On February 22, 2018, The Gateway Arch in St Louis became the 60th National Park. The Arch took just over 2 years to build and was a representation of the westward expansion from the time of Thomas Jefferson – hence called the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. The Arch is 630 feet tall and taller than the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington. The Arch can sway up to 18 inches and was built to withstand earthquakes and extreme high winds.
There is a elevator to the top of the arch overlooking the city of St. Louis, over the Mississippi River and into Illinois. The views from the top are said to be spectacular. We were unable to visit the top because the tickets for the day were sold out. We did get to enjoy the museum and other features located on the grounds of the park.
This National Park is not like other parks. Most parks have views of natural landscape, rivers that flow through them, mountainous views and even a historical homes that tell stories of the past. However, the Arch is located right on the Mississippi River and has a spectacular view.
There is no parking available on site. We used SpotHero to find a spot and walked over to see the Arch. There is no cost to get into the museum portion, there is a fee to journey to the top. The National Park Annual Pass does give a discount for the ride. We do recommend you order your tickets online a few days to a week in advance. We spent an one and half hours to explore the parts that we could and you could spend a little longer with the ride to the top. We highly recommend this visit and then stop over to Pappy’s BBQ for dinner.
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