A Lush State Park In Missouri Boasts Beautiful Foliage And Hiking Trails With River Views

While the national park in St. Louis is an urban park, there are lush state parks all around the outside of the city. Castlewood State Park is 30 minutes from St. Louis, with several hiking trails and sights to pull you into the beauty of the lush valley. The park is an escape for locals or a spot for visitors to get out of the city and explore Missouri without having to travel far.

When you get to the park, there is a variety of trails to choose from. There are eight main trails in Castlewood State Park, with routes ranging from easy to rugged. The most popular trail in the park is the Riverscene Trail, which brings hikers to the best view of the park overlooking the Meramec River. The 3.4-mile trail passes remnants of foundations from the Castlewood Resort days when it existed in the 1920s and 1930s.

The Grotpeter Trail is the second most popular trail because of how many variations of the route you can take with challenging terrain. There are several connecting trails along with the main trail, so hikers can shorten or lengthen their hike as they would like. This path has a bunch of road crossings, so it is recommended to take extra precaution while crossing the roads to stay safe. While you hike the trails during the spring and summer, keep an eye out for wildflowers that bloom all around the park, including patches of bluebells near the river.

This little escape is a natural playground, which can be experienced in many different ways. Castlewood State Park is known for being one of the best mountain biking spots in the St. Louis area, and mountain biking is allowed on all of the trails. Chubb trail is a multi-use pathway, which allows hiking, biking, and horseback riding. The 2-mile trail is mostly flat with hills on each end of the trail, traveling through prairies and ending up on the south side of the Meramec River. Once you are done with your trail ride with your horse, you can enjoy a picnic lunch at one of the equestrian picnic sites in the staging area. They have a picnic table, charcoal grill, and a hitching post for your horse.

You can also bring your family to one of the regular picnic sites to enjoy an afternoon at the park. They are on a first-come, first-served basis and include a picnic table and a charcoal grill. There is a playground, so if you have little ones that need to get some energy out, feel free to take them to the playground next to the picnic sites.

There are two official picnic shelters which you can rent to host events, including a family picnic or birthday party, by reserving it online or by calling the park at 636-227-4433. The rental fee is $100 for the day per shelter. One of the shelters can hold 50 people, while the other can host up to 75. If they're not reserved, you can use it for free on a first-come, first-served basis.

The park is officially open for the season from April to October, with flush bathrooms, water fountains, and a dumpster near the picnic shelters. However, during the off-season those bathrooms are closed and the dumpster is removed, but if you head over to the Lone Wolf trailhead parking lot you will find a year-round vault toilet and dumpsters. When parking, choose one of the many parking lots throughout the park and skip parking along the road or on the grass. It looks like there is a bunch of parking, so hopefully it's not too much of an issue.

If you or your group need ADA accessibility, the West day-use area has handicap accessible parking, a paved path to the park office, bathroom, and picnic shelter. When exploring the park, keep in mind that there are ticks, so take precautions to reduce your exposure to ticks in the area. Fishing is another way to explore the park, but swimming or wading is currently prohibited in the Meramec River for safety reasons. So keep that in mind, but feel free to enjoy casting your line from the shores of the Meramec River. There are several species of fish available in the river, including catfish, carp, and walleye.

If you're still looking for more spots to explore, head on over to one of the most beautiful lakes in the Midwest, the Lake of the Ozarks, or Onondaga Cave State Park to check out the top natural wonder in Missouri, and lastly, Cuivre River State Park, which is a riverside paradise with great camping spots.