Visitors Guide to Attractions
Sainte Genevieve, Missouri
Sainte Genevieve has the largest concentration of French Colonial architecture in North America and includes the Bolduc House, the Amoreaux House, and the La Maison Guibourd. The influence of the American expansion into the area in the 19th century can be seen at the Felix Vallé State Historic Site. Nearby Hawn State Park and Pickle Springs Natural area offer nature lovers unique hiking opportunities.
Sainte Genevieve Welcome Center
Sainte Genevieve, Missouri
A good starting point for your visit to this historic town is this tourist information center. The Center has a walking tour video and area brochures. The Center also hosts the Roscoe Misselhorn Gallery with many of his original sketches of Ste. Genevieve. The main gallery changes its exhibits periodically.
Beauvais-Amoureux House
Sainte Genevieve, Missouri
This 1792 house was built in the poteaux en terre style where the walls are formed by hewn logs set upright in an earthen trench. A diorama of Sainte Genevieve in 1832 is displayed in the house. Open to the public on selected dates.
The Bolduc House
Sainte Genevieve, Missouri
The Bolduc House was the first authentically restored historic structure in Sainte Genevieve. The house features an 18th century garden, a stockade fence, and a steep hip roof that spreads out on all four sides that covers an enclosed porch called a galerie.
Felix Vallé State Historic Site
Sainte Genevieve, Missouri
Built in 1818, this Federal style limestone building was home to one of Sainte Genevieve's premier colonial families. The site features the authentically restocked mercantile store of the historic trading firm of Menard & Valle and a residential portion that is furnished with period pieces. This Missouri Department of Natural Resources operates site that offers guided tours and is open to the public year round.
Hawn State Park
Sainte Genevieve, Missouri
With pine and oak forests, sandstone bluffs and canyons, and clear sand-bottom streams, this nearly 5,000 acre park is considered on of the most scenic in Missouri. The park has many nature trails, picnic areas, and a campground for those who wish to get out and enjoy nature.
La Maison de Guibourd
Sainte Genevieve, Missouri
Built in 1806 by Jacques Jean-Rene Guibourd, this historic house retains much of its early Creole charm. The house and its beautiful gardens are opened year round to the public for tours and events. This historic house and gardens are owned and operated by the Foundation for Restoration of Sainte Genevieve, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Magnolia Hollow Conservation Area
Sainte Genevieve County, Missouri
Located 10 miles north of Sainte Genevieve, this 1,740-acre area features steep bluffs and scenic river views. Magnolia Hollow Conservation Area provides good woodland game hunting, fishing, a clay pigeon target range, and 2 hiking trails. Dispersed primitive camping is permitted year round.
Pickle Springs Natural Area
Sainte Genevieve County, Missouri
Pickle Springs Natural Area is a deep, forested gorge consisting of geological formations and plants that are found in few other places. Pickle Springs Natural Area features a 2-mile hiking trail maintained by the East Ozark Audubon Society in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Conservation takes hikers past waterfalls, rock shelters, a double arch, towering bluffs, canyons and amazing rock outcrops.
Route du Vin
Sainte Genevieve County, Missouri
The Route du Vin of Sainte Genevieve County is a driving tour that begins in Sainte Genevieve and then travels in a loop through the forested hills and farmland southeast of this historic town. Driving time is about an hour not counting any stop over time at the 5 featured wineries.
Sainte Genevieve-Modoc Ferry
Sainte Genevieve, Missouri
Follow North Main Street about 1 1/2 miles from the Historic District of Sainte Genevieve to the Little Rock Landing on the Mississippi River. The Modoc Landing is accessible from Illinois Routes 3 and 155 on the Illinois side. The ferry runs during daylight hours approximately every fifteen minutes and a fee is charged.
