Missouri River Wine Trail

The Les Bourgeois Vineyards Tasting Room & Gift Shop, located near Rocheport, offers a robust selection of its awarding-winning wines and gifts for wine lovers, including wine baskets and wine racks. The winery also provides guided tours of its production facility.

Located in the small town of Higbee in north central Missouri, Cooper's Oak Winery & Skullsplitter Distillery are housed together at A & K Cooperage, manufacturer of American oak barrels. The intertwining of the cooperage and the winery enhances the winery’s offerings, including sweet and dry red and white wines. The distillery makes an assortment of spirits – bourbon, whiskey, moonshine and flavored brandy.

Nestled in the hills of central Missouri, Westphalia Vineyards uses time-honored processes to create handcrafted wines aged in Missouri oak barrels. Visit the Norton Room for wine tasting, located inside the historic Westphalia Inn, a restaurant and gift shop located on Main Street Westphalia.

Canterbury Hill sits atop a bluff with views of the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City and the Missouri River bottomlands from its large, terraced patio. The winery serves its own label wines, plus other Missouri wines and selections from across the U.S. They also have several craft beers on tap.

Serenity Valley Winery is located in the heart of Missouri in a park-like setting on a five-acre lake, a 15 minute drive from Columbia and Fulton. The award-winning winery makes a range of wines – from sweet to dry – with juice from around the world. Visitors are invited to bring their own picnics. The winery also offers a selection of sausage, cheese, crackers, beer and soda.

Hummingbird Vineyard and Winery produces a selection of red and white wines made exclusively from Missouri-grown grapes. Located down the back roads near Mexico, the winery offers beautiful views of the rolling countryside. Visitors can bring their own snacks or order appetizers and wood-fired pizza.

44 Stone Public House in Columbia is a restaurant and bar in the spirit of the comfortable, casual and convivial pubs of the British Isles. The menu is often inspired by the food found in an English, Irish, Scottish or Welsh public house, but with a contemporary American influence. The restaurant offers extensive wine, craft beer and whiskey selections.

Enjoy spectacular bluff-top views at the Bistro at LBV, located at the Les Bourgeois Vineyards near Rocheport. The restaurant offers a full menu for lunch and dinner, including house-smoked meats, fresh seafood, hearty pastas and local produce. Sunday brunch includes breakfast and lunch favorites along with drink specials. The A-Frame wine garden next door is open seasonally. Bicyclists can reach the restaurant from the Katy Trail.

The restaurant at Canterbury Hill, located north of Jefferson City has a full lunch and dinner menu along with daily specials. They host live music on the patio, Murder Mystery Dinners and other special events.

Located in the Brick District in downtown Fulton, Beks serves lunch and dinner in a relaxed atmosphere. The menu includes a variety of gourmet burgers, sandwiches, salads, pasta, chicken and hand-cut steaks.

A peaceful haven in historic Rocheport, Mount Nebo Inn is steps away from the Katy Trail State Park. Two large fully equipped suites with a spacious patio and fire pit await guests. The inn also offers guided sight-seeing trips on the Missouri River and hosts special events on its grounds.

Built in 1905, the Hotel Frederick blends the warmth of a Missouri bed and breakfast with the luxury of a boutique hotel. The renovated landmark offers historic charm and modern amenities close to the Katy Trail. The hotel also has a restaurant and lounge and offers bike rentals, including tandem bikes and kid trailers.

Take a history or ghost tour at the historic Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City. Built in 1836, the prison was the oldest continually operating penitentiary west of the Mississippi River, until it closed in 2004. See the upper yard, cell blocks, dungeon, industry area and exercise yard.

Find fascinating geologic formations at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park, located five miles south of Columbia. A boardwalk and other trails lead to a natural rock bridge, with numerous sinkholes and springs along the way. The day-use park has picnic sites and offers trails for hikers, equestrians and mountain bikers.

A reclaimed strip-mine area, north of Columbia, Finger Lakes State Park one of two state parks where off-road motorcycle and ATV riding is allowed. Trails and a motocross track are available. For mountain-bikers, the park has a challenging, 2.75-mile mountain bike trail. The former strip mines are now lakes that offer opportunities for swimming, canoeing, kayaking and fishing. Campsites are available.

Katy Trail State Park is the longest rails-to-trails conversion in the U.S. The nearly flat, 240-mile trail is open for hiking, running, walking and bicycling through Missouri’s countryside. Horseback riding is allowed in specific sections of the trail.

Many wineries, restaurants, bed and breakfast inns, motels, and shops are located along the route. The eastern section of the trail follows the Missouri River while the western half meanders through peaceful farmland.

The National Churchill Museum, located on the campus of Westminster College, honors British statesman Winston Churchill, who gave his famous “Iron Curtain” speech in Fulton in 1946. The St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury church, designed by architect Christopher Wren and partially destroyed during in London during the Blitz of 1940-41, was relocated to the museum grounds and restored. A sculpture titled Breakthrough, created from sections of the Berlin Wall is also located on the museum grounds. It’s the largest section of the Berlin Wall outside of Berlin, Germany.