We got here in the morning for a walk, but there were distressed people in the area without shoes on and all of their belongings. We turned around. read more

North Riverfront Trail - Hiking Near Me - Saint Louis, Missouri

Colorful mural along the riverfront, goes on for some ways as you are walking to and from the park. read more

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This was a nice walking trail that we explored and participated in will be in the area. It had about a nice sites and easy spots to walk. I would definitely recommend and we will do it again. read more

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NOT SAFE. This review is for the part of the path north of the Arch toward the Chain of Rocks bridge. While the path is marked no vehicles, this is used as an ordinary street by large, fully loaded semi-trucks, pickups, fishermen, illegal trash dumpers, and the people who "sit" in idling cars by the river. There are some bollards to prevent vehicles, but they are typically in the down position and useless. Nearly being run over several times by cars going at least 40 mph is not fun. With wind noise it is hard to hear them and you don't expect speeding cars behind you on a bike path. If you use this path at least go in a group so they can haul your maimed carcass to your loved ones. This could be a great trail with the nice views, new pavement on the north side, and frequent wildlife sightings, but it is just too stressful. Last week, somebody had a lit campfire on the paved path to include camp chairs. You'll also find broken glass and loose gravel common in several of the more industrial areas. I don't get it. Be careful! read more

North Riverfront Trail - Cars and trucks welcome! - Hiking Near Me - Saint Louis, Missouri

Beautiful trail I use for biking but it's great for walking, skating and running as well. This trail is about 11.8 miles one direction from the Arch to Chain of Rocks bridge. I personally do 14 miles round trip from the Arch to Riverview and back. The hills along this route are AMAZING for both an extraordinary workout as well as a taste of the city's history. At each rest stop there is a small piece of literature to take in. The flood wall is filled with culture rich graffiti and murals designed by students for lessons in history. Riverfront Trail runs alongside a portion of the city's north side and the Mississippi River. You'll likely see plenty of manufacturing companies, scrap metal yards, fishing, RV's, and even our medium security facility from the heights of this trail. To see the sunset at this point is next to breathtaking...I highly recommend it. Thank me later. ~Christy read more

North Riverfront Trail - Hiking Near Me - Saint Louis, Missouri

I wish I could recommend this trail, but having run on it for 6 miles and finding 2 water fountains not working we were disappointed. Additionally a majority of the stretch we ran(starting at Union power) there was a 12 ft tall concrete wall separating us from the river...makes me question the name, though I guess it is technically "near" the riverfront. If you want to draw people to the trail to improve the overall health of the city, you should fix these issues and we might come back. read more

North Riverfront Trail - Hiking Near Me - Saint Louis, Missouri

The trail has evidently gone down hill. Some gravel and you do have to deal with cars as the bollards are down. Very industrial and smelly. Had to bike around two semis blocking the trail. I believe the other reviewer is right - don't bike this alone. Oh and the pedestrian crossing with lights the cars ignore. All this to say your on your own north of the arch.. read more

This is an 11 mile bike trail which ends at the Chain of Rock Bridge. Great scenery along the way. The trail was dotted with families pushing strolls, bikers like myself and a few photographers. Great place to spend a Saturday. read more

North Riverfront Trail - Hiking Near Me - Saint Louis, Missouri

As a regularly visiting cyclist (I live less than a mile away), I often ride from the Landing to Chain of Rocks and back. The pedestrian traffic is light, the route is safe, and the time spent each time has become a benchmark for my performance. The North Riverfront trailhead is immediately north of the Landing, where you can park a car, and during certain times of the summer rent a bike. The trail hugs the Mississippi riverfront between the St. Louis Landing and the Chain of Rocks bridge 11 miles north, crossing the flood-wall a few times for contrasting views of the river and the industrial underbelly it serves. The surface is mostly smooth paved asphalt about 8 to 12 feet wide with a paint-line divider for safe traffic in both directions with ample room for passing. There are occasional bollards to prevent vehicle traffic, so heads up. The majority of the trail is flat with only a few points with minor inclines, until you get closer to the Chain of Rocks bridge. After crossing Riverview road to bypass the water treatment plant the trail winds over two hills that require a little sweat, but what goes up... gets to speed back down. A few notes for new visitors: * some combination of time of day, temperature, and wind may make some sections of the industrial rather smelly -press on, it will improve * use the crosswalk signal at Riverview road and look before you cross -drivers may be ignorant of the red light * much of the trail is on the levee, exposing you to wind and sun * the wind is *always* gustier on the way back, it doesn't matter from which direction you began read more

