The LaBarque Creek Conservation area has a moderately difficult loop trail that is about 3 miles…read morelong with about 500 feet of total elevation gain during the hike. There is a dirt parking lot with space for approximately 20 cars. The clay dirt on the trail can be muddy and slippery with morning dew or rain. Definitely worth wearing muddy hiking boots. Hiking downhill may involve the occasional slip if not careful. The views of the rolling hills are enjoyable, and even more distance is visible after the leaves have fallen.

(AUGUST 2025) I'd never seen the sunflower fields that my friends post about with their children…read moreand families until recently. It almost seemed unbelievable some of the imagery stemming from these 7,000 acres of natural beauty and outdoor recreation in the heart of scenic Missouri wine county. Once you are off highway 40, it's 50-55mph WINE-dy back roads to get there. Once you get into the turn in, it's a graveled road with a trailhead to the Katy Trail. Do not even think about having a clean car upon entering this place. It will get dirty and dusty. There are also (surprisingly) random humans running in the middle of the narrow driveway leading up to the sunflower field and ending at a boat ramp. I never understood why people never stick to one side of the road while on foot amongst VEHICLES. I find my friend and we exit our vehicles to begin our mini photoshoot in the sunflower fields. I felt like Candy(wo)man as the bees tended to the sunflowers while I freaked out thinking they'd sting me with my bright yellow shirt on and black skirt. It was so blissful to see sooo many beautiful BIG butterflies fly around us. The caterpillars were on like every leaf just hanging out like the Caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland. It was nature at its finest. Sunflowers for as far as the eye can see. The sounds of bees (and flies) buzzing about. I tried to relax, and we got a few non-frantic pictures of me. I will wear pants next time and try to relax more. I was invading THEIR space, not the opposite.

Great hiking and bike riding location. Lots of trees and near Katy trail! Love this place!read more

My wife and I hike here all the time. It is usually packed on the weekends. We like to come here…read moreduring the week when there is less foot traffic. Their trails are nice and clean of brush. Plenty of variety for mileage of hiking. They also have tables for pinics and more. Plenty of parking and well kept up park!

This is one of the best trails within a half hour of St. Louis and all of Missouri in my humble…read moreopinion. Dan Robinson State Park has two different trails that you can hike one is around 5 miles. The other one is about 2 1/2 miles. It has beautiful views and lots of Interesting formations. Don Robinson really gave the state of Missouri a great gift when he left his property to the state. It's somewhere around 5 to 700 acres with some very interesting flora and fauna that you can't find elsewhere in the state. It's a shame to see his old house in the condition it's in. I understand that the state is going to try to rebuild it. I can remember in the 1980s hanging out at Dan's house and skateboarding his enormous in-ground pool. He was quite the character. I highly recommend this park

Last weekend, it was such a sunny and warm-ish day for January, so we decided to take a little trip…read moreto Cliff Cave County Park with the pup. This was our first visit and so we parked in the lot that gps took us to and then followed the signs for the hiking trail. We were impressed with the number of hikers and mountain bikers out and about. What I really enjoyed about this park is that the trails are all easy to follow and loop around so that you can choose any direction to walk. We started with the shorter hike and walked to the overlook which was so pretty! We spent some time just watching the river and then decided to try another trail for a bit. Honestly, it was really nice to be outside. Baxter was so happy to be able to play in the leaves and we all got really excited because we saw a bunch of deer while we were out walking! Of course, when we saw them, we all stopped and just let the deer have their space to get where they were going. The loop that we completed was about 3 miles and I really appreciated how easy it was to navigate the park. We did not get over to the cave during this visit, but will plan to visit again on another warm-ish day so that we can explore the other trails.

I've been to this park before and like that it offers walking trails not far from the city. The…read morewalking trails offer out and back trails, so I definitely got a couple miles of walking in. Fir those who want more of a "nature" feel there are some hiking and biking trails tucked away near the walking trails, which in my opinion, could use better trail markers. The hiking trails are still close to the border if the walking trails, so you don't go far into the wooded areas. My favorite part of the park were the caves, as soon as you enter the bottom of the trail where the caves are you can feel the cool air from the caves. It was great to check out and I wish the trails offered more scenic views in addition to this.

We wanted an interesting, shaded, dog-friendly hike on a hot sunny day. This park was a great…read morechoice. Plenty of free parking in their lots and lots of space, including a picnic area. For hiking, there are elevation changes and lots of trees. You can hike up the bluffs or just do a short down-and-around in the valley. Trails are well marked. Watch out for snakes on the rocks!

This is a beautiful, convenient park right off 44. It can be a little confusing to get there from…read morethe city, but it's the same exit as Laumeier Sculpture Park. There's an easy to get to parking lot which is next to the restrooms, tables, and the river. We have a senior dog who loves the water so it was perfect since the river was so close, we didn't have to go on a long hike to get him down there. The park is green and seems huge. It's not the prettiest park in the area, but definitely convenient.

I heard about this small park a few months ago and finally made it out. Boy is it hilly. BOY. Phew…read more It's been about a month since I did the trail and I'm winded remembering it. At least it's a very shaded park. So shaded you'll want to check for ticks later. (None on me!) We stuck to the main trail. I'd like to go again and check out some of the random trails.

Back to my roots reviewing parks. This is a good one! A short loop trail, but challenging due to…read morebeing hilly. What a neat little gem tucked away in suburbia. I'd like to return sometime and try one of the branches out.

I came here with my dog, and as our second location for the day, we went for another walk at a…read morepark. The trails are paved, clean, and well-maintained. There are plenty of parking spots in the area, and along the river trail, sports fields can be reserved for practice or game via the county office. It's a pretty area. I enjoyed my time here with my dog! I highly recommend this park/trail.

A long skinny park along the Meramec with a very nice hiking trail. a great place for a nice jaunt.read more

TIP: This is area is also known as Dee Koestering Park. If you do a Yelp search by the park name,…read moreit won't come up. The paved trail is actually a roadway. There are two parking areas. The first one is near the entrance along Marshall Road. The second one is handicapped accessible parking only. However, at the beginning of the paved trail/roadway there's a sign that states, "No vehicle traffic." So why is the 2nd parking lot there if the parks department doesn't want anyone driving on the road to get to it? The paved trail leads to an overlook. There's an excellent display of interpretive signs. Hikers can also see some of the quarry blocks and ruins from the overlook. In addition, there's a footpath that quickly peters out near some ruins. After investigating the ruins, there are several possible trails, but one is never completely sure because there are no trail markers except at the beginning. For example, there's a relatively new footbridge with no clear trail to get to it. Another walker on the roadway wanted to know how I got down to the footbridge because he's never seen anyone else on it. I had to navigate down an extremely steep and slippery hillside to reach it that contained loose rock. Not far from the footbridge I found several culverts. One of them still had a frozen waterfall left over from the recent snow storm. There's also a small waterfall along the creek. On either side of the park, there are houses and a lot of road noise. In addition, there are two sets of railroad tracks. NOTE: Other than a few park benches, there are no restrooms or other services.

There is an interesting history about this park. Which you'll get to learn about at the outlook…read more And take the footpath down to get a better look at the stones that were pulled from this quarry over 120 years ago. It is quite the walk from the Marshall road parking lot but I think it's worth it. Great exercise if you're looking for a hilly walk. They also have a handicap accessible parking lot closer to the outlook.