Gateway Arch National Park: History, Highlights, and a Perfect Day in St. Louis

Gateway Arch National Park fits into one well-planned day, and this guide shows you how to spend it. Ride the tram to the top of the nation's tallest monument, walk the free museum beneath it, follow the grounds down to the Mississippi, and join the ranger tour at the Old Courthouse, where Dred and Harriet Scott sued for their freedom. Then spend your spare hours on ten more St. Louis sights.

What's inside

• One perfect day, hour by hour, at a moderate pace: the Tram Ride to the Top, the museum, the grounds and riverfront, the Old Cathedral, the Old Courthouse tour, Citygarden, a riverboat cruise, and the Arch after dark, with a bad-weather plan and a version without stairs
• The park's history, from the 1764 trading town and the steamboat levee to the freedom suits, the clearing of forty blocks, Eero Saarinen's design, and the building of the Arch
• Sightseeing highlights: the trams, the museum's six galleries, the film and VR theater, the grounds, the riverboats, and the Old Courthouse
• Ten more St. Louis sights, from City Museum and Union Station to Forest Park, the zoo, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Cathedral Basilica, Soulard, and Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site
• Trip planning for tickets and passes, security, accessibility, MetroLink, parking, seasons, and where to stay and eat
• 22 photographs and 3 orientation maps

What you'll receive

• EPUB ebook (Gateway_Arch_National_Park_Brian_D_Russ.epub, about 8 MB) for Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play Books, and most e-reader apps. Kindle readers can use Amazon's Send to Kindle.
• PDF (Gateway_Arch_National_Park_Brian_D_Russ.pdf, 70 pages including the cover, about 19 MB) for any device, and for printing pages. It opens on the illustrated cover.

Your download link arrives by email right after purchase.

Edition

First illustrated edition, October 2026, with research completed October 2026. Ticket prices, hours, and closures change, so check the park's current alerts before you travel.

Book your tram time, wear good shoes, and save the evening for the Arch against the sky.

This is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Park Service.