Our Experience in Gateway Arch National Park

Jacob

Over Spring Break we decided to visit Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis on a day trip. It is a three-hour drive to the park so we left early to cross Missouri. We arrived in the afternoon after a lunch break. There are several parking structures to choose from when visiting the park. There are several signs leading to parking that we followed just north of the Old Courthouse. Going down the stairs and just a few feet to the south is the boundary of the park. First, we explored the Kiener Plaza with a view of the Old Courthouse as well as the Gateway Arch in the background. You can get some cool pictures in this area.

One thing that we noticed is that this is the loudest national park, the traffic, and surrounding city are loud unlike the serenity of other national parks like Yosemite and Yellowstone. The Old Courthouse was closed for renovations as the last part of a complete revamp of the park including expansion over the highway to connect the arch to the courthouse so we did not get to go inside. We headed for the park visitor center through the circular ramp down to through the glass doors. In the center of the room, I got my park stamp. To the right, we headed through the security area and down to the recently constructed museum at the arch.

We spent about half an hour exploring the museum that explored westward expansion, early St. Louis, plains Native Americans, wildlife, the St. Louis riverfront, the design and construction of the arch. The museum was very interesting with many models and interactive elements. I found the engineering of the arch the most interesting section. There is also a cafe and view from the top of the arch in a model of the arch. This is where the trams to the top of the arch are boarded. Unfortunately, tickets for the day we went sold out before we could get them so we could not go to the top. Instead, we headed back outside to walk around the ground of the park.

The renovated grounds of the park have added walking paths going around the Arch. We visited the riverfront area as well as walking to the north to get another angle of the Gateway Arch. We enjoyed our time in Gateway Arch National Park. Anyone in the area should consider a visit even to just walk the ground. Hopefully one day I will be able to get to the top of the arch.