The Best Walks for Exploring St. Louis

Chain of Rocks
Park at any side of this pedestrian bridge and marvel at the Mississippi River views. The bridge is open to pedestrians and cyclists and provides an easy one-mile journey each way.

Tower Grove South and Botanical Heights
Start at Stella Blues (3269 Morgan Ford Road). Take Morgan Ford north to the park and head along Center Cross Drive. Then stroll down Tower Grove Avenue, past the Missouri Botanical Garden, to Union Loafers (1629 Tower Grove Avenue). It's an easy 3-mile round trip.

Central West End
Start at Left Bank Books (399 North Euclid Avenue) and travel south down Euclid. Stop for some ice cream at Clementine's (308 North Euclid Avenue) or a drink at Yellowbelly (4659 Lindell Boulevard). Don't forget to detour down Hortense to see some of the city's most magnificent mansions before continuing on Euclid to Lindell. Take it east to the Cathedral Basilica and then head north on Newstead. Follow it McPherson, which will take you back to Left Bank Books for a loop that's just shy of two miles.

Downtown St. Louis
Start by City Park (2100 Market Street), then walk down Market toward the Arch in what might be the most St. Louis walk ever. It's 1.6 miles each way, and you'll spend part of it walking through CityGarden. Bonus: Stick around the Arch grounds and add a few more miles admiring the best-maintained grass in the city.

Carondelet Park
Start at the boathouse in Carondelet Park (3900 Holly Hills Boulevard) and meander your way through the city’s most underrated park.

The Hill
Start at Shaw's Coffee (5147 Shaw Avenue), and pick up your iced beverage of choice. Then head south down Marconi to St. Ambrose in the Hill and the Piazza Imo before making a beeline for the Missouri Baking Company (2027 Edwards Street). Keep strolling or head back to where you started for an easy half-mile loop.

Missouri Botanical Garden
Check out the new Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center and head to the Linnean House to look at all the cool desert plants. Zig-zag over to the Climatron to check out all the cool jungle plants. Finally, make your way to the Center for Home Gardening to see all the plants that you could actually grow yourself (and resist the urge to snack on them, seriously).

Benton Park
After you're done strolling through the park, take Wyoming east to Lemp and stop by Shameless Grounds (1901 Withnell) for a sex-positive beverage. Then make your way to Cherokee Street and meander west toward Jefferson, stopping in at any of the vintage and antique stories as you like. The loop is 1.25 miles plus whatever you add in the park.

Forest Park
Start on Art Hill, then loop your way past the Boathouse and walk the shaded path along the lagoon.

St. Louis Hills
Start at Ted Drewes (6726 Chippewa Street), then walk down Prather to Nottingham and stroll to Francis Park. Staying along the perimeter gets you an easy 2-mile loop, but why not go exploring inside the park while you're there? The Rockwell Beer Garden (5300 Donovan) will keep you hydrated.

Columbia Bottom Conservation Area
Traverse along the biking or hiking trails or admire the sunflower fields when they bloom.

St. Vincent Greenway
Start at UMSL’s south campus (just direct your GPS to University Boulevard) and pick up the St. Vincent Greenway. Pass the prairie-like area, head down the path into the lush woods, pass the former convent and make your way into St. Vincent Park (7335 St. Charles Rock Road).

The Grove
Go in the evening and begin by grabbing dinner at Chao Baan or Seoul Taco or Sultan or … (no bad choices). Then start walking toward the other end, stopping in at Serendipity (4400 Manchester Avenue) for some delicious ice cream and Platypus (4501 Manchester) for cocktails before heading back to HandleBar (4127 Manchester Avenue) to finish your stroll with some dancing.

O'Fallon Park
Take the one-mile stroll around O'Fallon Lake in this pretty north St. Louis park (just don't trip over the fishermen).

Laumeier Sculpture Park
You can’t go wrong with any route in this sculpture park. Either travel through the woods on a trail or gawk at sculptures through the park’s wide open spaces.

Grant's Trail
Start at the Barn on the grounds of the Thomas Sappington House Museum (1015 Sappington Road) in Crestwood, then travel east along the trail, passing Grant’s Farm. It's 2 miles to the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site (7400 Grant Road).

Bellefontaine Cemetery
Stroll through this historic cemetery in north St. Louis from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Creve Coeur Lake
Start at the Creve Coeur Lakehouse Bar and Grill (2160 Creve Coeur Mill Road), then walk down the paved path to Creve Coeur Lake. The Lakeview Loop Trail is an easy 3.8 miles.

Webster Groves
Start at Cyrano’s (603 East Lockwood) for a quick dessert before heading over to Eden Theological Seminary’s beautiful campus. Then make your way down Lockwood to historic downtown Webster Groves.

Soulard
Start near Mission Taco Joint (908 Lafayette Avenue) on Soulard’s northwestern edge. Head even further north and take a look around the Soulard Farmers Market before heading south on 9th Street through the heart of the neighborhood. Stop at the 1860 Saloon (1860 South 9th Street) for a drink and then keep walking south. When you get to Jack Nolen’s (2501 South 9th Street), it's surely time for a bloody mary (or a slider). Hang a right on Sidney and stop for a drink at the Cat’s Meow (2600 South 11th Street), then start meandering back north — 10th, 11th and 12th streets all have their charms. If you take 12th Street, you can stop at John D. McGurk's (1200 Russell Street) before heading east on Russell and taking Menard to Geyer and then back to 9th.