Parks, beaches and places to go around St. Louis
This list covers 80 public places in 37 towns around St. Louis: parks, beaches, boat ramps, trails, dog parks, libraries, pools, museums, farmers markets, rainy-day spots and courts. Every row links to the place's official site and shows the day it was last checked.
Hours and fees change during the year, so they are left off this page. The official site has the current ones.
- Parks
- Beaches
- Boat ramps
- Trails
- Dog parks
- Libraries
- Pools
- Museums
- Farmers markets
- Rainy-day spots
- Courts
All 80 places
Showing 80 of 80
Parks
Park · Arnold
Arnold City Park
The 68-acre city park holds an eight-acre fishing lake, four pavilions with electricity and a half-mile paved walking path.
Outdoors
- Playground
- Fishing
- Picnic shelter
- Grills
- Paved path
1 Bradley Beach Rd, Arnold, MO 63010
Official site · Checked
Park · Weldon Spring
August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area
The conservation area covers 6,987 acres and holds dozens of numbered fishing lakes, three of which are reserved for education and closed to public fishing.
Outdoors
- Fishing
- Parking
- Boat launch
Route D, 1.5 miles west of Highway 94, Weldon Spring, MO
Official site · Checked
Park · Elsberry
B.K. Leach Memorial Conservation Area
The 4,307-acre area lies in the Mississippi River floodplain east of Elsberry and holds marshes and deep backwater sloughs across three tracts.
Outdoors
- Parking
- Fishing
818 Norton Woods Rd, Elsberry, MO 63343
Official site · Checked
Park · Oakville
Bee Tree Park
The 199-acre county park carries a nine-acre fishing lake, a bluff overlook and the 1929 Nims mansion built as a weekend retreat.
Outdoors
- Fishing
- Picnic area
- Picnic shelter
2701 Finestown Rd, Oakville, MO 63129
Official site · Checked
Park · Webster Groves
Blackburn Park
The 36-acre city park holds a paved loop walk, ball fields, tennis courts and a bird sanctuary in its southeast corner.
Outdoors
- Playground
- Paved path
421 Edgar Rd, Webster Groves, MO 63119
Official site · Checked
Park · Defiance
Broemmelsiek Park
The county parks department and an eastern Missouri astronomy society hold free public stargazing programs at the park's observation pads on Friday nights.
Outdoors
- Parking
- Restrooms
- Off-leash area
1795 Highway DD, Defiance, MO 63341
Official site · Checked
Park · St. Louis
Carondelet Park
Carondelet Park opened in 1875, covers close to 180 acres and is the third largest park in the city of St. Louis.
Outdoors
- Playground
- Fishing
- Picnic area
- Paved path
3900 Holly Hills Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63116
Official site · Checked
Park · Ballwin
Castlewood State Park
The park covers 1,818 acres straddling the Meramec River and was established in 1974 under the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
Outdoors
- Parking
- Picnic area
1401 Kiefer Creek Rd, Ballwin, MO 63021
Official site · Checked
Park · St. Louis
Citygarden
The city owns this two-block downtown sculpture garden and the Gateway Foundation maintains it, and it opened in July 2009 on about 2.9 acres.
Outdoors
- Accessible
801 Market St, St. Louis, MO 63101
Official site · Checked
Park · Oakville
Cliff Cave Park
The 525-acre county park runs along the Mississippi River and is named for a cave on the grounds that is an archaeological site.
Outdoors
- Parking
806 Cliff Cave Rd, St. Louis, MO 63129
Official site · Checked
Park · Maryland Heights
Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park
St. Louis County created this 2,145-acre park in 1945 around Creve Coeur Lake, the largest natural lake in the region.
Outdoors
- Boat launch
- Fishing
- Paved path
2143 Creve Coeur Mill Rd, Maryland Heights, MO 63146
Official site · Checked
Park · Troy
Cuivre River State Park
The park is about three miles east of Troy in the Lincoln Hills, and its 55-acre Lake Lincoln is stocked with bass, bluegill and channel catfish.
