With the St Louis Cardinals having a couple of down years, and the Rams having long since left for sunny Los Angeles, you’d be forgiven for forgetting that the Gateway Arch exists (I’ll wager that before now the only times most people thought about the Arch was when it was shown during national sporting events). This past week however, the Gateway Arch was suddenly thrust into the spotlight in a major way as it played a big role in the latest episode of Disney+’s excellently done (so far) new series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
In this episode, the three main characters stopped in St. Louis (after passing multiple snow-capped mountains on a train ride – don’t get me started) to visit a temple of Athena, which just happened to be the shining and beautifully shot Gateway Arch. I don’t remember the last time St. Louis and the Arch itself looked this good on the screen (the last time I remember St. Louis being in a movie was in National Lampoon’s Vacation when the family got their hubcaps stolen by just driving slowly through East St. Louis – which yes, I know is technically in Illinois, but no one in the wider world knows that).
I won’t spoil what happens in the episode, but let’s just say that any damage to the Arch caused by any monsters has been repaired and that despite how the movie portrays it, there is no way that the Mississippi River is that clear.
Gateway Arch National Park is certainly one of the more unique National Parks out of the current 63. Until the Trump Administration of the late 2010s, this National Park had been designated a National Monument (which many, including myself believe that it should have stayed). Regardless of the reasons for upgrading the status of this Park, the result is that Missouri finally has its own National Park (something that I believe should have happened a while ago with several areas in the Ozarks).
At a mere 66 acres, Gateway Arch National Park is the smallest National Park in the Service, and can easily be fully explored in half a day. Unlike other Parks that are difficult to get to and sometimes even harder to explore, Gateway Arch is an ideal stop for families making their way across the country on a road trip, and is even well worth it to slightly alter plans to include the visit to St. Louis for.
I’d wager that if you just had a map to the city of St. Louis, you don’t even require specific directions to find the Arch. According to this one Flickr exchange, under ideal conditions, the Arch is visible some 30 miles away. As Pacha in The Emperor’s New Groove says “When the sun hits that ridge just right, these hills sing.” The same can be said about the Stainless-Steel exterior of the Arch. In my opinion, the Arch is one of the most beautiful man-made structures in this country and I’m glad to see it getting its due attention.
While I’ve been to the Arch before it became a National Park, it’s been a great many years and the whole Park has been given an amazing upgrade as a result of the status change. Everything from the fountain, ticketing, and overall entrance to the underground portions of the Arch all gleam with well-designed polish and wow.
After getting your tickets (which can be purchased ahead of time online) and going through security, you find yourself in the aptly named “Museum at the Gateway Arch” which walks you through 200 years of the history of St. Louis, the Manifest Destiny of the westward expansion of the United States, and then the building of the Gateway Arch itself. All the exhibits and displays are made and put together with the excellence normally found in places like the Smithsonians back in Washington DC. Watching the video that describes the planning and making of the Arch itself leaves you in awe that such a structure was made in the first place.
On on the other side of the museum are the entrances to the “elevator” that will take you to the top of the Arch. Let me warn you, the ride to the top is short, but you will get very close to the four other people who are sharing the pod with you. The 1960s sci-fi-ness of the pod is very cool though, and they do a good job with lighting and airflow during the 5 minute ride up and the 3 minute ride back down. I put “elevator” in quotes because as you might imagine, it’s not a straight up and down type situation. Think of it more of a train that happens to curve upwards into the sky in a zig-zag pattern. The really interesting part of the ride is looking out the door at the emergency stairs and wondering how that would work if you needed to use them…
Coming to a stop, the door slides open and there is a short climb up the final bit of steps and onto the observation deck portion of the Arch. As you might imagine, though few realize until you’re actually there, the observation deck is still very curved, as you are now at the peak of the Arch. If you’re at all bothered by heights – first of all, why did you get into the elevator to take you to the top of the Arch? – try not to think about how high up you are and how there is literally nothing underneath the viewing platform except for some 600 or so feet of atmosphere. Okay, honestly I didn’t need to include this part of the description of the place, but I find the whole concept of the Arch and how people are able to journey to the top to be utterly fascinating and beyond cool.
Leaning out onto the sloped ledges, you can spend time peering out the windows either towards the East and viewing the Mighty Mississippi River and Illinois (feel free to make the ever-ready dad joke of “I can see all the way to Illinois from here!”), or towards the West and downtown St. Louis. The Western views are of course more interesting as downtown St. Louis is actually quite diverse and colorful. If it happens to be baseball season, you can actually see the field and players in Busch Stadium, Home of the Cardinals.
But if you really want a unique view, and are not bothered by such things, look straight down from the windows on either side. Maybe it’s because of the angles, but I was shocked to see that you could easily see both of the “legs” of the Arch and the vast expanse of grass directly beneath you. It’s now that you truly feel as though you are hovering up in the air and get a sense of how high up you are. Nothing beats it.
You are only allowed 10 minutes at the top, primarily due to the ongoing stream of visitors and the limited space in the cars and viewing platform, but it feels like the right amount of time to enjoy the views and experience the wow of being where you are.
In addition to being a fascinating experience of going up into the Arch, the Arch itself and the Park as a whole is a photographer’s dream. Every angle of this stainless-steel marvel looks good and it can be seen all over downtown St. Louis. In fact, speaking of baseball and the Cardinals, one of the best views of the Arch is from inside Busch Stadium. The creators of that ballpark knew what a unique and special skyline this city has and made sure that it was visible from the seats. Side note: my friend Chris and I were in Busch Stadium on the day in 1998 that Mark McGuire hit home run #61, becoming the first player to reach the storied record since it was set by Roger Maris. Such a cool day and memory.
I loved my time exploring Gateway Arch National Park, and while I still have some reservations about it being designated a National Park, I do feel as though this place is special enough to receive the honor of such a title. So many cities have rooftop viewing platforms on tall buildings, or specially created towers like in San Antonio, Tokyo, Toronto, or Dallas from which you can take in the city, but no other city has something like the Arch. It’s a glimmering stunner of a creation that not only dominates and defines the city’s skyline, but also provides a unique way to not only learn about the city but to take it in as well.