I love riding my bike around the city and especially enjoy the North Riverfront Trail. This trail starts just north of the Arch & Laclede's Landing in Downtown St. Louis and stretches approximately 11 miles north to the Chain of Rocks Bridge. It's great for walking, jogging and biking and offers great views of the Mississippi River, Downtown St. Louis and the industrial north side of St. Louis. If you're looking for a quiet nature trail away from the city, then avoid this trail. However, if you enjoyed playing with Tonka trucks as a kid, then you might enjoy the site of trains being loaded with cargo for the trip to Canada, or river barges making their way up the Mississippi from New Orleans, or car junk yards with cranes loading the scraps onto conveyer belts to be chopped up in little bits. The trail branches off in spots where you can cross over the river via the Eads Bridge in downtown St. Louis, or the McKinley Bridge a few miles north, or the Chain of Rocks Bridge at the north end of the trial. There are a few rest stops along this mostly paved trail and some interesting historic markers like the Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing which recognizes the history of the Underground Railroad during slavery. Other highlights include the sculptures and artwork at the Laclede Power Building, ceramic murals and paintings on the flood-walls, and the North Riverfront Park. You will see all different walks of life including joggers, bikers, people fishing along the banks of the river, and the homeless people that live in the tent city. There are a few old abandoned buildings not far from the trail that are perfect for exploring, just be respectful of the squatters who may have taken over a few of the places. I've never had any problems or felt unsafe but if I'm exploring those buildings, I don't go it alone. Stick to the trail if you're not that adventurous. A previous reviewer mentioned finding a dead body in the river many years ago, but don't let that discourage you from using the trail! It probably washed down the river from Iowa anyway. If anything it makes me feel like I'm in that movie "Stand by Me", but seriously though, I've never heard of a jogger or biker being bothered on this trail. The trail changes every year as upgrades are being made on a continuous basis and detours take you around construction such as the new Mississippi River Bridge. I'm especially looking forward to the old Iron Horse Trestle being converted to an elevated bike-way. According to "The Great Rivers Greenway District", this will be only the third of its kind in the world. Another future highlight will be Bob Cassilly's Cementland which can be seen from the trail (Google "Cementland St. Louis" if you're curious). 5 stars all the way for a great urban adventure! read more

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As a previous reviewer noted, the beginning of this trail is pretty surreal with all of the City Museum type art installations at the trailhead. I was there recently and noticed that the empty factory building also located at the trail head had a sign that said something about future home of something or other visitor's center. It's nice that the city or state? is putting so much money into this trail, because it is a great location and great concept, but I have to give it only two stars because of the status of Hopeville USA also located at the beginning of the trail. If you don't know, Hopeville is the community of recently uprooted city tunnel people, that took up homeless shop right at the beginning of this trail and are trying to convince everyone that they should be allowed to remain there. You can find videos of it on YouTube and constant interviews about it broadcasting on Larry Rice's tv channel. I don't get why, when this trail already has a semi seedy reputation (see other review) that the city would put money into it to make it better only to let a village of homeless squatters damage it again. Yes, I do realize that not all homeless people are dangerous, but in reality some are, and their presence is just another reason for people to be nervous about riding their bikes or running on this trail alone. read more

My wife and I cycled a majority of the length of the North Riverfront Trail yesterday and had an overall enjoyable experience. The trail goes through some gritty industrial sections, but there is also some nice scenery. Overall, we enjoyed that aspect of the trail. But there was one major problem: Cars on the trail. Although there are signs everywhere that say no cars allowed, every single bollard we came across was down. As such, cars could drive down the trail at will. Nearly every single person that was fishing along the river used the trail as their access via a car. While most of there people seemed to be fairly respectful about this, it seems odd that there are signs everywhere saying no cars, which put runners and bikers at ease, only to condone the use of cars on the trail by the lack of bollards. While these were benign concerns, there were two times on our trip we had near misses with vehicles. The first was when a truck loaded with debris that came down to the river to dump their trash (we saw them again later with a significantly lighter load in their truck). These gentleman literally ran my wife off the trail to get around us. Later, the same vehicle was coming down the trail going VERY fast. It was a wide section so we were ok, but they were going 40 to 50 miles per hour and didn't slow down when coming by us at all. And this was many miles down the river from the first encounter so these guys were driving like this for a long stretch. We passed a number of families with children on our ride and I could just see some horrible accident occurring with this kind of activity going on. The fact that the bollards are all down (I am not sure if this is on purpose or if they are so easy to put down that the trespassers are just lowering then) is completely contrary to the concept of a dedicated trail system to be used by recreational vehicles. If the trail system is going to allow this kind of activity to occur they at least should change the signage to warn that cars can also use the trail. To do otherwise puts lives at risk. We truly enjoyed our experience and plan to come back again soon. But if this is a common occurrence I know we will be looking elsewhere for future bike rides. Thank you for your concern. read more

