Chariton Valley  [ View other REGIONS.]

Do you like variety in your getaway, some relaxing recreation mixed with soothing scenery, an abundance of history and towns where visitors feel right at home? Then look to the Chariton Valley Region of north-central Missouri.  (Please click on the member CVB's name on the map or in this description for more detailed information.)

Kirksville is a perfect place to begin sampling this region's fun places. The Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, founded in 1892 by Dr. A.T. Still, was the world's first osteopathic college. Dr. Still's birthplace cabin and the Still National Osteopathic Museum are on campus. 

The great outdoors surround Kirksville, including two large state conservation areas (Big Creek and Sugar Creek), muskellunge fishing at Hazel Creek Lake and Thousand Hills State Park. Also nearby is Novinger, whose residents commemorate their mining heritage at the Coal Miners Museum and Novinger Log Home.

Plenty of water fun awaits on the region's two big lakes south of Kirksville. Long Branch, near Macon, and Thomas Hill, near Moberly, lure vacationers intent on fishing, skiing and other water sports. Moberly also welcomes travelers, and takes pride in sharing its 360-acre Rothwell Park, history and railroad museums and the heritage of Gen. Omar Bradley. The WWII leader was born in nearby Clark and grew up in the Moberly area.

Confederate Gen. Sterling Price, who served two terms as Missouri's governor before the Civil War, is honored at Keytesville. Nearby Brunswick draws a crowd every fall when roadside stands open to sell delicious pecans, harvested in abundance here.

Travel the area north of Brunswick in autumn and spring and you're sure to see wild geese. Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge and Fountain Grove Conservation Area attract tremendous flocks of migrating waterfowl and shorebirds. Nearby Sumner proudly proclaims itself the "Wild Goose Capital of the World."

Up the road are reminders of two world-renowned Missourians. Walt Disney grew up in Marceline and modeled Disneyland's Mainstreet U.S.A. after his hometown. In Laclede is the boyhood home of WWI Gen. John J. Pershing.

History buffs will want to visit Chillicothe's Grand River Museum and, in Trenton, the Grundy County Museum, St. Philip's Episcopal Church and 1930s WPA Rock Barn. Near Trenton, there's camping, swimming and fishing at Crowder State Park.

Wherever you start or end your visit, you'll find a warm welcome and lots of reasons to return to the Chariton Valley Region.

Chariton Valley Region Link:

Greater Chillicothe Visitors Region