City: St. Louis, MO

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (314) 289-5300

Description: Forest Park is one of St. Louis’s most treasured resources. Located within easy access of most of the region, the 1,370-acre park is the nation’s seventh-largest urban park and one of the region’s premier attractions. The park’s annual attendance is estimated at about 12 million people, which includes those who visit the cultural institutions, participate in recreational activities, attend special events, or just enjoy sitting under a tree and watching the world go by. The park officially opened to the public on June 24, 1876. In 1904 the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, also known as the St. Louis World’s Fair, drew more than 19 million visitors from around the world to Forest Park, and the event dramatically changed the appearance of its western half. Today the zoo, art museum, Municipal Opera (Muny), science center, history museum, and the Jewel Box greenhouse share the park with golf courses, tennis courts, an archery range, ball fields, handball courts, a skating rink, biking and hiking trails, and lakes for fishing and boat rides. The park also has an “inclusive public playground,” designed for use by able-bodied children as well as those with disabilities. The playground is located between the Missouri History Museum and the Dennis and Judith Jones Visitor and Information Center. Visitors can also access a free, self-guided iPod Walking Tour that offers a 30- to 50-minute audio tour introduction/overview of Forest Park and the Grand Basin, Art Hill, Picnic Island, the Boathouse, and the park’s recent and not-so-recent history. The tour, which is free, requires a credit card number as a refundable deposit for the listening device. It is available to check out daily from the visitor center on a first-come, first-served basis, and it can be kept overnight and returned the next day. Or you can download the audio tour narrative onto your own MP3 player at the Forest Park Forever Web site (www.forestparkforever.org) along with The Journey of Forest Park brochure. One of the greatest things about Forest Park is that admission to all of its attractions is free. Most of the institutions host special exhibitions throughout the year that require an admission fee, but these prices are usually reasonable. Each institution also has special free-admission days or times during the week when access to the special exhibits is free as well. Check with the individual museum or institution for details on when free access is available to the touring exhibits.