Gateway Arch National Park

The Gateway Arch is a catenary arch, which is simply the shape a chain or a rope makes when you hold it up by both ends and let it hang, then flip it upside down. That gentle, natural curve is why the arch looks so graceful and why it stands so strong. It is exactly as wide as it is tall, 630 feet each way, and it is sheathed entirely in stainless steel that gleams silver against the sky. Architect Eero Saarinen designed it to commemorate the westward expansion of the United States, and it was finished in 1965 after years of work. St. Louis was the gateway city where many settlers and traders outfitted themselves before heading into the West, so the arch stands as a doorway in metal.

Under the arch, tucked below ground so it does not compete with the monument, is the Museum at the Gateway Arch, which tells the long and complicated story of the country moving west. The park grounds spread out from there in landscaped lawns, tree-lined walks, and quiet reflecting ponds that mirror the arch on a still day. Out on the edge of the grounds sits the Old Courthouse, a domed 19th-century building where two cases that helped shape American history were argued.

Because this is an urban park, everything is close together and easy to walk. You can stroll from the riverfront steps up to the museum, out to the courthouse, and around the reflecting pools without ever getting in a car. The grounds and the museum are free to enter and open to everyone. The one thing that costs money and needs a ticket is the tram ride to the top of the arch, which is the experience most people come for.

• Main entrance in downtown St. Louis, off Memorial Drive near Interstates 70 and 44. This is an urban park, open year-round, and the grounds are free to walk. The visitor center and museum sit underground beneath the arch, reached from the entrances on the west side facing the city.
• Coming from the west or the airport, take Interstate 64 or Interstate 70 into downtown and follow signs for the Gateway Arch; from Illinois to the east, cross the Mississippi River on Interstate 55/64/70 and exit downtown. Public parking garages and the city's MetroLink light rail both put you within a short walk of the grounds, which is often easier than driving in a busy downtown.

• Ride the tram to the top of the Arch, a one-of-a-kind trip in tiny five-seat pods that tilt and click their way up the curving inside of the leg to an observation deck 630 feet up, where small windows look out over the city, the river, and Illinois beyond.
• Visit the Museum at the Gateway Arch, a free underground museum that walks through the westward-expansion story, including the people who already lived on the land and what that expansion cost them.
• Tour the Old Courthouse, the domed building on the grounds where the Dred Scott freedom case and Virginia Minor's women's suffrage case were argued, both cases that echoed far beyond St. Louis.
• Walk the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial grounds, the landscaped lawns, tree-lined paths, and reflecting pools that frame the arch and make an easy riverside stroll.
• Take in the view from the riverfront steps along the Mississippi, where paddlewheel riverboats dock and the arch soars right overhead.

Long before St. Louis, the land where the arch now stands was home to Native nations. Just across the river once stood Cahokia, the largest city in North America north of Mexico, built by the Mississippian people around a thousand years ago. When the United States pushed west in the 1800s, St. Louis became the great outfitting point, the last big town before the frontier. That westward expansion opened new land for settlers, but it came at a heavy cost to the many Indigenous nations who already lived there, who were pushed off their homelands, killed, or forced onto reservations. A good national park tells that whole story, and the museum under the arch does not shy away from it.

On the park grounds stands the Old Courthouse, and inside it two of the most important legal fights in American history played out. In the 1840s and 1850s an enslaved man named Dred Scott and his wife Harriet sued for their freedom here, arguing that time spent living in free territory had made them free. Their case climbed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, whose 1857 decision denied them and ruled that Black Americans could not be citizens, a ruling so unjust it helped push the country toward the Civil War. Decades later, in the same courthouse, Virginia Minor sued for the right to vote, and her case too reached the Supreme Court, a key moment in the long struggle for women's suffrage.

The monument itself grew out of a Depression-era idea to revive the crumbling riverfront and honor the pioneers. In 1935 the site was set aside as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. A nationwide design contest in 1947 was won by architect Eero Saarinen, whose soaring arch beat out hundreds of other entries. Construction did not begin until 1963, and the two legs were built separately, rising toward each other from the ground. The final piece was set at the very top in October 1965, joining the legs into one continuous curve.

In 2018 the site was renamed and redesignated as Gateway Arch National Park, making it the newest and smallest national park in the system. Around the same time the grounds and museum were completely renovated, the museum expanded and rebuilt underground, and the park was reconnected to downtown by a landscaped land bridge over the old highway that had long cut it off from the city.

