re sure to fall hook, line, and sinker for: a Kids Free Fishing Day on Saturday, August 19. Don’t let this one get away!
The largest spring in the state, rainbow trout, a nature center, and a lodge with a restaurant are just a few of the fabulous things you will find at Bennett Spring State Park. Pack up the car and spend a weekend exploring this park.
Make your way to the “cave park.” Take in the immense beauty as you float the river, stop by the visitor center and museum, check out the aquariums, and marvel at the geological wonders. Take a guided tour of one of the caves in the summer.
When you think about it, dog owning and golfing have quite a bit in common: Both require walking. Carrying a bag. Chasing a ball. Even doglegs! But here’s an event where dogs and golf have even more “linking” them.
The Missouri and Kansas border was a contentious place during the Civil War. Make your way along the trail at this historic site to view the landscape where African Americans fighting in the Civil War earned their place in Missouri—and national—history.
Late July is the prime time to go see beautiful, sunny, sunflowers. They are glorious to look at and they make bees, other pollinators, and deer happy. Take a day trip to see thousands of these bright, colorful flowers and hear the buzzing of the bees.
You probably know bees are pollinators, and very beneficial to the environment. But how much do you know about bees that live in an Ozark fen— a wetland fed by groundwater, not rain or surface streams? Here’s a chance to bee-come more informed.
By foot is the best way to see Pickle Creek, sandstone landscapes, shut-ins, and distinctive flora. Rose azaleas accent fern-covered ledges and Whispering Pine Wild Area beckons you to discover the wonders this State Park has to offer.
The silence that surrounds you at this site belies what happened here during the Civil War. This is where one of the earliest engagements of the Civil War took place. Stand in the spot where the Union fired the final battle shots.
Granite “elephants” came to be due to uplift and erosion. Make plans to visit today. You can follow a Braille trail and have a snack on the picnic tables hidden among the rocks. There is so much to see and learn among these “elephants.”
Learn how the site of an early Civil War skirmish became a State Historic Site. Uncover prehistoric Indian sites and part of a Sauk Indian village. Take a hike to see rich flora that are relics of glacial times. Can you find the “cannonball house?”
Dedicated in 1938, this gem of a state park now sits amid an expanding suburban landscape and is worthy of a visit any time of year. There are twenty-two CCC-era structures to visit, rocky hills to hike, and massive trees to stop and rest under.
Pure Air Natives has been supplying Missouri and adjacent states with high-quality native seed and plant material for more than 25 years. The Pure Air Natives team has worked with farmers, recreational landowners, developers, architects, engineers, landscape architects, owners and enthusiasts on projects across the Midwest.
Jump in the car or fire up your motorcycle for a really fun ride. Grab a burger or some Texas-style BBQ. Find out why Missouri is called the Cave State. And end the day at a bed-and-breakfast or a hotel to rest up for the ride home.
Find great adventure on a driving tour that takes you to lakes and rivers, and down scenic fun to drive roads. Jump in the pool, grab a slice of pie, then at the end of the trip, sip a brew and listen to live music.
Take a day or weekend trip to two small towns filled with big things to do. From historic homes, to a stunning art gallery to an array of great things to eat. Visit an above-ground pool built in the early 1900s and learn about these towns’ Civil War history.
Spend a day or two on the road and in nature on this adventure in the Ozarks. See elk and rivers and lakes. Float, swim, fish, picnic, and relax. Take a hike or rent a boat for the day. Be sure and stick around for a stunning sunset.
Missouri blooms in spring with native trees showing off their glories. Consider adding our native trees to your own landscape. They frequently have the advantage of requiring less water and lower maintenance, and they provide food for wildlife.
A search for the most remote place in Missouri takes our team over hill and dale and through wild splendor. Our writer was warned about feral hogs and bears, not to mention snakes and ticks. How did he find the spot? And what did he find?
Veterans can fish for free all day Saturday, September 17, 2022, at Roaring River State Park.
Missouri Life magazine’s new editor-in-chief, Sandy Selby, greets readers through the My Missouri Life column.
I popped up from my nest of pillows and books in the back of the family station wagon and announced, “I’m going to live in Missouri when I grow up.” I made that declaration at age nine as my family traveled from our home in northeastern Oklahoma to Branson for a vacation.
Part native fruit and part pioneer weather forecaster, the American persimmon ripens this month around the state.
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