Whoa. It wasn't quite a trail, and the Mississippi River was on the other side of a tall cement wall for quite a bit of it. Definitely an urban experience that I wouldn't attempt: 1) if I were a woman running alone or 2) after dark. We started at the Biddle Street parking lot and ran north for 4 miles and then back to the start. There were several detours and the trail seemed to be in various states of repair/disrepair. The nice signage/occasional murals contrasted with the broken asphalt, homeless encampments, and non-functioning water fountains. There were no bathrooms along the north trail from Biddle Street to the Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing, and the Visitor's Center was non-operational. Maybe the trail gets better & more scenic north of the Mary Meachum Crossing??? Along the way, we ran by deserted buildings, a scrap metal processing plant, grain elevators, salt storage domes, and a water treatment facility. Industrial, odiferous, and dusty. Barges going up/down the Mississippi chug steadily beneath the bridges spanning the river. Watch out for trucks, as the trail goes through several truck crossings. On a Tuesday morning, the trail was fairly deserted. All the more reason to bring a buddy (or two) for safety. read more

This is home. Heading north is not easier because you're hardcore. That's an omnipresent southerly wind. You'll notice it on the way back south. read more

11 miles. That's what my mountain bike odometer read when I discovered a dead body (ok I was the second guy on scene) bobbing face down against the Mississippi river bank 9 years ago. Hell, I still came back. It's a great trail and I like trails off the beaten track. You are riding at times what seems to be a mounds of soil levee and never mind the coal piles at times or the industrial setting. It's surreal.. take it for what it is... which is a good, quiet ride along the river. Not much trees but good views none the less. Rarely do you see pedestrians. I recommend going up and through the Chain of Rocks bridge. The original and second poster really sum up this trail well. I agree with the wind too. Don't wear things that give alot of wind resistance like a jacket or pants that flap in the wind. It's a bitch to bike against. read more

This review may be skewed because we didn't actually walk the trail, we drove along it... in the middle of the night. Although I would love to walk the trail in the daytime one day! We were driving around the city looking for a place to take a full photo of the Gateway Arch and ended up on N4th st x Chestnut St where it said no parking... looked left and right then parked. Snapped a few it the lighting was no good due to all the city lights. We drove further down the road to see if we could get closer and saw signs for the Riverfront - Score! We ended up by a parking lot literally next to the water, like you could drive in if you wanted to (probably NOT a good idea...) But the view of the Arch was Gorgeous, You needed to walk up the stairs to get the streetlamp behind you an Bam, Postcard Photo! Afterwards, we drove further down (Opposite the dead end) and found the Trail. There is SOO much history here. Every foot was scenic and was calling out "take a photo of me!" but quite frankly, there were some shady characters out there on foot and in cars so we didn't get out of our car much. But I would love to walk it in the day someday! read more

Meh, I've been spoiled. After riding up and down the California coastline for the past 10 years riding next to a big brown river in an industrial area doesn't quite do it for me. There is a lot of construction in the beginning and a strong industrial odor for a bout the first 5 miles. On the plus side, there minimal lights after the construction area, so good for TT practice. Pretty flat and fast. read more

If you are looking for a place literally in downtown St. Louis where you can pound out a 10k run, or more, without running in circles around the arch or somewhere else where you'd need to cross streets and deal with traffic go to the North River Front Trail. It's and industrial run along the tracks with some views of the Mississippi. There are a few small hills along the way. There are zero cars and zero intersections. If you have trouble running a 10k, you can complete it here, just run 5k out in one direction then you have no choice but to come back. I gave it 4 stars because the views aren't beautiful but I enjoy the industrial feel of it, actually I find it motivating. read more

A fantastic paved biking trail that starts just North of the Four Seasons Hotel at the Arch and goes 11 miles along the river to the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge. Most of the trail is wide, flat and scenic. There is a rest stop around mile 3. Great for a personal bike ride, even better for group rides of varying skill as you can make this trail what you want. There are a few parts where they detour onto a gravel path (please fix) and some of the scenery is industrial and railroads, but you will enjoy the Mississippi River views and breezes. I would describe the trail as moderately challenging and upkeep as good to fair. I hope the new massive trail expansion that passed in St. Louis will provide them the tools to remove all rocks and pebbles and re-pave this trail to make it first class. read more

The MRT is one of the most unique bike paths I've ridden. It's not efficient or practical like those in Madison, but it's definitely a trip and perfect for a long weekend activity. Park near the power and light building at the dedicated MRT trailhead: the trail starts right behind it. I'm always amazed by the the scenery, from the junkyards and the industrial sites, to the river and green spaces, it's a strange yet pleasing juxtaposition. read more