City: St. Louis, MO

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (314) 843-1700

Address: 10501 Gravois Road

Description: Grant’s Farm is a 281-acre wildlife preserve and historical site that is home to hundreds of exotic animals from around the world. In addition to live animal shows, a petting area, and a tram ride through the wildlife preserve, the farm includes the Bauernhof, the first building constructed on the Busch family estate. Built in 1913, the building currently houses the family’s world-renowned antique carriage collection. The facility surrounds a beautiful courtyard and is typical of a 19th-century Bavarian farm, complete with stables, a carriage house, and offices and quarters for those who live and work on the farm. This is also home to the famous Budweiser Clydesdale horses. More than 40 Clydesdale mares, stallions, geldings, and foals call Grant’s Farm home, along with an amazing variety of animals that perform in the Tier Garden Amphitheater. Visitors can pet and hand-feed some of the animals or attend the elephant, parrot, and bird of prey shows. A stop at the Small Animal Area includes an opportunity to feed and pet the farm’s pygmy goats. A slightly larger resident on hand is Bud, a 7,000-pound African elephant. The farm takes its name from the 18th president of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant, who farmed a portion of the acreage in the 1850s. The land later became the ancestral home of the Busch family. Open weekends only April through October. Closed November through March. Admission is free, but there is a per car parking fee of $10.