Outdoors
- Boat launch
- Fishing
- Picnic area
- Parking
State Route 147, east of Troy, MO
Official site · Checked
Park · Cedar Hill
Don Robinson State Park
The park covers more than 800 acres of sandstone box canyons, shelter caves, cliffs and glades in northern Jefferson County.
Outdoors
- Parking
9275 Byrnesville Rd, Cedar Hill, MO 63016
Official site · Checked
Park · Wildwood
Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial State Park
The 888-acre state park in northwest Wildwood carries an Olympic-sized pool, a visitor center and hiking, biking and equestrian trails.
Outdoors
- Picnic area
- Parking
800 Guy Park Dr, Wildwood, MO 63005
Official site · Checked
Park · Ballwin
Edgar M. Queeny County Park
The county park covers 564 acres, and its Greensfelder Recreation Complex holds a seasonal ice rink and an indoor roller rink.
Outdoors
- Playground
- Picnic area
- Picnic shelter
- Fishing
- Lights
550 Weidman Rd, Ballwin, MO 63011
Official site · Checked
Park · Kirkwood
Emmenegger Nature Park
The 93-acre park is on bluffs above the Meramec River on land that was once part of Edwin Lemp's Cragwold estate.
Outdoors
- Parking
11991 Stoneywood Dr, St. Louis, MO 63122
Official site · Checked
Park · St. Louis
Forest Park
Forest Park covers about 1,326 acres and holds the zoo, the art museum, the science center and the history museum inside its boundary.
Outdoors
5595 Grand Dr, St. Louis, MO 63112
Official site · Checked
Park · Spanish Lake
Fort Belle Fontaine County Park
The 306-acre county park holds remnants of the first United States military fort built west of the Mississippi River, dating to 1805.
Outdoors
- Parking
13002 Bellefontaine Rd, Spanish Lake, MO 63138
Official site · Checked
Park · O'Fallon
Fort Zumwalt Park
The park looks over Lake Whetsel and holds the reconstructed Zumwalt's Fort, which opened in 2015 as Missouri's only rebuilt War of 1812 settler fort.
Outdoors
- Fishing
- Playground
- Parking
1000 Jessup Dr W, O'Fallon, MO 63366
Official site · Checked
Park · St. Charles
Frontier Park
The riverside park holds the MKT train depot, a Lewis and Clark statue and the paved path to the Katy Trail access.
Outdoors
- Paved path
- Parking
500 S Riverside Dr, St. Charles, MO 63301
Official site · Checked
Park · St. Louis
Gateway Arch National Park
The National Park Service runs the grounds, the museum under the Arch and the tram to the top, and the site became a national park in 2018.
Outdoors
- Accessible
- Paved path
11 N 4th St, St. Louis, MO 63102
Official site · Checked
Park · Wildwood
Greensfelder County Park
The 1,734-acre county park has eight trails open to hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding that link into Rockwoods Reservation and Rockwoods Range.
Outdoors
- Playground
- Picnic shelter
- Parking
4515 Hencken Rd, Wildwood, MO
Official site · Checked
Park · Foristell
Indian Camp Creek Park
At 603 acres this is the largest park in St. Charles County, with more than ten miles of multi-use trails and a disc golf course.
Outdoors
- Playground
- Fishing
- Parking
2679 Dietrich Rd, Foristell, MO 63348
Official site · Checked
Park · Lemay
Jefferson Barracks Park
The 426-acre county park is above the Mississippi River on the grounds of a former military post and carries an archery range and a disc golf course.
Outdoors
- Picnic area
- Picnic shelter
- Paved path
- Parking
345 North Rd, Lemay, MO 63125
Official site · Checked
Park · Augusta
Klondike Park
The 250-acre county park is on a silica sand quarry that closed in 1983, which is why the ground reads white.
