Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site
Missouri
Tonight
🌗 46% moon
6.6 h fully dark
Crowds
low
Open today
Open
Entrance
Free entry
GPS Navigation Systems
GPS navigation systems often misdirect visitors driving to Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site. GPS systems often route visitors to our back gate, or to the entrance for Grant's Farm (not affiliated with the NPS). Please visit our directions page.
Official NPS alert →Ulysses S. Grant is known as the victorious Civil War general who saved the Union and the 18th President of the United States. He first met Julia Dent, his future wife, at her family home, named White Haven. From 1854 to 1859 the Dents, Grants and an enslaved African-American workforce lived on the property.
Activities
Topics
No entrance fee.
Hours & seasons
Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site’s hours of operation are 9AM – 5PM, with the last tour of the historic house at 4 pm.
Generally open:
winterspringsummerfallHours are reported by the park — verify before you go.
📞 3148421867
✉ ulsg_interpretation@nps.govConditions
Quietest months (fewer crowds): Jan, Feb, Nov, Dec
Typical crowds: low
Weather now: 🌦️ Drizzle, 72°F
🌧️ 76°/69°
🌧️ 85°/71°
☁️ 94°/69°
Typical monthly recreation visits · NPS avg 2023–2025 — orange months are the quietest by crowds.
Quietest months
Relative crowds by month — lighter is quieter; ringed months are the calmest by crowds.
Jan
24%
Feb
34%
Mar
75%
Apr
80%
May
87%
Jun
99%
Jul
100%
Aug
88%
Sep
74%
Oct
47%
Nov
42%
Dec
42%
Log a sky reading
Measured the sky with an SQM meter or app? Add your reading (16 = city glow … 22 = pristine). Opt in under “Travelers like you” to share it on the community leaderboard.
Things to do
Visit the White Haven Home · Total time varies depending on interest level and individual time constraints, but most visitors take 20 to 30 minutes to tour the house with the ranger talk.
Conduct Research at Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site · Duration spent in the library will vary based on research needs, but due to limited staffing the maximum amount of time generally allowed for one research block is four hours.
Visit the White Haven Estate
Historic Trees at White Haven
Historic Tree Tour · Individual visitors spend varying amounts of time exploring the park grounds on their own. Total walking amount to see all six trees is roughly one half mile.
Take A Self-Guided Tour of the Park Grounds · Individual visitors spend varying amounts of time exploring the park grounds on their own. People who are running short on time should expect to spend 5 to 15 minutes walking the park grounds.
Moving Through History · 3 mi · The Run Through History program takes 90 minutes to complete. Participants will start at Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site, run to the St. Paul's Churchyard, and return to Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site.
Let Nature Speak
Visitor centers
Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site Visitor Center
Accessibility
23 audio-described place(s)
Reported by the park — verify before you go.
Parking
Parking Lot · 44 accessible spacesaccessible
Not an official safety source — always defer to NPS.gov and rangers for life-safety decisions.
By the numbers
A visual read on Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site — its character, trails, sky, and weather.
Park fingerprint
How this park scores across the dimensions travelers care about.
Trail difficulty
Difficulty mix across this park's trails.
3-day forecast
Daily high and low temperatures (°F).
People & stories
Figures tied to Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site — each spans a cross-park journey.
Ellen Wrenshall Dent
— Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site, Ulysses S Grant, Political HistoryEllen Wrenshall Grant
— Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site, Ulysses S Grant, Washington D.c.Emily Marbury Dent Casey
— Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site, Ulysses S Grant, Julia Dent GrantFrederick Dent Grant
— Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site, Ulysses S Grant, Spanish American WarFrederick F. Dent
— Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site, Ulysses S GrantFrederick T. Dent
— Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site, Ulysses S Grant, Civil WarHenrietta Jones
— Slavery Abolition, Slavery, Ulysses S Grant National Historic SiteJesse Root Grant II
— Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site, Ulysses S GrantPassport stamps
Mark the stamps you've collected — they show in your memory and along your routes.
🎫 Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site Visitor Center
Places to see
Black Oak Tree at Ulysses S. Grant NHS
audio
Dawn Redwood Trees at Ulysses S. Grant NHS
audio
Father Dickson Cemetery
audio
Flowering Dogwood Trees at Ulysses S. Grant NHS
audio
Front Porch
audio
Gingko Trees at Ulysses S. Grant NHS
audio
Grant's Farm
audio
Grant's Farm Office
audio
Gravois Greenway (Grant's Trail)
audio
Hardscrabble: The House That Grant Built
audio
Ice House and Chicken House
audio
Jefferson Barracks
audioAudio & media
🎧 US Grant Biography - Early Military and Marriage ↗ · 3 mintranscript
🎧 US Grant Biography - The Early Years ↗ · 2 mintranscript
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Learn more
The presidential election of 1868 was the first one to be held after the Civil War. It pitted General Ulysses S. Grant versus former New York Governor Horatio Seymour. Grant campaigned on the slogan, "Let Us Have Peace."
Julia's wife (and unborn child) most likely escaped certain death from cholera when Grant refused her request to travel with him via the Isthmus of Panama on his way to Fort Vancouver in 1852. After Grant's safe arrival, he writes Julia to tell her of the harrowing and deadly journey.
In 1908, Emma Dent Casey, youngest sister of Julie Dent Grant, reflected on her relationship with Ulysses S. Grant and her childhood at White Haven.
The 12th Annual John Y. Simon Day will be hosted virtually in 2021. View this page to see a series of presentations about Ulysses S. Grant's Boyhood in Ohio from Dr. Ned Lodwick, Vice-President of the U.S. Grant Homestead Association Historian, Brown County Historical Society.
Read this essay for a short introduction into the basics of the Reconstruction era and President Ulysses S. Grant's role in promoting civil and political rights for African Americans.
The institution of slavery existed in St. Louis for 100 years. Free and enslaved Black people were present alongside French settlers Auguste Choteau and Pierre Laclede at the founding of St. Louis in 1764.
Ulysses S. Grant's partnership with Admiral Andrew Foote led him to successfully capture Forts Henry and Donelson in February 1862. These battles represented some of the first major victories of the Union Army and helped Grant gain national attention for his generalship.
Roughly two miles north of Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site is Father Dickson Cemetery, a historically Black cemetery where more than 6,000 people are buried. Some of these people endured slavery, served in United States Colored Troops Regiments during the Civil War, and led the push for equal rights in Missouri during the Reconstruction Era.
Ranger School
Park-grounded courses you can learn with the Ranger.
How Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site connects
This park's activities, topics, location, and on-the-ground places — one hop in the graph. Drag to explore; click an activity, topic, or related park to follow it.
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