St. Louis
Missouri
St. Louis sits near the place where the Missouri runs into the Mississippi, and it kept building things larger than its own size: a 630-foot arch on the levee, a park left over from the 1904 World's Fair that is bigger than Central Park, and across the river the earthen city at Cahokia that once held more people than London. Most of the best of it costs nothing, including the art museum, the zoo and the history museum in Forest Park, so a day here comes down to how far you are willing to walk.
7 challenges · 47 stops
STARTERUnder the Arch and on the Courthouse Steps
≈ 2,000 steps1.1 mi · about 2 hoursStarter · 3 stops · 500 credStart where you live.Three stops on the old riverfront, on foot, with nothing to pay at any of them: the lawn under the Arch, the courthouse where Dred and Harriet Scott sued for their freedom, and the cobblestones left from the steamboat levee. About a mile of flat walking, two hours.
STANDARDForest Park, Free at the Door
≈ 4,000 steps1.8 mi · about 4 hoursStandard · 5 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.The park the 1904 World's Fair left behind, bigger than Central Park, where the art museum and the zoo still charge nothing to walk in. Five stops from the basin at the bottom of Art Hill to a 1930s glass greenhouse, half a day on foot, with one dollar the only money you will spend.
STANDARDSoulard to Cherokee Street
≈ 6,000 steps2.9 mi · about 4 hoursStandard · 5 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.The near south side, from the oldest market west of the Mississippi to two very different halves of one long commercial street. Five stops, a few miles, half a day, and free at every one; go on a Saturday morning when the market stalls are full.
STANDARDWest Along the Gateway Mall
≈ 3,000 steps1.5 mi · about 3.5 hoursStandard · 5 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.A mile and a half of downtown, walked westward along the strip of parks the city laid through its own street grid: a fountain plaza, a sculpture garden with no fences, a war memorial, the old garment-district lofts and a fountain of river gods. Half a day, all of it free.
ADVANCEDBoth Banks of the Mississippi
≈ 1,400 steps + 76 mi by car0.7 mi on foot · 2 days or more · + 2 stretches not routedAdvanced III · 11 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.The hardest thing this city holds: two days and a car along thirty miles of river, both states, from a bluff cave in the far south to a lock and dam above Alton. Eleven stops including the largest earthen mound in the Americas and the point where the Missouri joins the Mississippi. Nothing to pay anywhere, but most of it closes at dusk.
ADVANCEDThe Garden, the Grove and the Hill
≈ 9,000 steps + 8.6 mi by car4.3 mi on foot · a full dayAdvanced · 8 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.A full day across the south side, from a walled botanical garden older than the Civil War to a Victorian park full of follies, a water tower shaped like a Corinthian column, and the Italian blocks where the Berra and Garagiola families grew up. Eight stops, a car for the last two, and one paid gate.
ADVANCEDThe Loop, the Mosaics and the Stones
≈ 10,000 steps + 9.8 mi by car4.6 mi on foot · 1 day or moreAdvanced II · 10 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.Two days and a car, west to the Delmar Loop and the university, then back east through the Central West End and north to two water towers and two graves that decided things. Ten stops, free at every one, and the cemeteries close in the late afternoon so put them first on day two.
Counted between stops; you'll walk more at each one.
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