During your visit to Historic Nauvoo, you can meet some of the hardworking animals that helped build Nauvoo as a “cornerstone of Zion.” You may also schedule a ride in a horse-drawn wagon or carriage.
Wagon Rides
Explore Historic Nauvoo through an approximately 35-minute wagon ride! The wagon tour provides an overview of the physical setting of Nauvoo, including shops and homes along Main Street, the adjoining Joseph Smith Historic Site, and the beginnings of the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail.
There are rides available Monday–Saturday. Tickets are required from Memorial Day through Labor Day and can be reserved starting at 7:00 a.m. central time the day you’d like to attend. Tickets can be booked up to 20 minutes before the event starts. Visit historicnauvoo.eventbrite.com to reserve your tickets. If you have questions about ticketing, please visit the Ticketing FAQ page.
Carriage Rides
Hear stories about Nauvoo while riding through the scenic landscape during an approximately 35-minute carriage ride. The horse-drawn carriage passes through the countryside to a view of the Mississippi River while a narrator relates stories from the journals of the men and women who lived in Nauvoo in the 1840s.
There are rides available Monday–Saturday. Tickets are required from Memorial Day through Labor Day and can be reserved starting at 7:00 a.m. central time the day you’d like to attend. Tickets can be booked up to 20 minutes before the event starts. Visit historicnauvoo.eventbrite.com to reserve your tickets. If you have questions about ticketing, please visit the Ticketing FAQ page.
Sleigh Rides
If there’s enough snow, visitors during the winter months have the opportunity to take an approximately 25-minute sleigh ride. Rides begin at the carriage depot north of the visitors’ center. As the sleigh travels through the wooded area north of the historic district, missionaries share inspirational stories of faith appropriate for the season.
Tickets are not required to take a sleigh ride. Visitors can inquire about the availability of sleigh rides at the visitors’ center.
Oxen Experience
At the Oxen Experience, meet these hardworking draft animals and see them in action. During your visit, you will come to appreciate how oxen helped the Saints in both building—and leaving—Nauvoo.
Tickets are not required for the Oxen Experience. Visitors can inquire about the availability of meeting oxen at the visitors’ center.