Parks in Greater St. Louis

Parks in Greater St. Louis 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 in the state of Missouri. Among the largest municipal parks is Forest Park, which is 1293 acre and is located in the city of St. Louis, although both Greensfelder County Park and Creve Coeur Park in St. Louis County are larger, at 1646 and 2114 acre respectively. St. Louis County is also the location of two large state parks, Babler State Park with 3.8 sqmi and Castlewood State Park with 2.8 sqmi. The largest state park in the region is Meramec State Park, located near Sullivan, Missouri, with 10.8 sqmi 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 1371 acre of Forest Park to less the than 1 acre of Aboussie Park. Parks are administered by the city of St. Louis Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry, the National Park Service, or a separate private board, such as Tower Grove Park, which is maintained by a Board of Commissioners but remains city property. Compton Hill Reservoir Park 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, 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.

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, 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.