Outdoors
- Parking
- Picnic area
4600 Highway 94 S, Augusta, MO 63332
Official site · Checked
Park · Valley Park
Lone Elk County Park
Driving routes through the 546-acre park pass herds of elk and bison, and the park opened to the public in October 1971.
Outdoors
- Picnic area
- Fishing
- Parking
1 Lone Elk Park Rd, Valley Park, MO 63088
Official site · Checked
Park · Sullivan
Meramec State Park
The park runs along the Meramec River and offers guided tours of Fisher Cave during the season.
Outdoors
- Picnic area
- Parking
115 Meramec Park Dr, Sullivan, MO 63080
Official site · Checked
Park · St. Louis
Missouri Botanical Garden
The garden covers 79 acres including a 14-acre Japanese strolling garden, and people here still call it Shaw's Garden after Henry Shaw.
Outdoors
- Accessible
- Paved path
4344 Shaw Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63110
Official site · Checked
Park · St. Louis
O'Fallon Park
The north city park opened in 1908 and covers about 127 acres around a lake with a 1913 boathouse that was rehabilitated in 2021.
Outdoors
- Fishing
2001 E Harris Ave, St. Louis, MO
Official site · Checked
Park · Robertsville
Robertsville State Park
The 1,225-acre park carries more than two miles of Meramec River frontage and a boat launch with a lot sized for trailers.
Outdoors
- Boat launch
- Picnic area
- Parking
- Fishing
900 State Park Road, Robertsville, MO
Official site · Checked
Park · Wildwood
Rockwoods Reservation
The Missouri Department of Conservation established this 1,843-acre reservation in 1938, and an education center is in the middle of it.
Outdoors
- Picnic area
- Parking
2751 Glencoe Rd, Wildwood, MO 63038
Official site · Checked
Park · Eureka
Route 66 State Park
The 424-acre park covers the former site of Times Beach, and its visitor center is the Bridgehead Inn, a 1935 roadhouse on old Route 66.
Outdoors
- Parking
- Picnic area
97 N Outer Rd, Eureka, MO 63025
Official site · Checked
Park · St. Louis
Saint Louis Zoo
Entrance is free because a cultural tax district covers it, and some attractions inside the 90-acre grounds are ticketed separately.
Outdoors · Free
- Accessible
- Paved path
1 Government Dr, St. Louis, MO 63110
Official site · Checked
Park · Hillsboro
Sandy Creek Covered Bridge State Historic Site
This is one of four covered bridges left in Missouri out of roughly thirty, first built in 1872 and rebuilt after an 1886 flood.
Outdoors
- Parking
Old Lemay Ferry Road, Hillsboro, MO
Official site · Checked
Park · Florissant
Sioux Passage Park
The 188-acre county park meets the Missouri River and holds two disc golf courses, tennis and basketball courts and a boat ramp.
Outdoors
- Playground
- Picnic area
- Picnic shelter
- Fishing
- Boat launch
17930 Old Jamestown Rd, Florissant, MO 63034
Official site · Checked
Park · Ladue
Tilles Park
The 75-acre county park carries the full original name Rosalie Tilles Memorial Park, given in dedication to the mother of Cap Tilles.
Outdoors
- Playground
- Picnic area
Litzsinger Road at McKnight Road, Ladue, MO
Official site · Checked
Park · St. Louis
Tower Grove Park
Henry Shaw gave the land to the city in 1868, and the park runs about 1.6 miles from Kingshighway east to Grand.
Outdoors
4256 Magnolia Ave, St. Louis, MO 63110
Official site · Checked
Park · St. Louis
Willmore Park
The park covers about 164 acres in south city and holds a disc golf course, fishing lakes, a roller hockey rink and a dog park.
Outdoors
- Playground
- Fishing
- Picnic shelter
- Dogs allowed
6201 Jamieson Ave, St. Louis, MO 63109
Official site · Checked
Beaches
Beach · Troy
Lake Lincoln Beach at Cuivre River State Park
Swimming is restricted to the beach at the north end of Lake Lincoln, pets are not allowed there, and there is a changing house beside the beach.
