Bee Tree Park

Location

Aug 12

With a stone mansion from 1929 overlooking the Mississippi River, a small fountain, stone gazebo, beautiful flowers, an open field, and beautiful red barn on a 192-acre estate, Bee Tree Park gives you the perfect variety of backgrounds, especially for shorter sessions.

Check out my list of the top senior picture locations in St. Louis, MO to get inspired by more locations to have your senior pictures taken.

The Best Part About Bee Tree Park

The highlight of Bee Tree Park is the stone mansion. There are two sets of stone steps you can sit or stand on, and multiple doorways that are perfect for a variety of poses. Flowers also bloom around the building, giving portraits an extra pop of color. Behind the mansion lies a beautiful scenic overlook of the Mississippi River where you can sit or lean on a stone ledge and capture the gorgeous overlook in the background.

Nearby the mansion sits a water fountain with a stone edge to sit on or lean back on and a stone gazebo where you can sit on the stone bench or stand in. Both make for some lovely senior pictures.

Opposite the mansion is the beautiful, red barn that’s great if you want some country or rustic style portraits as well. There are both big and small barn doors to pose in front of or lean on. There’s even a small piece of a fence that still stands that you can lean against and have the barn as your background.

To the side of the barn is a wide-open field that is outlined by trees. This is the perfect area if you want to sit in the grass or lean on some nearby trees and have an open field as your background. You can even bring a fun chair along and place it out in the field to change up your senior pictures.

What to Expect Each Season

Spring

If you’re looking to incorporate flowers into your session, along with the structures and open fields, spring is the perfect time to take your senior pictures at Bee Tree Park. With flowers blooming around the mansion, beautiful flowering trees on the premises, and other budding bushes you’re sure to have plenty of portraits with flowers in them.

Summer

The Mississippi River may not be totally visible anymore, but the trees and grass are green, the fountain is running, and it’s no longer cold out. You’ll be able to take portraits where your background isn’t just buildings, but also beautiful and lively greenery. This is great for portraits by the gazebo because you’ll have plenty of color in your background.

Fall

With the park being surrounded by trees, you will no doubt find fall foliage here. And with all the trees also means lots of leaves across the pathways as well. The barn also fits in perfect with a fall, country vibe. You’ll even be able to view the Mississippi River at the overlook better now that the leaves are beginning to fall off the trees.

Winter

Winter means that the trees are barren, and the grass has gone dormant. While there is no more greenery, the overlook is as clear as can be to see the river, and the mansion and barn are still great backdrops. You can always wait for it to snow to take some winter wonderland portraits. The field makes a perfect location for this with the snow-covered trees in the background, along with using the other buildings as backdrops as well.