National Park System units within a drive of St. Louis
Six National Park System units sit within an estimated two hours of St. Louis, two between two and four hours, and 35 between four and eight. The closest is Gateway Arch National Park, about 20 minutes by road from the metro's Census centroid. Gateway Arch National Park is the nearest unit carrying the National Park designation within four hours. The metro is the St. Louis area as the Census Bureau defines it, home to 2,811,927 people in the 2024 estimates.
Each drive time is an estimate made from the straight-line distance between the metro's Census centroid and the unit's listed coordinates, multiplied by 1.25 for roads and divided by 55 mph, so a real trip will often take longer.
Metro centroid Free to enter Charges an entrance fee
Under 2 hours
| Unit | Est. drive | Entry | 2025 visits | Campgrounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gateway Arch National Park National Park · MO | 0.3 h | Free | 2,209,028 | 0 |
| Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site National Historic Site · MO | 0.3 h | Free | 37,467 | 0 |
| Ste. Geneviève National Historical Park National Historical Park · MO | 1.3 h | Free | 16,525 | 0 |
| New Philadelphia National Historic Site National Historic Site · IL | 1.7 h | Free | no count | 0 |
| Lincoln Home National Historic Site National Historic Site · IL | 1.9 h | Free | 123,544 | 0 |
| Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument National Monument · IL | 1.9 h | Free | no count | 0 |
2 to 4 hours
| Unit | Est. drive | Entry | 2025 visits | Campgrounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ozark National Scenic Riverways National Scenic Riverways · MO | 2.8 h | Free | 1,116,835 | 23 |
| George Rogers Clark National Historical Park National Historical Park · IN | 3.4 h | Free | 113,397 | 0 |
4 to 8 hours
Metro boundaries and population from the Census Bureau Vintage 2024 population estimates; centroids from the Census Bureau 2026 Gazetteer, CBSA internal points. Unit coordinates, fees, campgrounds and 2025 recreation visits from the NPS API and Visitor Use Statistics. Data refreshed October 14, 2026. Other metros.