Outdoors
- Showers
- Parking
State Route 147, east of Troy, MO
Official site · Checked
Boat ramps
Boat ramp · St. Peters
370 Lakeside Park
The 500-acre city park has a boat launch on a 140-acre lake, and that lake closes to fishing and boating from December through February.
Outdoors
- Boat launch
- Fishing
- Parking
- Splash pad
1000 Lakeside Park Dr, St. Peters, MO 63376
Official site · Checked
Boat ramp · Washington
James W. Rennick Riverfront Park
The city runs this Missouri River launch, and a local ordinance blocks launching between a half hour after sunset and the park's opening the next morning.
Outdoors
- Boat launch
- Parking
- Picnic area
- Picnic shelter
- Accessible
Rennick Riverfront Park, Washington, MO 63090
Official site · Checked
Trails
Trail · Kirkwood
Grant's Trail (Gravois Greenway)
The paved greenway runs about 12 miles from the River des Peres Greenway near Interstate 55 northwest to Holmes Avenue in Kirkwood.
Outdoors
- Paved path
- Parking
Holmes Avenue at Leffingwell Avenue, Kirkwood, MO
Official site · Checked
Trail · Dutzow
Katy Trail State Park, Dutzow Trailhead
The Warren County trailhead is at mile 74, and it is about eleven miles along the trail from here to Augusta.
Outdoors
- Parking
Katy Trail State Park trailhead, Dutzow, MO
Official site · Checked
Trail · St. Charles
Katy Trail State Park, St. Charles Trailhead
This trailhead is in Frontier Park at mile 39.5 and is the eastern end of the 237-mile Katy Trail.
Outdoors
- Parking
- Paved path
Frontier Park, 500 S Riverside Dr, St. Charles, MO 63301
Official site · Checked
Dog parks
Dog park · Wentzville
Quail Ridge Park Off-Leash Dog Area
This off-leash area opened in 2003 as the first one in St. Charles County and keeps a separate enclosure for small dogs.
Outdoors
- Off-leash area
- Dogs allowed
- Picnic shelter
- Parking
560 Interstate Dr, Wentzville, MO 63385
Official site · Checked
Dog park · St. Louis
Southwest City Dog Park at Willmore Park
This fenced off-leash park inside Willmore Park runs on annual membership, and members show proof of vaccination and agree to the posted rules.
Outdoors
- Off-leash area
- Dogs allowed
- Parking
6201 Jamieson Ave, St. Louis, MO 63109
Official site · Checked
Dog park · Ballwin
Tails & Trails Dog Park
This five-acre off-leash park inside Queeny Park runs on membership and keeps separate areas for large and small dogs.
Outdoors
- Off-leash area
- Dogs allowed
- Water fountain
1675 Mason Rd, St. Louis, MO 63131
Official site · Checked
Libraries
Library · Arnold
Jefferson County Library, Arnold Branch
Arnold is one of three full branches in the Jefferson County Library district, which also runs a satellite location in Cedar Hill.
Indoors
- Wi-Fi
- Parking
1701 Missouri State Rd, Arnold, MO 63010
Official site · Checked
Library · St. Peters
St. Charles City-County Library, Spencer Road Branch
Spencer Road is the largest branch in the St. Charles City-County Library system and is just off Mexico Road in St. Peters.
Indoors
- Wi-Fi
- Parking
- Accessible
427 Spencer Rd, St. Peters, MO 63376
Official site · Checked
Library · Ellisville
St. Louis County Library, Daniel Boone Branch
The branch opened in 1966 and gained about ten thousand square feet in a 2016 renovation.
Indoors
- Wi-Fi
- Parking
- Accessible
300 Clarkson Rd, Ellisville, MO 63011
Official site · Checked
Library · St. Louis
St. Louis Public Library, Central Library
Cass Gilbert won the design competition, the building went up between 1907 and 1912, and it reopened after a full renovation in 2012.
