Top 5 Missouri State Parks to Take the Kids Hiking

If you’re looking for the best places to take your family hiking in the Saint Louis area, look no further!  This list of the Top 5 Missouri State Parks within an hour of downtown offers a wide variety of hiking experiences that can appeal to children of all ages.  There are paved trails (rated easy) that have stroller accessibility as well as moderate trails for younger childrenand rugged trails forolder children.

In order of their driving distance from downtown:

Mastodon State Historic Site (25min)

The first park on the list is known more for it’s history than it’s trails.  The park is named for the discovery of the Kimmswick Bone Bed where scientists first found evidence that American mastodons coexisted with humans 12,000 years ago.  You can hike the Wildflower Trail (just 0.4 miles) down to the bone bed and hear an informational tour using your mobile device too!  It’s a great short hike with an educational bonus for the kids.

Route 66 State Park(30min)

This park has two trails that are rated easy which means they are great for strollers or wheelchairs.  One of those easy trails is the Outer Loop Trail which follows along some of the streets of the ghost town of Times Beach.  Formerly a town of nearly 2,000 people that was settled during the 1920’s, the town was evacuated after a dioxin exposure.  It was the largest civilian exposure to dioxin in American History.  This trail is an easy sell to kids since you can throw the words “Ghost Town” around and usually get them pretty excited to go hiking!

Castlewood State Park (35min)

Castlewood offers 8 different hiking trails.  However, none of them are rated easy which means this park is more for the older kids than for the toddlers.  They have 6 moderate trails and 2 rugged trails.  These trails are also a little longer than most of the other parks, so be prepared to hike for a few hours rather than just one.  The Grotpeter Trail offers numerous elevation changes making it popular among all hikers, while the River Scene trail showcases the most scenic views of any trail in the park.

Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial State Park (40min)

Babler has an easy trail, three moderate trails and two rugged ones.  The easy trail is a paved path great for strollers or bicycles.  Meanwhile, the Hawthorne Trail is rated “moderate” but is the shortest trail in the park at 1.25 miles offering a quicker but more interesting hike than the paved trail.

Meramec State Park (1hr 5min)

Ok, it’s more than an hour from downtown, but only by five minutes!  And Meramec is worth the drive.  There are six trails of 1.5 miles or less in the park which means you can see a lot of different things in less time, and each of the six trails have a lot to offer.  The Natural Wonders Trail is probably the most scenic trail to take the kids on with caves and creeks near the path of the trail.

Click on the name of the parks to go to the Missouri State Parks website for each one and get all the information about every trail the park has to offer.  And if you’re not picnicking in the park you visit, use the Eat Kid Friendly App to find the perfect restaurant to cater to the needs of your family for dinner on your way home!