Gateway Arch National ParkSt. Louis, MOAUG 09 2026

Gateway Arch National Park is an unusual park. There is no wilderness, just a lawn, a museum, an old courthouse and a 630-foot stainless steel arch beside the Mississippi River. It only became a national park in 2018. Before that it was the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.

Eero Saarinen designed the Arch, and it was finished in October 1965. It is as wide at the base as it is tall. Up close, it is hard to fit in a photo.

The tram

The best part is how you get to the top. Inside each leg of the Arch is a tram made up of tiny round capsules. They turn as they climb, so you stay level while the track curves. The small doors look like something from a 1960s idea of the future.

Visitors at the row of small tram doors inside the Gateway Arch
The tram doors, a little piece of 1960s science fiction

The capsules are small, so you will get to know the people riding with you. The ride takes a few minutes. Then you step out and walk up into the top.

The narrow, curved observation room at the top of the Gateway Arch
The observation room is a narrow, gently humped corridor

The view

The room at the top is a long, slightly curved hallway with small windows on both sides. You lean over the ledge to look out. The first thing you see is straight down, where people on the ground look like dots with long shadows.

The curving paths and lawns of the park seen straight down from the top of the Arch
Straight down: the park’s paths and lawns from the top

To the west, you can see down the park to the Old Courthouse and the downtown towers. Busch Stadium is just to the south, and you can see down into the seats. The east windows look out over the wide brown Mississippi, with Illinois on the far side.

Downtown St. Louis and the Old Courthouse seen from the top of the Arch
Looking west over the Old Courthouse and downtown St. Louis
Busch Stadium and downtown buildings seen from high above
Busch Stadium, from a very good seat
The wide brown Mississippi River with the Illinois shore beyond
The Mississippi, looking across to Illinois
A riverboat dock on the brown water of the Mississippi seen from above
The riverfront directly below

The Old Courthouse

Back on the ground, walk through the park to the Old Courthouse. It is part of the national park and an important place in American history. Dred and Harriet Scott first sued for their freedom here in the 1840s, in a case that later reached the US Supreme Court.

The domed Old Courthouse in St. Louis under a bright sky
The Old Courthouse, where the Dred Scott case began

Practical Info

  • Where: Gateway Arch National Park, on the riverfront in downtown St. Louis, Missouri.
  • Tickets: The tram is ticketed and sells out at busy times, so book a timed slot ahead.
  • Cost: The grounds and museum are free to enter. Check current tram prices.
  • Claustrophobia: The capsules are very small. If that bothers you, look at the sample capsule in the lobby first.
  • Allow: About an hour for the tram and the top, and longer if you visit the museum beneath the Arch.

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