Indoors
- Wi-Fi
- Accessible
1301 Olive St, St. Louis, MO 63103
Official site · Checked
Pools
Pool · Kirkwood
Kirkwood Aquatic Center
The city pool is in Kirkwood Park beside the community center and ice rink on the Geyer Road campus.
Outdoors
- Parking
111 S Geyer Rd, Kirkwood, MO 63122
Official site · Checked
Pool · Wentzville
Progress Park
The city park holds a seasonal outdoor pool plus a recreation center with a gym, fitness areas and an indoor track.
Outdoors
- Parking
968 Meyer Rd, Wentzville, MO 63385
Official site · Checked
Pool · O'Fallon
Renaud Spirit Center
The city center in O'Fallon Sports Park holds an indoor natatorium with lap lanes plus a seasonal outdoor aquatic area.
Indoors
- Parking
- Accessible
2650 Tri Sports Cir, O'Fallon, MO 63368
Official site · Checked
Pool · Fenton
RiverChase YMCA
The Fenton recreation center carries indoor pools, an indoor running track and group fitness studios under one roof.
Indoors
- Parking
990 Horan Dr, Fenton, MO 63026
Official site · Checked
Pool · Wentzville
Splash Station Aquatic Center
The seasonal outdoor pool carries a zero-depth leisure area, a lazy river, a spiral slide and diving boards.
Outdoors
- Parking
1141 Peine Rd, Wentzville, MO 63385
Official site · Checked
Pool · St. Peters
St. Peters Rec-Plex
The city complex holds indoor ice rinks, a 50-meter competition pool with diving towers and a heated leisure pool with a water slide.
Indoors
- Parking
- Accessible
5200 Mexico Rd, St. Peters, MO 63376
Official site · Checked
Pool · Ballwin
The Pointe at Ballwin Commons
The city recreation center holds an indoor lap pool and aquatic center alongside two gymnasiums, an indoor track and a fitness center.
Indoors
- Parking
- Playground
1 Ballwin Commons Cir, Ballwin, MO 63021
Official site · Checked
Museums
Museum · St. Louis
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis
Admission is free and no ticket is needed, and the museum is in the Grand Center Arts District in midtown.
Indoors · Free
- Accessible
3750 Washington Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63108
Official site · Checked
Museum · St. Charles
First Missouri State Capitol State Historic Site
This brick complex on Main Street served as Missouri's first state capitol from 1821 to 1826 while Jefferson City was being built.
Indoors
200 S Main St, St. Charles, MO 63301
Official site · Checked
Museum · Sunset Hills
Laumeier Sculpture Park
Admission is free at this 105-acre open-air museum, which shows more than seventy large-scale outdoor sculptures.
Outdoors · Free
- Parking
- Accessible
12580 Rott Rd, Sunset Hills, MO 63127
Official site · Checked
Museum · St. Charles
Lewis & Clark Boat House and Museum
The museum beside the Missouri River is the home berth for replicas of the keelboat and pirogues built by the Discovery Expedition of St. Charles.
Indoors
- Parking
1050 S Riverside Dr, St. Charles, MO 63301
Official site · Checked
Museum · Imperial
Mastodon State Historic Site
The 431-acre site preserves the Kimmswick Bone Bed, where scientists found the first solid evidence that people and American mastodons overlapped in eastern North America.
Indoors
- Parking
- Picnic area
1050 Charles J Becker Dr, Imperial, MO 63052
Official site · Checked
Museum · Lemay
Missouri Civil War Museum
The museum occupies the 1905 Post Exchange building at Jefferson Barracks and has been open to visitors since June 2013.
Indoors
- Parking
222 Worth Rd, St. Louis, MO 63125
Official site · Checked
Museum · St. Louis
Missouri History Museum
Admission is free through the same cultural tax district that supports the zoo, and the building faces the Lindell and DeBaliviere corner of Forest Park.
