Heritage Valley Tree Farm

Choose and cut a White Pine or Canaan fir

Heritage Valley grows its evergreens strictly for choose-and-cut, so every tree is one you pick in the field and cut yourself. Current varieties are White Pine and Canaan fir, both 5 to 9 feet tall. White Pine is priced up to $9.00 a foot, with long, soft, bluish-green needles, a fluffy look, good needle retention and very little fragrance, which makes it a good choice for sensitive noses. White Pine can grow up to 10 feet tall.

Canaan fir is priced up to $14.00 a foot, with short, soft, dark bluish-green needles and a silvery underside. It is similar to Fraser fir, with good needle retention and aroma. The per-foot rate varies from tree to tree, and every tree for sale carries a tag showing its height and price, so you will see the price before you cut. Pricing and availability are subject to change.

From the field to your car: saws, carts, shaking and netting

Handsaws are provided, so please keep your chainsaw and axe at home. Carts and sleds are on hand for pulling your tree back from the field, and the fields are a walk of roughly a quarter to a half mile from the parking lot, so a sled is welcome help. The farm shakes your tree to remove old needles and debris and nets it for easier handling; on request it will also drill the trunk for a peg-style tree stand. Twine is provided to tie the tree to your vehicle, and two how-to tying videos on the farm’s website show how.

Bring work gloves, and a knee mat or a piece of cardboard if you want to keep your pants tidy while kneeling to cut. Measure your ceiling height before you leave home. Ask the farm whether staff can help lift your tree onto the car.

First Day Friday, November 27: reservations only

The farm opens its choose-and-cut season on First Day Friday, November 27, and that day is by reservation only. Book online, with a $5.00 non-refundable fee per reservation and one reservation per tree rather than per person. Arrival is by one-hour slot: a 10am reservation, for example, lets you arrive any time from 10:00 to 10:59am. The slots on offer appear when you reserve. Ask the farm for the day’s opening and closing hours.

After you book you receive a confirmation email with a QR code to show on your phone or on paper. Staff confirm your reservation at your vehicle before you go on to the parking lot. It is best if your whole group arrives together. If you need to change your time, email heritagevalleytreefarm@gmail.com; the farm can reschedule when the new time has room. The day goes ahead rain or shine, and if the farm has to close it will notify you by email and post on social media. After check-in, pick up a handsaw and a sled at the information booth and get directions to this season’s fields. If First Day Friday is sold out, plan to come on Saturday or Sunday, when no reservation is needed.

• Reserving a First Day Friday time ↗

Weekend hours through December 13

After First Day Friday the farm is open on weekends only, Saturdays from 9am to 5pm and Sundays from 11am to 5pm, and closes for the season on December 13 or when the trees are sold out. It is not open daily. No reservation is needed on Saturdays or Sundays.

Parking, paths, accessibility and what to wear

From the farm’s entrance on Four Mile Road you drive a half mile down a narrow, partly gravel road to the parking lot, which is grass with gravel driving lanes. The lot can get very busy, so please carpool. Modern restrooms are available.

Footpaths are unpaved and uneven, with mud after rain or snow and very few covered areas, so wear sturdy shoes and dress in layers. Reserved parking for visitors with disabilities is close to the farm yard. Wheelchair access to the farm yard and some fields is possible only when weather and ground conditions are good, and always with someone’s guidance. For accessibility questions, email infoHVTF@gmail.com or call the farm. Pets are not welcome; the farm asks you to leave them at home. Payment is by cash, debit, credit or Apple Pay.

Online shop and Missouri pecans

Heritage Valley’s separate online store sells ornaments at $8.00 each, in designs such as the Classic, the 40 Year Anniversary, Tree Trunk and Keepin’ It Real, though the Keepin’ It Real ornament is currently out of stock. It also sells branded goods and a nutcracker. Missouri-grown Posey and Peruque pecans are a separate product line, sold out for now; check the online shop or ask the farm in mid-November. In-shell pecans cannot be shipped to Arizona, California, New Mexico or Hawaii.

Professional photography sessions

Photographers can book a session on the farm on set photo days before tree season, Friday, October 30 through Friday, November 13, from 9am to 5pm. Sessions are $80 an hour or $400 for a full day of five hours or more, booked in whole hours through the farm’s online reservation system, which is the best way to reach the farm about photography. Payment is non-refundable, and a session can be rescheduled with payment kept if you ask at least two days ahead.

No sessions run during tree-selling hours, though snapshots of your own group while you shop for a tree are always welcome. Photo-session guidelines include no fake snow, no drones, no photography inside the farm’s buildings, children accompanied by an adult, well-behaved dogs only on a leash, and no smoking or alcohol. Check in at the Christmas Shop, and commercial use of photos needs the farm’s permission.

The farm, getting there and contacts

Heritage Valley Tree Farm is owned by Vern and Bee Spaunhorst and sits on a 75-acre Missouri Century Farm that has been in the family for generations, with 30 acres of choose-and-cut trees. The farm has earned the Governor’s Award for Agricultural Achievement. It does not host private outings or weddings and does not sell potted or balled trees, pecan saplings or nursery stock; for those it points visitors to places such as Pea Ridge Forest in Hermann and Meert Tree Farm in Festus.

The farm is at 1668 Four Mile Road in Washington. Do not turn onto North Four Mile Road, which dead-ends and does not connect. From St. Louis, take I-44 to Exit 251 and Highway 100 west about 10 miles to Washington, go south on Route A for 3 miles, then turn right (west) on Four Mile Road and go 3 miles to the farm entrance. For questions and accessibility, call the farm at (636) 432-6757. Reservation changes go to heritagevalleytreefarm@gmail.com, and general or accessibility questions to infoHVTF@gmail.com. The farm asks for a couple of business days to answer its contact form.