Sainte Genevieve Museum
Sainte Genevieve, Missouri
In 1935, as part of the town’s bicentennial, the Sainte Genevieve Museum was erected. The museum contains many items of interest relating to the town’s history such as artifacts from the salt works at Saline Spring (photo right,) the town’s first industry, can be seen. Other items include weapons, prehistoric and historical Native American relics, old documents, and memorabilia of the mid-1800s.
The Visual Arts in Sainte Genevieve
Sainte Genevieve, Missouri
The visual arts and Sainte Genevieve have been connected since the early 19th century with the arrival of John James Audubon. The connection continued with the Sainte Genevieve Art Colony of the 1930s and Roscoe Misselhorn, the “Norman Rockwell of the Midwest.” The charm of the community continues to be a magnet to artists as Sainte Genevieve is home to a number of working studios, art galleries and shops, and special art events.
Crown Ridge Tiger Sanctuary
Sainte Genevieve County, Missouri
Crown Ridge Tiger Sanctuary is a non-profit USDA approved rescue facility. Its mission is to provide a permanent home for exotic big cats that have endured neglect, abuse, or other undesirable homes. Crown Ridge Tiger Sanctuary is a great place to visit and offers a variety of tours for families, VIP tiger feeding tours, and up close views of its majestic big cats.
Ste. Genevieve Golf Club
Sainte Genevieve, Missouri
Considered the best kept secret in the region, the Ste. Genevieve Golf Club is a player-friendly 18 hole Par 72 course characterized by fairways lined with pine trees. The forward, red tees, provide play over 5040 yards and 6396 yards from the back, blue tees.
Nearby Attractions
Randolph County, Illinois
Located across the Mississippi River from Sainte Genevieve, Randolph County is where Illinois began. Attractions include Fort de Chartres, the Pierre Menard Home and the Fort Kaskaskia State Historic site.
Jefferson County, Missouri
Visitors to Jefferson County can explore the prehistoric lifestyles of Native Americans at Mastodon State Historic Site and Washington State Park. Other attractions include one of the last remaining covered bridges in Missouri at Sandy Creek Bridge State Historical Site and the Anheuser Estate in Kimmswick.
For Travelers Heading Up River
The Metropolitan Saint Louis Area
Metropolitan Saint Louis has a lot to offer its visitors. The area's most prominent attraction is the Gateway Arch. Saint Louis has a number of outstanding public institutions that are free to visit including the Zoo, Art Museum, History Museum, and the Science Center. The Saint Louis region has a number of green spaces for nature and outdoor enthusiasts. Forest Park is one of the largest urban parks in the United States. Faust County Park, in Saint Louis County, is home to many historical and cultural attractions including the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House, a historical village, and the Saint Louis Carousel. The county is also home to Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial State Park, Columbia Bottom Conservation Area, the Powder Valley Conservation Area.
Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Byway
The Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Byway area is one of America’s newer scenic byways. With over 20,000 acres of forest and wetlands at the heart of the Mississippi Flyway, it is a nature lovers paradise. Visitors will find spectacular colors in the fall and bald eagles in the winter. History abounds in the region ranging from the prehistoric Cahokia Mounds to sites on the National Register of Historic Places.
For Travelers Heading Down River
The Mississippi Meets the Ohio River Region
After the Mississippi River passes St. Louis it begins to change character. When the Mississippi River meets the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois it is halfway on its journey to the sea. It is here that the brown muddy water of the Mississippi begins to mingle with the clearer water of the Ohio. Without the locks and dams the Mississippi begins to wind and curve so much so that the distance by water from Cape Girardeau to the Gulf of Mexico is twice the distance as a crow flies. The region where the Mississippi River meets the Ohio River is an area of transition in several respects both in terms of the flora and fauna but the culture begins to take on that of the Deep South. The Meeting the Ohio region of the Middle Mississippi River Valley offers it visitors a wide variety of options of activities to do and sites to see. Whether you’re looking for historical or cultural sites or a place to enjoy nature you’ll find it in this part of the country.
