05 Sep Gateway Arch National Park With Kids: A Parent’s Plan

Gateway Arch National Park is the one field trip every St. Louis kid eventually takes, and it works just as well as a family Saturday. A good Arch day comes down to logistics: tram tickets, parking, and what to do with a stroller. Here’s how we’d plan it, by the age of the kids you’re bringing.

Before You Go: Tickets, Parking, and Security

Buy tram tickets ahead of time. The Museum at the Gateway Arch is free and needs no ticket, but the Tram Ride to the Top does. Tickets are sold through the park’s partner at gatewayarch.com, and gatewayarch.com says same-day tickets are not guaranteed. Summer weekends sell out. At the time of writing, adult tram tickets run $19 to $23 and children ages 3 to 15 run $14 to $18 depending on the date, with the $3 National Park Service entrance fee built in.

Arrive early. Everyone passes through an airport-style checkpoint with magnetometers and X-ray. The National Park Service asks visitors with pre-purchased tram tickets to arrive about 30 minutes before their tram time, and gatewayarch.com says to expect a 15-minute security wait in busy seasons. No weapons of any kind, including pepper spray.

Use the west entrance. Per the National Park Service, you enter the visitor center from the west side facing Fourth Street and the Old Courthouse. The Arch legs are exit only, so don’t walk your family to the base first and expect to get in.

Parking. The park owns no parking lots. The Arch’s preferred garage is the Stadium East Garage at 200 S. Broadway, which gatewayarch.com lists at a discounted rate of $9 for the first five hours. On the north side, the Laclede’s Landing lot at 612 N. Second Street is about an eight-minute walk and, according to Laclede’s Landing, runs $6 on weekdays before 6 p.m. and $10 evenings and weekends, with limited capacity. By MetroLink, get off at 8th and Pine or Laclede’s Landing and follow the signs, about a ten-minute walk.

Strollers. Strollers are fine in the museum, but gatewayarch.com is clear that wheelchairs, scooters, walkers, and strollers are not permitted on the tram or the observation deck. The tram ride involves at least 96 steps (never more than 28 at a stretch), five-person pods, about four minutes up and three minutes down, and up to ten minutes at the top. There are no restrooms and no seating up there, and no food or drink on the tram. Budget 45 to 60 minutes for the whole thing.

A Plan by Age

Toddlers and Preschoolers

Skip the tram, or send one adult up while the other stays below. The free museum’s six galleries are stroller-friendly and full of things to touch. Then walk two blocks west to Kiener Plaza, where the playground is built for ages 2 to 12 with a toddler section, and the fountain doubles as a splash pad in warm weather. Two blocks farther, Citygarden (Market Street between 8th and 10th) has a children’s spray plaza with 102 nozzles that runs daily from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., plus 24 sculptures spread across two city blocks. Both are free. The Virtual Reality Theater in the visitor center is recommended for ages 3 and up.

Elementary Kids

This is the sweet spot for the tram. Pick a mid-morning slot so you’re not squeezing it in before a meltdown. Before or after, grab a free Junior Ranger booklet. The National Park Service offers the program to ages 5 and up, with booklets available in the Arch visitor center and in the rotunda of the Old Courthouse. The two buildings have different badges, so ambitious kids can earn both in one day.

Facts worth sharing on the ride up, all from the National Park Service fact sheet: the Arch is 630 feet tall and 630 feet wide, built from 142 stainless-steel sections weighing 5,199 tons; it’s designed to deflect up to 18 inches in a 150-mph wind; and the observation deck has 16 windows on each side, each about 7 by 27 inches. It was completed on October 28, 1965, four years after architect Eero Saarinen died.

Tweens and Teens

Older kids get more out of the Old Courthouse, which reopened in May 2025 after a two-year, $27.5 million renovation that added an elevator and new galleries. The exhibits on Dred and Harriet Scott, whose freedom suits were heard in this building, are the reason to go, along with “Pathways to Freedom” on African American life in St. Louis and a recreated 1850s courtroom. Admission is free and the building is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For a change of pace, the Riverboats at the Gateway Arch run a one-hour riverfront cruise from the levee at 50 S. Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard. The fleet is the Tom Sawyer and, as of this year, the Becky Thatcher, the first new riverboat on the St. Louis riverfront in nearly 40 years. Dogs are welcome on the one-hour cruise, so the family pet can come too.

Where to Eat With Kids

• The Old Spaghetti Factory, 727 N. First Street on Laclede’s Landing. Trolley-car seating in a historic building, a short walk north of the Arch grounds.
• Sugarfire Smoke House, 605 Washington Avenue. Counter-service barbecue near the National Blues Museum, about a ten-minute walk west.
• Crown Candy Kitchen, 1401 St. Louis Avenue in Old North. A soda fountain that opened in 1913, a short drive north of downtown. Closed Sundays.
• Fitz’s Root Beer, 6605 Delmar Boulevard. Fitz’s is in the Delmar Loop, not downtown, but the working bottling line visible from the dining room is worth the stop on the way home to West County or U. City.

A Schedule That Works

The last tram leaves an hour before the visitor center closes, so check the day’s hours on gatewayarch.com first. Then: park at Stadium East by 9:30, security and museum until your tram slot, tram, lunch on Laclede’s Landing, and Kiener Plaza and Citygarden on the walk back to the car.

Living Close to the Arch

Families who love the riverfront often end up looking at homes in Soulard, Lafayette Square, Benton Park, and the Downtown lofts, all a short drive or MetroLink ride from the park. Browse current St. Louis listings on Wizah or read our home buying guide. We’re a St. Louis brokerage, our agents live in these neighborhoods, and we’re glad to talk through your options whenever you’re ready.