17 Sep 10 Perfect Fall Day Trips Within an Hour of St. Louis

Fall might be the best season to live in St. Louis. The humidity finally breaks, the river bluffs turn gold and red, and nearly every small town within an hour of the city throws some kind of festival. Here are ten of our favorite ways to spend a fall Saturday close to home.

Credit where it’s due: we got some great ideas for this article from St. Louis Mom’s fall day trip guide. Go read it. It has fifteen picks, including several we didn’t have room for here.

Eckert’s Belleville Farm – Belleville, IL

Eckert’s is the closest thing St. Louis has to a fall tradition. Twenty-five minutes across the river, you can pick your own apples through most of October, then ride the wagon out to the pumpkin field. Weekends bring carnival rides, pony rides, live music, and a country store stocked with apple cider donuts. After dark, Jack’s Lighted Trail turns a half-mile path into a glowing pumpkin walk. Go early on a Saturday. The parking lot fills fast.

Kimmswick, MO

This tiny river town south of the city feels like it stopped somewhere around 1900, and that is the point. Browse the antique and gift shops along Market Street, then get in line at The Blue Owl for a slice of its famous Levee High Apple Pie. Circle the last weekend of October for the Apple Butter Festival (October 24 and 25 in 2026), when the whole town fills with craft booths and the smell of apple butter cooking in copper kettles.

Meramec Caverns – Stanton, MO

About an hour west on I-44, Meramec Caverns has been pulling in Route 66 travelers since 1935. The guided walking tour takes about 80 minutes on lit, paved paths, and the cave holds a steady 60 degrees, which makes it a good bet on a chilly or rainy fall day. Ask your guide about Jesse James. Legend says his gang hid out here after a train robbery in 1874 and escaped through an underground river.

Train Ride to Washington, MO

Skip the driving entirely. Amtrak’s Missouri River Runner leaves from Kirkwood and drops you on the riverfront in Washington in about an hour. From the station everything is walkable: brick storefronts on Main Street, coffee shops, the riverfront park, and the Missouri Meerschaum factory, which has made corn cob pipes on the same block since 1869 and keeps a free museum. Check the return train time before you settle in for lunch.

Grafton and the Great River Road, IL

The stretch of Illinois Route 100 between Alton and Grafton runs right beneath limestone bluffs, and in mid to late October it is the best foliage drive in the region. Stop in the village of Elsah, which looks like a nineteenth-century postcard, then continue to Grafton for lunch on the water. Push a few miles farther to Pere Marquette State Park and hike up to the overlooks where the Illinois River meets the Mississippi. The 1930s stone lodge is a good place for a fried chicken dinner on the way home.

Ste. Genevieve, MO

Ste. Genevieve is the oldest permanent European settlement in Missouri, and in 2020 it became a National Historical Park. Start at the park visitor center, then walk to the Bolduc House and the town’s other vertical-log homes, which are among only five buildings of their kind left in the country. The French colonial architecture looks its best against fall color, and the streets around the square have enough bakeries, wineries, and shops to fill an afternoon.

St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern Railway – Jackson, MO

This one is a longer haul, closer to two hours, but it is a full-day outing for any family with a train lover. The railway runs vintage passenger cars on themed excursions, and the October calendar usually includes pumpkin patch trains where kids hop off at a field, pick a pumpkin, and ride back with it. Check the schedule and buy tickets ahead. Fall weekends sell out.

Cahokia Mounds – Collinsville, IL

Fifteen minutes east of downtown sits a UNESCO World Heritage Site that most St. Louisans have never visited. A thousand years ago this was the largest city north of Mexico. Walk the trails between the mounds, see Woodhenge, the reconstructed circle of cedar posts that served as a solar calendar, and climb Monks Mound for the skyline view. Cool weather makes the wide-open grounds far more pleasant than they are in July, and admission is by donation.

Bloomsdale Fun Farm – Bloomsdale, MO

About an hour south on I-55, Bloomsdale is the place to go when the kids want to do everything: a pick-your-own pumpkin patch, a corn maze, rides, farm animals, and plenty of food. Plan on most of a day. It runs on fall weekends, and the earlier you arrive the shorter the lines at the popular rides.

Bonne Terre Mine – Bonne Terre, MO

An hour south of the city, the old lead mine at Bonne Terre flooded when the pumps were shut off in 1962, leaving behind the Billion Gallon Lake, the largest underground lake in the world. The walking tour follows the old mule trail past 1800s mining tools, and the boat tour adds a pontoon ride between the stone pillars over water so clear you can see ore carts on the bottom. Jacques Cousteau came to film here in 1983. The mine stays in the low 60s year-round, so bring a light jacket.

From apple orchards and river-bluff drives to underground lakes, there’s no shortage of fall day trips near St. Louis for families, couples, or solo adventurers. Each one offers something a little different, and none of them require a hotel.

And if you find yourself falling in love with the area and thinking about making St. Louis home, the team at Hermann London is here to help you find the perfect place.