You can walk around several lakes in north St. Charles, Mo., at Fountain Lakes Park which is easily reached off Missouri Highway 370.

I did two separate hikes in the park since the connector trail between them was flooded.

The first gravel surface hike was a one-mile hike with ten feet of elevation gain around Kluesner Lake on the northside of Missouri Highway 370.

The second gravel surface walk was around Moore Lake and Skate Park Lake south of Missouri Highway 370 for a 1.5-mile hike with also ten feet of elevation gain.

KLUESNER LAKE HIKE

East Side

I parked in the lot along Fountain Lakes Boulevard. The full name for the lake is Montgomery “Gum” Kluesner Lake.

I headed to the right around the lake taking in the water views. It was early morning and a cool wind came off the lake from the west so I was bundled up.

The water of this lake was clear, and I could see into it. Even though it is stocked, I didn’t see any fish.

At the back of the lake, I came to another trail on the right. This .6 mile North Cole Creek Trail leads to New Town Boulevard. You can walk along New Town Boulevard going north to the Boschert Greenway Trail, which eventually leads to downtown St. Charles.

Rounding The Back of the Lake

I went to the left to the back of the lake where it curves around to a covered picnic table on a hill overlooking the lake.

As I walked further on, I came across bushes of red berries of the honeysuckle, adding a bit of color to the area.

Then on the right was a tree with peeling bark, different from all the other ones around it.

Connector Trail

Then I noticed the connector trail. I went down it to where it went below Fountain Lakes Boulevard. I passed by a woman who was with her dog unleashed.

“It looks like a bathtub of foam down there.”

I walked down to look, and she was right. Water was going over the trail and creating a huge amount of foam. This was the connector I was to use to go to the other side of the park. I decided to instead go to a second trailhead that lead to this part of the park.

It was not deep, but the water did not seem clean and there were no stepping-stones to use. Most of all it was cold today to get my feet wet and I still had more hiking to do.

Final Thoughts

This was a nice easy one-mile hike around a lake. I might do this again if I want a short walk right off the interstate with water views.

Details

Drive: Take Interstate 270 north to exit 22A for Missouri Highway 370 and then take exit 5 for New Town Boulevard and then make a left onto Fountain Lake Boulevard and look for the park entrance on the right.

Hours: Sunrise to Sunset

Address:

628-608 Fountain Lakes Blvd, St Charles, MO 63301

MOORE LAKE AND SKATE PARK LAKE HIKE

I parked in the large gravel lot for the main part of Fountain Lakes Park bordering Skate Park Lake.

Walk around Skate Park Lake

I first walked out to the shoreline of the 15-acre Skate Park Lake taking in the full view of the lake.

Then I went to the right going towards the fenced-in skate park that includes elevated seating for spectators outside of the fence. It looks like they must do competitions at this park.

Then I walked around the south side of the lake. The walk curves to an intersection.

Pond Walk

I made a left to do a walk around a 2-acre pond.

This felt more remote since this trail is not walked as much.

Next, I came to another intersection after rounding the pond and made a right up to the intersection for the Moore Lake trail. Then I walked up a levee along Cole Creek and went left. If you want to shorten your walk you can go to the far left and walk around the south side of Moore Lake.

If you go right on the levee along Cole Creek you can hike the 1.6-mile Cole Creek Traill South to Elm Point Industrial Drive. It ends at this road without trailhead parking so this would have to be an out and back. A different hike to do next time I am here.

Moore Lake

Now I was above the 20-acre Moore Lake on a levee and going north.

Along this way, I came to another intersection for the connector trail crossing a wooden bottom and steel railing bridge to a subdivision. It crosses Cole Creek and connects to a nearby industrial park.

It was cooler again with the wind sweeping off the lake. Then I rounded the lake going west. I came to the connector trail to Kluesner Lake. I walked down until it went under Missouri Highway 370. It was muddy since the creek was flowing high. I was happy with my decision to not cross the overflow earlier.

Walking back, I went west along Moore Lake. In the distance, I saw an electric substation and then to the north Missouri Highway 370. This part of the trail has the most highway noise.

The trail goes south near the end of Huster Road which probably used to go through before construction of the highway.

I took the trail around to the front of Moore Lake then I took a path between the electric substation and a pond that leads to Skate Park Lake.

If you want a longer hike you can keep going around Moore Lake then take a connector south around the pond that leads to Skate Park Lake.

Connector Trail to Skate Park Lake

I passed by an undesignated body of water on the left and the substation on the right and through a short area of woods. Then I was back at Skate Park Lake.

I made a right and came back to the parking lot.

Final Thoughts

You can make this hike longer by doing the Cole Creek Trail on the south side or also using the connector trail to Kluesner Lake if it is not flooded. If I came back I would explore the south side of Moore Lake which I did not do this time.

Details

More Information: Restrooms are open April 1 through Nov. 14 and are located by both parking areas. All lakes are open for fishing and stocked annually.

Drive: Take Interstate 270 north to exit 22A for Missouri Highway 370 and then take exit 5 for New Town Boulevard/Elm Street and go south and make a right onto Elm Point Road then another right onto Huster Road and look for parking on the right.

Hours: Dawn to Dusk

Address: 3850 Huster Rd, St Charles, MO 63301

MORE ST. CHARLES AREA HIKES

Quail Ridge Park

Stealey Way Trail crosses small brooks and goes along Peruque Creek through Quail Ridge Park south of Wentzville, Mo.

Busch Memorial Conservation Area Hike

Like scenes of a post-apocalyptic nightmare or a zombie movie, abandoned cement bunkers are scattered throughout August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area.