Shaw Nature Reserve

Henry Shaw founded the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis in 1859, and within decades the city's industrial pollution began damaging plant collections. By the 1920s, the garden's trustees needed an alternative location to grow plants in cleaner air. They purchased 1,300 acres of farmland near Gray Summit in 1925 and named it the Shaw Arboretum. Initial plantings focused on hardy conifers that could tolerate clay soils; the Pinetum, still standing today, dates to this era. By the mid-twentieth century the air quality issue had subsided, but the arboretum had developed into a valuable second site for the garden, and management shifted toward broader ecological work.

In the 1970s, under the leadership of Peter Raven, the Missouri Botanical Garden began pioneering work in tallgrass prairie restoration. Shaw became the experimental site: hundreds of acres of former farmland were seeded with native prairie species, burned on a controlled rotation to prevent woody encroachment, and monitored for ecological recovery. The work continues today, with the reserve now serving as one of the most successful prairie-restoration sites in the Midwest. Approximately 800 acres of restored prairie are visible from the trail network.

The Whitmire Wildflower Garden, the reserve's most visually striking feature, was added in 1991 with funding from the Whitmire family of St. Louis. Designed as a semi-formal native plant garden, it serves as both a public display and a propagation source for the broader restoration work. Visitors can see plants in their native ecological context (the surrounding restored habitats) and in a curated display (the wildflower garden), an unusual and educational pairing.

If you have just an hour, walk the Whitmire Wildflower Garden loop, a fully accessible paved path through the five-acre wildflower display. Interpretive signs identify dozens of native species and explain their ecological role. This is the best Shaw option for travelers with limited mobility or with small children. Restrooms and benches are plentiful.

For two to three hours, take the Wolf Run Trail, a 1.5-mile loop through restored prairie and a constructed wetland with several overlooks and benches. The trail passes a small pond, a tallgrass prairie viewing platform, and a wetland boardwalk. The grade is gentle but the surface is gravel and natural; wear sturdy shoes. Wildlife viewing is excellent: herons, turtles, and butterflies in season, and occasional deer and red foxes.

For a half-day or longer, combine the Wolf Run Trail with the Brush Creek Trail (1.7 miles) and a walk along the Meramec River bluff. Total distance is about four miles; allow three to four hours including breaks. The bluff overlook is the dramatic high point of the reserve, with views thirty feet above the Meramec River and across to wooded Franklin County. In peak fall color (typically the third week of October) this is one of the most beautiful hikes in eastern Missouri. Bring water; trail-side water sources are limited.

Shaw Nature Reserve is open daily from 7 a.m. to sunset, year-round. Admission is five dollars for adults sixteen and older, free for children twelve and under. Members of the Missouri Botanical Garden enter free. Annual reserve passes are available for thirty-five dollars and pay for themselves in seven visits. Pay at the visitor center on arrival; the staff there will provide a trail map, recommend a route based on your time and interests, and answer questions about current seasonal highlights.

The visitor center has clean restrooms, a small gift shop with native plants for sale (the propagation program produces extras), and a small interpretive exhibit on the reserve's restoration history. Outside the center, the reserve also includes the Bascom House (a restored 1879 farmhouse open seasonally), the Dana Brown Overnight Center for school groups, and several picnic shelters available for day use without reservation.

For Route 66 travelers, Shaw pairs naturally with the other Pacific-area stops. A typical day: breakfast at the Blue Bird Cafe, morning hike at Shaw, lunch at one of the Stanton cafes, afternoon at Meramec Caverns, late-afternoon visit to the Red Cedar Inn museum and Jensen's Point Park, and dinner before continuing west. The Shaw visit is best in spring (April-May) for wildflowers, summer (June-August) for prairie at its peak height, fall (October) for color, and even winter when the Pinetum and the bare-trunk hardwood forest offer their own quiet beauty.