There are several attractions in and around Kimmswick that are worth a visit along your way. Here is a brief highlight.
Located at 6008 Windsor Harbor Lane in Kimmswick Missouri. Ride on St. Louis, also known as ROSL, is a community-focused not-for-profit organization, that offers Equine-Assisted therapy. Founded in 1998, the program is dedicated to using equine-assisted therapy to achieve emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual benefits for individuals with developmental physical disabilities, youth who are at-risk youth adults in assisted living settings.
The ROSL program provides individuals with disabilities the foundation for achieving improved neurological function and sensory processing. Riders with physical disabilities often show improvement in flexibility, balance, and muscle strength. Riders with intellectual or emotional disabilities often experience increased confidence, patience, and self-esteem as a result of the unique bond formed with the horse.
ROSL offers hippotherapy and a therapeutic riding camp in the spring, summer, and fall, beginning in late April and extending through the beginning of November. Eight-week hippotherapy sessions are offered in the spring and fall. A six-week session, a mixture of hippotherapy and therapeutic riding, is offered in the summer.
Lessons run weekly and biweekly and are held on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for one hour each. The cooler morning hours are especially advantageous during the warmer months. (When school starts, sessions are held in the afternoons to accommodate students’ schedules.)
Following one of two curricula attains ROSL objectives: a curriculum for group therapy, the therapeutic riding camp, and a curriculum for individual therapy, hippotherapy. The camp curriculum focuses on the following three major areas of riding therapy:
Stable Management Component. These lessons are intended to provide vocational skills useful for students who are able to enter the workforce. Students learn tasks such as cleaning and bedding stalls, sweeping, raking, feeding, and watering.
Supervised grooming, horse care, and organization of equipment are integral parts of this component. Stable management lessons complement the skills and concepts taught in the classroom component.
Classroom Instruction Component. Classroom instruction includes lessons in animal science, such as basic equine care, nutrition, anatomy, growth and reproduction. Parts and care of appropriate tack* are also taught in the classroom. Lessons relate to life experience as well as to self-help. (* Tack is the gear used in equipping a horse, including saddle, bridle, harness, straps, etc.)
Mounted Component. The mounted component consists of lessons in all phases of horsemanship. The goal of this component is to build confidence and self-esteem, as well as to develop muscle tone and balance. The mounted lesson is always taught by a qualified riding instructor and uses a qualified leader.
Two to three students participate in each one-hour session. The student pair is escorted by an instructor and/or trained volunteer from one area to the next as each component is completed. The first 15 minutes is dedicated to stable management and classroom instruction; 40 minutes is used for therapeutic riding.
An Occupational Therapist Assistant utilizes the final 5 minutes to work with each student on stretching and improving muscle flexibility. A registered nurse is on staff and is available to address emergency situations.
For more information please contact Ride On Saint Louis at 636-464-3408 or visit their website.
For information on group tours, please contact the City of Kimmswick at 636-464-7407. Reservations for groups of 25 or more are offered at a reduced rate.
Click Here for More Information on the Anheuser Museum & Estate
Built in 1874 this bridge which spans Rock Creek and is now on the National Register, is the oldest known wrought iron span in Missouri. It is the same age as the Eads Bridge in Saint Louis. The Keystone Bridge Company constructed this bridge to be placed across the River des Peres at Ivory Avenue. It remained there until 1928 when it was replaced by a new bridge.
The bridge was moved to Kimmswick and put in place in 1930. The bridge is only open to pedestrian traffic and is located at the intersection of Mill Street and Front Street.
Located at 1050 Museum Drive Imperial, Missouri. Mastodon State Historic Site contains an important archaeological and paleontological site – the Kimmswick Bone Bed. Bones of mastodons and other now-extinct animals were first found here in the early 1800s. The area gained fame as one of the most extensive Pleistocene ice age deposits in the country and attracted scientific interest worldwide.
Archaeological history was made at the site in 1979 when scientists excavated a stone spear point made by hunters of the Clovis culture (14,000 – 10,000 years ago) in direct association with mastodon bones. This was the first solid evidence of the coexistence of people and these giant prehistoric beasts.
Today, the 425-acre property preserves this National Register of Historic Places site and provides recreational opportunities. A museum tells the natural and cultural story of the oldest American Indian site one can visit in the state’s park system. A full-size replica of a mastodon skeleton highlights the exhibits. A picnic area, several trails, and a special-use campground offer chances to explore the land where the lives of Native Americans and mastodons once intertwined.
For more information, you may call the museum at 636-464-2976.
Ste. Genevieve Wineries is a great idea for a day out if you are in Kimmswick.
Ste. Genevieve County has a long, rich history of winemaking beginning with its French settlers in the early 1700s. The French found Ste. Genevieve’s calcium-rich limestone soils, rolling countryside, and temperate climate favorable for winemaking. In the mid-1800s, German immigrants brought their regional styles to the area to further enrich this art of winemaking.
Today, many descendants of those early pioneers continue that long tradition and invite you to…..Ste. Genevieve wine country.
One of the biggest attractions in the area, the Delta Queen Steamboat.
This steamboat is both a National Historic Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places, so is quite a treasure to have in Kimmswick.
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