I have to say, I felt pretty indifferent when the Gateway Arch was added to the national park system back in 2018. But I did know it would be an easy enough park to check off the list because it was only a matter of time before we found ourselves in St. Louis. And that time finally came when the NCAA announced that the 2025 Men’s Frozen Four–an event we go to every year–would be in St. Louis.
Every year, my friends and I attend the Frozen Four, whether Boston University is playing or not. But we have been pretty blessed the last three years with BU winning their way into the tournament (even if it makes the trip way more stressful).
Even still, we had a really fun weekend in “the Lou” and ticked off a lot of tourist-y must-dos.
Like touring the Budweiser factory and seeing the Clydesdales.
And seeing a new ballpark (bringing my total MLB parks up to 10).
But, of course, one of the biggest things to check off was our 29th national park.
It’s pretty mind boggling how tall the arch looks from up close. It’s impossible to capture in a photo.
But the real highlight is going up to the top and seeing just how high up you are for yourself. We booked the Builder’s View tickets which include the tram ride to the top and a documentary on how the arch was built (which let me say, it is a miracle that no one died while building it, some of the footage they have is actually insane and I highly recommend watching the video. The insurance plan for the build actually predicted that 13 workers would die during construction, and people still just did it?? Crazy.) This combo ticket was roughly $20 with a discount if you have the annual national parks pass, super reasonable.
The tram ride up was…an experience.
You basically pile into these spaceship-looking pods. I hope you have some friends with you, because you will be nice and crushed and cozy.
So it probably goes without saying that this experience is not for the faint of heart. Or the claustrophobic. You can see out the windows of the tram into the interior of the arch for most of the way, so it never really bothered me, but it is a bit unnerving. These are still the same trams they built in the late 1960s right after completing construction of the arch. Not bad.
Once you get 630 feet up in the air, the viewing area is quite small and you only have about 10 minutes to look around. You can see the Mississippi River and Illinois to one side.
And downtown St. Louis on the other.
The views were incredible and we were very lucky to be there on a clear, sunny day.
Looking straight down and seeing the arch’s shadow was one of my favorite parts! You can see the little specks of people in the above photo to kind of give you an idea of how high up we really were.
It felt like not long after getting to the top we were already being ushered back into the trams to head down. Though, there really is only so much looking you can do.
We wandered around the museum and gift shop for a bit as the nerves really started to set in. And then it was finally time to head over to the Enterprise Center and prepare for the National Championship game…
…which we got crushed in. (Which is probably why it’s taken me so long to actually write this post.) But hey, that’s hockey. And we’re already looking toward next year.
And I continue to be so grateful to have such wonderful people with whom I get to travel the country and follow this exciting and heart wrenching sport. Knocking off some national parks is just an added bonus. That said, the Frozen Four is in Vegas next year and I am already in the throes of planning our day trip out to Death Valley National Park. And rumor has it James and I will be hitting up one more park before that on the last day of 2025. Hint: it’s another island park.
Stay tuned!
National Parks and Recreation 