Looking for a great hike within just one hour of St. Louis? These St. Louis Hikes are both fun and kid-friendly. The trails range in terrain and are all great to explore. So grab those hiking shoes and head to one of these trails!
St. Louis Hikes
Castlewood State Park
Looking for the best vistas over the Meramec River? This place is it. Lone Wolf Trail starts with a steep climb up to several beautiful viewpoints over the river. We hiked switchbacks down to a creek before heading back to the parking lot. It is a 1.7 mile unpaved trail. This trail runs parallel to River Scene trail and also a mountain biking trail, so stay to the right after the viewpoints for Lone Wolf. The creek here is shallow and is peaceful, unlike the other trails right along the Meramec River.
St. Francois State Park
Mooner’s Hollow is by far my favorite trail here. A moderate 3 mile loop that has a highlight of walking over a creek and small waterfall at 1.5 miles.
We have spent hours in this creek in the summertime! The trail is unpaved and pretty hilly and we enjoyed the rock formations here.
It does have a fair amount of poison ivy in the summer along the creek (similar to Lewis & Clark trail). Swimming Deer trail (also located at St. Francois) has the best bluebell trail in the area late March/early April. It is truly magical!
Lone Elk County Park
A St. Louis Safari? Yes please! 546 acres of wildlife and trails, featuring bison, elk, wild turkey and deer. This park is free to enter, but there is a cup of donations by the entrance. When it is too cold or rainy to hike (or we just feel like going for a drive), we love to drive through this park to spy for elk and bison. If you arrive right at 8am, a lot of the wildlife will be on the road after the ranger has come through to feed them. My favorite area to spot elk is near the Ralph Foley shelter.
One of the most unique experiences is the Special Access Pass, where you follow the feed truck at 6:30am. It is $20/vehicle and such a unique experience!
Make sure to check out the World Bird Sanctuary next door too!
Cliff Cave County Park
Cliff Cave is located on 525 acres along the Mississippi RIver and named after the cave located on site. The trails are wide, paved and part of the Mississippi Greenway (perfect for bikes and strollers). There are 10 miles of paved trails here!!
To find the cave, we park at the Lower parking lot (all the way at the end of the Cliff Cave road at the Riverside shelter). Walk to the lower trailhead to the train tracks, and then continue on the path to the left after the tracks and up the gradual hill. The cave is .5 miles up on this path! We parked the stroller and followed the short (unpaved) path to the cave. While we couldn’t enter the cave, we had fun looking inside and it was neat to see the water flowing from it.
Rockwoods Reservation
Located in Wildwood, this area was mined for limestone 150 years ago. The Trail Among the Trees trail is my favorite here. It is a 1.9 mile loop, but there is a paved area about .3 miles to a pretty lookout. This trail is partially paved, and the first part is stroller-friendly (doing the trail counter-clockwise). You will have to walk on the sidewalk along the road before arriving at the trailhead. Phone service can be a little spotty here and the visitor’s center is now permanently closed, but portable restrooms are located by the south trailhead.
St. Louis has some great gems among state parks and county parks. Have a blast exploring this beautiful area!