• The Gateway Arch is the tallest arch in the world and, at 630 feet, the tallest man-made monument in the western hemisphere, taller than the Washington Monument and the Statue of Liberty.
• It is exactly as wide as it is tall. If you measured the distance between the two legs at the ground, it would equal the height: 630 feet each way.
• The tram to the top is unlike an elevator. Because the leg curves, the cars ride in strings of tiny five-seat pods that swivel and level themselves as they climb, a little like a Ferris car crossed with a subway train.
• The pods are small and snug, so the ride can feel tight if you are tall or uneasy in enclosed spaces. It is a short trip, but worth knowing before you go up.
• The arch is built to sway. In high winds the top can move more than a foot to either side, and it is engineered to flex rather than fight the wind.
• Setting the final piece in 1965 was nerve-racking. The two legs had to meet within a tiny margin, and crews sprayed the sunny south leg with water to cool it and shrink it just enough for the keystone section to slide into place.
• At 91 acres, Gateway Arch is the smallest national park in the country, small enough to walk end to end in an easy stroll.
• The arch's stainless steel skin was polished so it would never need painting, and its mirror-like surface reflects the changing colors of the sky through the day.

• Entering the park is free. The grounds, the visitor center, and the Museum at the Gateway Arch cost nothing to visit.
• The tram ride to the top of the arch has a fee, and reservations are recommended, especially on busy weekends and in summer, since the pods hold only a limited number of people at a time. Book ahead through the park's ticketing site if you can.
• The Museum at the Gateway Arch, under the monument, tells the westward-expansion story and is well worth an hour even if you skip the tram.
• The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial grounds, with their gardens and reflecting pools, are free and open for a stroll, and the Old Courthouse on the grounds is worth a look for its Dred Scott and suffrage history.
• You can reach the park by bicycle on the riverfront and greenway trails, and the city's MetroLink light rail stops within a short walk, which is often easier than parking downtown.

Entering the park is free. The grounds, the visitor center, and the Museum at the Gateway Arch all cost nothing. The one thing that has a fee is the tram ride to the top of the arch, which is ticketed separately. So you can enjoy most of the park without paying anything.

Inside each leg of the arch is a tram made of small pods, each seating about five people. The pods swivel and level themselves as they climb the curving inside of the leg up to an observation deck 630 feet high, where small windows look out over the city and the river. It is a short ride, and reserving tickets ahead of time is a good idea, especially on busy weekends and in summer, since space at the top is limited.

The pods are small and snug, seating five people close together, so the ride can feel tight if you are tall or uneasy in enclosed spaces. It is a short trip and the view at the top is worth it for most people, but it is good to know before you go up. If small spaces are a real concern, the free museum and grounds give you plenty to do without the tram.

The Old Courthouse is the domed 19th-century building on the park grounds, and two landmark cases were argued inside it. The enslaved Dred Scott and his wife Harriet sued for their freedom here in the 1840s and 1850s, a case that reached the Supreme Court in 1857 and helped push the country toward the Civil War. Later, Virginia Minor's case for a woman's right to vote was argued here too. It is a quiet building that holds a huge amount of American history.

The park grounds, the underground visitor center, the Museum at the Gateway Arch, and the Old Courthouse are all free to visit. The tram ride up inside the arch is the ticketed part, and reservations are recommended. So you can spend a rewarding half day here for no cost and simply add the tram if you want to go to the top.

Because this is a small, walkable urban park, you can see the highlights in a half day. Give yourself an hour or so for the museum, some time to walk the grounds and reflecting pools, a look at the Old Courthouse, and about an hour for the tram if you plan to ride it. A full day lets you add nearby stops like the City Museum or the botanical garden.

The park is open year-round, and spring and fall bring the most comfortable weather for walking the grounds. Summer is popular but hot and humid, and it is the busiest season for the tram, so book ahead. Winter is quiet and the arch is striking against a gray sky, though you will want a warm coat for the riverfront wind.

Leashed pets are welcome on the outdoor grounds and paths, which makes for a nice riverside walk, but they are not allowed inside the museum, the tram, or other buildings, except for service animals. Bring water on hot days and never leave a pet in a parked car. Check the park website for the current pet rules.

No. This is a small urban park with no camping and no lodging inside it. Downtown St. Louis surrounds the park, though, so there are plenty of hotels and places to stay within walking distance or a short drive, and the riverfront neighborhoods put you close to the arch.

The park is a well-visited public space in downtown St. Louis, and staying on the lit, populated grounds and paths is the sensible approach, as it is in any city, especially after dark. Getting there is easy: public parking garages sit nearby, the city's MetroLink light rail stops within a short walk, and riverfront and greenway trails reach the park by bike, which often beats driving into a busy downtown.