Find a giant sculpture half-buried in the ground and waterfalls around a lake at Chesterfield’s Central Park. Central Park A large parking lot for the park is off Veterans Place Drive. On the left of the lot is Chesterfield Family Aquatic Center and directly in front is a pavilion and playground. Before starting the 1.24 mile Central Park Trail I decided to explore the area…
Hiking where eagles circle above and ice floes clog the Mississippi River was part of my day at Dresser Island north of West Alton, Mo. This is a long natural surface loop hike at 5.6 miles with little only 36 feet of elevation gain, which was mostly me going down closer to the river. Start of the Hike I parked in the gravel lot next…
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…
The walk at Emmenegger Nature Park includes a path along creeks, climbing up bluffs, and seeing a former beer baron’s retreat. My Time Here I hiked the Bluff Creek Trail along with the paved loop trails and side trails for two miles of hiking with about 320 feet of elevation gain. Parking was in the small lot next to the trailhead. A larger additional larger…
Mississippi River views and a military memorial are along the Mississippi River Greenway Trail starting at Jefferson Barracks Park. Also near the trailhead are military museums to learn the history of this former base. History of Jefferson Barracks Park Established in 1826 as U.S. military installation, Jefferson Barracks was a gathering point for troops and supplies during Seminole Wars, the Mexican War, the Civil War,…
Dennis Schick Trail includes historic sites and war machinery such as a World War II Sherman Tank in Jefferson Barracks Park in St. Louis County. It is a 2.7-mile paved trail that goes through woods and does have some hills. You can also view wildlife, the deer are very tame and signs stress not to feed them. Although we didn’t see them around when we…
Dr. H. Phillip Venable Memorial Park honors a family that faced racism and is a walk to do during Black History Month. A Short History of the Park Dr. H. Phillip Venable Memorial Park is Creve Coeur’s first park. The City of Creve Coeur originally acquired land for the park from Dr. H. Phillip Venable and his wife, Katie W. Venable, by the power of…
Explore the remains of an ancient Native-American village at Millstone Bluff Archaeological Site in the Shawnee National Forest. This forest-covered 320 feet hill sits just northwest of Illinois State Highway 145. The top of the mesa-like bluff is ringed by a broken sandstone escarpment. It is here Mississippian peoples (AD 1350-1550) who built homes, carved their religion into the stone, and buried their dead in…
Willmore Park includes a playground for all children even those with disabilities and a 1.5-mile paved trail winding around two lakes. It is a 105-acre park located near the River Des Peres in the St. Louis Hills neighborhood near the intersection of Gravois and Hampton Avenue in St. Louis. MY TIME HERE Playground I parked along Jamieson Avenue near the park’s playground built with the…
A stair-step waterfall and distant river views are found along the .6-mile trail at August G. Beckemeier Conservation Area in Chesterfield. Finding the Parking lot The small park lot was right off Olive Boulevard. This 54-acre area is approximately 1.3 miles north of St. Louis County’s Faust Park. At the trailhead is a lone picnic table where I had lunch. Starting the Hike Beginning the…