Indoors · Free
- Accessible
5700 Lindell Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63112
Official site · Checked
Museum · St. Louis
Saint Louis Art Museum
General admission is free every day, and the free lots are on the north side of Fine Arts Drive across from the building.
Indoors · Free
- Parking
- Accessible
1 Fine Arts Dr, St. Louis, MO 63110
Official site · Checked
Museum · St. Louis
Saint Louis Science Center
General admission is free, while the OMNIMAX theater, the planetarium and special exhibitions are ticketed on their own.
Indoors · Free
- Accessible
5050 Oakland Ave, St. Louis, MO 63110
Official site · Checked
Museum · St. Louis
Scott Joplin House State Historic Site
Scott Joplin lived in this flat from 1901 to 1903, and the state runs it as a historic site and National Historic Landmark.
Indoors
2658 Delmar Blvd, St. Louis, MO
Official site · Checked
Museum · Kirkwood
The National Museum of Transportation
The 42-acre museum holds more than seventy locomotives, and West Barretts Tunnel on the grounds dates to 1853.
Outdoors
- Parking
2933 Barrett Station Rd, Kirkwood, MO 63122
Official site · Checked
Museum · Grantwood Village
Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site
The National Park Service preserves White Haven, the Dent family farm where Grant met Julia Dent and where the household lived from 1854 to 1859.
Indoors
- Parking
- Accessible
7400 Grant Rd, St. Louis, MO 63123
Official site · Checked
Farmers markets
Farmers market · Ferguson
Ferguson Farmers Market
The market gathers at the Plaza at 501 on South Florissant Road, about a mile north of Interstate 70.
Outdoors
- Parking
501 S Florissant Rd, Ferguson, MO 63135
Official site · Checked
Farmers market · Kirkwood
Kirkwood Farmers' Market
The market stands in downtown Kirkwood just east of the historic train station and runs from spring through early fall.
Outdoors
150 E Argonne Dr, Kirkwood, MO 63122
Official site · Checked
Farmers market · St. Louis
Soulard Farmers Market
The city runs this market and it is the oldest operating public market in St. Louis.
Outdoors
- Parking
730 Carroll St, St. Louis, MO 63104
Official site · Checked
Farmers market · St. Louis
Tower Grove Farmers' Market
Vendors sell only what they grow or make themselves, and everything has to come from within 150 miles of St. Louis.
Outdoors
2747 Tower Grove Ave, St. Louis, MO 63110
Official site · Checked
Farmers market · Washington
Washington Farmers' Market
The area chamber of commerce runs this market in a renovated historic building with a pavilion on West Main Street.
Outdoors
- Picnic shelter
317 W Main St, Washington, MO 63090
Official site · Checked
Rainy-day spots
Rainy-day spot · St. Louis
City Museum
The museum fills a former shoe factory downtown and is built largely from salvaged architectural and industrial material.
Indoors
750 N 16th St, St. Louis, MO 63103
Official site · Checked
Rainy-day spot · Chesterfield
Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House
The Missouri Botanical Garden runs this glass conservatory inside Faust Park, next to the park's historic village and carousel.
Indoors
- Parking
- Accessible
15193 Olive Blvd, Chesterfield, MO 63017
Official site · Checked
Rainy-day spot · St. Louis
St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station
The aquarium is inside the restored Union Station depot, so the train shed and the wheel are steps from the door.
Indoors
- Accessible
201 S 18th St, St. Louis, MO 63103
Official site · Checked
Rainy-day spot · Kirkwood
The Magic House, St. Louis Children's Museum
The children's museum is in downtown Kirkwood about a mile north of Interstate 44.
Indoors
- Parking
516 S Kirkwood Rd, Kirkwood, MO 63122
Official site · Checked
Courts
Courts · St. Louis
Dwight Davis Memorial Tennis Center
The Forest Park center carries 18 lighted tennis courts plus four pickleball courts added in 2017, and it is named for the man behind the Davis Cup.
Outdoors
- Lights
- Parking
5620 Grand Dr, St. Louis, MO 63112
Official site · Checked
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