Parks in

Greater St. Louis Greater St. Louis is a bi-state metropolitan area that completely surrounds and includes the independent city of St. Louis, the principal city. It includes parts of both Missouri and Illinois. The city core is on the Mississippi Riverfront on t ...

are administered by a variety of state, county, and municipal authorities. The region also is home to Gateway Arch National Park, site of the Gateway Arch, the only

National Memorial National memorial or National Memorial may refer to: * National Memorial (Thailand) * National memorial (United States) *National Martyrs' Memorial, in Bangladesh * National Memorial of the Republic of Belarus See also *Memorial (disambiguation) ...

in the state of Missouri. Among the largest municipal parks is

Forest Park A forest park is a park whose main theme is its forest of trees. Forest parks are found both in the mountains and in the urban environment. Examples Chile * Forest Park, Santiago China *Gongqing Forest Park, Shanghai * Mufushan National Fores ...

, which is and is located in the

city of St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, although both Greensfelder County Park and Creve Coeur Park in St. Louis County are larger, at respectively. St. Louis County is also the location of two large state parks,

Babler State Park Babler State Park (formally, Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial State Park) is a state-managed public recreation area located in the northwest section of the city of Wildwood, Missouri. A large bronze statue of Dr. Babler greets park visitors. The st ...

with and

Castlewood State Park Castlewood State Park is a public recreation area and Missouri state park occupying which straddle the Meramec River in St. Louis County, Missouri. The most visited section of the state park lies on the north side of the Meramec; the park acreag ...

with . The largest state park in the region is

Meramec State Park Meramec State Park is a public recreation area located near Sullivan, Missouri, about 60 miles from St. Louis, along the Meramec River. The park has diverse ecosystems such as hardwood forests and glades. There are over 40 caves located througho ...

, located near Sullivan, Missouri, with of parkland.

Parks in the city of St. Louis

The city of St. Louis owns and maintains more than one hundred parks, ranging in size from the of

to less the than of Aboussie Park. Parks are administered by the city of St. Louis Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry, the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

, or a separate private board, such as

Tower Grove Park Tower Grove Park is a municipal park in the city of St. Louis, Missouri. Most of its land was donated to the city by Henry Shaw in 1868. It is on 289 acres (1.17 km²) adjacent to the Missouri Botanical Garden, another of Shaw's legacies. I ...

, which is maintained by a Board of Commissioners but remains city property.

Compton Hill Reservoir Park Compton Hill Reservoir Park is a public park located in the Compton Heights, St. Louis, Compton Heights neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Located on one of the highest elevations within the city, the park surrounds a reservoir used to p ...

is owned by the city but maintained by the St. Louis Water Division.

Non-municipally owned parks

The city of St. Louis is also home to several public parks that are owned by other entities. Among these is Baer Plaza, owned and maintained by CVC/Sports Authority, Gateway Arch National Park, owned and maintained by the National Park Service, Kiel Triangle Park, owned by the

Bi-State Development Agency Metro Transit is an enterprise of Bi-State Development, an interstate compact formed by Missouri and Illinois in 1949. Its operating budget in 2016 was $280 million, which is funded by sales taxes from the City of St. Louis and St. Louis Count ...

, and Luther Ely Smith Park, owned and maintained by the National Park Service.

Parks in St. Louis County

St. Louis County owns and maintains more than forty parks, including playgrounds and nature preserves. It also operates several recreation centers, the National Museum of Transportation, and the Affton Community Center. In addition to parks owned by St. Louis County, several municipalities in the county also own and maintain their own park systems.

Parks in St. Charles County

St. Charles County Blueways

The Dardenne Creek Blueway is the first in a planned series of kayaking and canoeing routes connecting St. Charles area parks and recreation facilities. The blueway’s first 3.5-mile stretch links Riverside Landing County Park on the Mississippi River to St. Peters’ 370 Lakeside Park and takes up to two hours for a round trip. The next stage opens in the fall of 2022 and will link to St. Peters’ Lone Wolff Park 5.2-miles to the southwest. Three future phases will connect Jack Gettemeyer Park, O’Fallon Sports Park, and Bluebird Meadow Park for a total of 19-miles (30.6 km) of access along Dardenne Creek. A future route is the Big Creek Blueway, which will connect Indian Camp Creek and Flatwoods parks through Big Creek and the

Cuivre River The Cuivre River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 13, 2011 river in the east central part of the state of Missouri, north of the Missouri River terminus. A good ...

, or about 12.3-miles (19.8 km).

State parks

Eleven Missouri state parks are in Greater St. Louis, and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources also operates several state historic sites in the region.

References

External links

St. Louis City Parks Division

List of St. Louis City Parks

{{St. Louis MSA * St. Louis