The 2025 Top Ten Hikes includes Canyonland and Arches National Parks, along with rushing rivers in the Ozarks of Missouri. The list was compiled from summer travel, Midwest hikes, and outstanding natural beauty. (Rushing water at Lower Rock Creek in the Main Photo). Click the Titles for the Full Story. Explore Shut-Ins on a Lower Rock Creek Hike See waterfalls, shut-ins, creek cascades, pink boulders,…
Enjoy Christmas music while you check out the North Pole and drive through 1.5 million lights at Winter Wonderland in Tilles Park in Ladue. This St. Louis area holiday tradition began in 1987. Glimmering lights are fashioned into over 100 displays of festive characters and winter scenes in seventy-five acres of parkland. The Christmas Lights Display goes through Jan. 3. At the Entrance You can…
Visit the open-air Belleville Christkindlmarkt with food, entertainment, European crafts, and beverages this holiday season. Our Time at Belleville Christkindlmarkt The open-air market in Belleville, Il., is modeled after the Christmas Markets in Germany. It is located at the corner of Main and Illinois streets in downtown Belleville. We parked in a nearby lot by A and High Streets and then walked down High Street…
Keokuk, Iowa’s “City of Christmas” lights display made the list of the Top 50 Christmas Light Displays in America. It contains over one million lights. Over 20,000 vehicles make it through the lights each year. We did find ourselves in a small backup, but it was well-regulated and we didn’t have to wait long to enter the lights. I was impressed with the variety of lights along with…
Whimsical Christmas lights reflecting off a lake are found at Lebanon’s Winter Wonderland drive-thru light display at Horner Park. Thousands of lights can be seen here with many scenes of the holiday season. We entered through a maze of lights of different colors. Then came across a hand-carved gingerbread village with gingerbread frolicking all around. Passed by a train with a teddy bear, candy cane,…
Video Tour of the Famous-Barr resort ruins at Vernon. S. Beck Park. At one time, Famous-Barr employees had their own summer resort on the Meramec River, complete with an Olympic-sized swimming pool and a lodge with a rooftop veranda offering breathtaking views of the Meramec Valley. After a devastating fire in 1984, the resort is now in ruins, but it can still be explored since…
During the holiday season, the St. Louis Hills neighborhood along the 6500 block of Murdoch Avenue lights up with hundreds of strands of Christmas lights to become Candy Cane Lane. This is a neighborhood Christmas display, so it is a lot more personable than a high-dollar drive-through one at a theme park. The Christmas display is free; however, they do take donations for charities. Families…
See more than a million twinkling lights at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in St. Louis and best of all it is free.
Santa, Rudolph, and lake-themed Christmas lights can be seen at numerous light displays during Christmas time at the Lake of the Ozarks. We checked out two drive-through Christmas lights while we were staying the night in the area in December. Along with the lights, hiking to springs, a castle, and through the woods along the lake can also be enjoyed. Enchanted Village of Lights In…
A Star Wars firefight and skiers jumping over your car are just some of the amazing light displays at the East Peoria Festival of Lights. The Festival of Lights Electric Park comprises floats that begin in the Parade of Lights before Thanksgiving each year. Being floats allows them to be huge displays that you drive by. WHAT TO SEE AT THE EAST PEORIA FESTIVAL OF…
