Gateway Arch National Park

About

Gateway Arch National Park occupies the west bank of the Mississippi River in downtown St. Louis, built around the 630-foot stainless steel arch designed by Eero Saarinen. An underground museum sits beneath the grounds, and a riverfront walkway runs along Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard. Two blocks west, the historic Old Courthouse, where the Dred Scott case was first heard, is part of the same park.

Most visitors ride a tram inside the arch's legs up to a small observation room, then spend time in the Museum at the Gateway Arch, which covers the Louisiana Purchase and westward expansion. A Mississippi riverboat cruise departs from the levee below the grounds for those who want time on the water. Seeing the museum and riding to the top typically takes two to three hours; adding the riverboat or a stop at the Old Courthouse can fill most of a day.

The park sits a short walk from Busch Stadium and the downtown hotel district, and about fifteen minutes by car from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. Because the grounds connect directly to the Old Courthouse and the riverfront, a stop here fits easily into a walk through downtown St. Louis without much extra driving.

The grounds themselves are open and grassy above the underground museum, with paved paths connecting the arch, the museum entrance, and the boulevard below. Visitors who skip the tram still get close views of the arch's base and the river from ground level, and the museum alone gives a fuller sense of the site's history than the ride to the top does.

Accessibility

Gateway Arch National Park is accessible on the ground level, but the ride to the top of the arch itself is not: reaching the observation room requires managing a minimum of 96 steps, so wheelchair, scooter, and walker users cannot make that specific trip.

Accessible passenger drop-off is on 4th Street across from the Old Courthouse. The cobblestone parking on the levee is not accessible because of the slope, so plan to be dropped off rather than parking there. From the boulevard side, two ramps connect to the grounds, avoiding the roughly 65-step Grand Staircase.

Once on the grounds, the paved paths are fully accessible, so getting between the museum entrance, the riverfront, and the Old Courthouse does not require crossing gravel or grass. The museum has front wheelchair access, and an elevator at the Old Courthouse reaches the second-floor courtrooms. If you plan to add the Mississippi riverboat cruise, boarding and the first deck are wheelchair accessible, but the upper decks are reached by stairs only.

Restrooms for visitors with disabilities are in the underground museum and visitor center; there are none at the top of the arch. Free standard and extra-wide wheelchairs are available first-come, first-served at the entrance desk. The museum offers assistive listening devices and audio description on request, and all films shown in Tucker Theater are closed captioned. Sign language interpretation for live programs needs two weeks' advance notice. Service animals, as defined by the DOJ, are allowed at the arch, the museum, Tucker Theater, and the riverboats.

Call the park at 314-655-1600 ahead of a visit that depends on a specific accommodation, especially sign language interpretation or riverboat boarding assistance. The park does not publish information on sensory-friendly hours, quiet spaces, tactile paving, curb cuts, or door widths, so treat those as unconfirmed until you ask staff directly.

Checked by Accessible America, August 2026. Report a change

More accessible places in Missouri

• Missouri Botanical Garden (St. Louis)
• Saint Louis Zoo (St. Louis)
• Saint Louis Art Museum (St. Louis)
• Gateway Arch (St. Louis)
• City Museum (St. Louis)
• Forest Park (St. Louis)

Photo credits

• The Gateway Arch rises behind the Old Courthouse's green dome and a plaza fountain in St. Louis.: Wikimedia Commons contributor, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source)
• The Gateway Arch rises against a clear blue sky above trees on the park grounds.: SPTinSTL, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source)
• Braille and tactile exhibit features at Gateway Arch National Park, official NPS photo.: National Park Service, Public domain (U.S. National Park Service)
• A paved roadside walkway runs along the base of the Gateway Arch on a foggy day in St. Louis.: SPTinSTL, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source)
• The Gateway Arch glows at dusk, its reflection mirrored in the park's still reflecting pool.: Wikimedia Commons contributor, CC BY-SA 3.0 (source)
• The Gateway Arch and surrounding trees reflect in a still pool at dusk in St. Louis.: Wikimedia Commons contributor, CC BY-SA 3.0 (source)
• The Old Courthouse's domed entrance sits at the end of a paved, flat walkway in the park.: Lschoolmaster, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source)