Jefferson National Parks Association Reviews

Very rude staff. Ruined the whole experience. Won t be back.

Amazing place, Full of history and pride. While I was there the park was under maintenance, but it didn't impede my visit at all, In fact it further educated me on how things are done..Just can't say enough about the great experience..Thanks St. Louis.

This place is amazing. Beautiful view. We did not go up in Arch as the tickets were already sold out. We did go to the museum which was free. We'll worth going.

Nice and informative place to see the arch. The construction is mind boggling. This is a must see for Midwest folks. Hate the way they do not have signs to arch entrance.

It's really nice to see the scenery from inside the arch. Experience that can only be done here. The elevator is also special and interesting.

The gateway Arch national Park is a must-see in Americana. There's lots for a family to do here at the arch. Entrance into the park is free and there are plenty of exhibits in the base of the arch to look at. Even without a trip to the top you can gain a lot of information about the arch and the role of St Louis in the westward expansion. The cost for travel up to the top is reasonable, less than $15 per person. The view from the top can be seen on video screens at an exhibit inside the base, but seeing it with your own eyes from the top is amazing! Highly recommend this for families or individuals.

Updated and looking great! Still fun to go up in the Arch! New and improved visitor center is free and fabulous! The staff here are friendly and helpful. We always visit when in STL!

I would have loved to have rode the tram to the top of the arch but it was sold out. Beautiful, but small park. Had the chance to witness a wedding party taking pictures.

I came here in 2016 and we came here for the 2nd time in 2019. wonderful experience.

Exploring this historical courthouse was well worth the time. The architecture and building interior are amazing. The park service has done and excellent job on the restoration and it's been maintained very well. There are plenty of park service attendants available if you have questions about the courthouse.

The museum was very informative! Great way to wait for the tour to the top. The film was pretty cool, too. It was documenting the building of the Arch in the 60s, so it's a blast from the past. I got very nervous watching them up there with no safety harness or anything!! Only downside was the waits on the tour itself. We waited 45min past our ticket time to actually get up top. They try to fill it with interesting tour type information, but it's a lot of standing. Also, stairs are inevitable, so it you have trouble with them, it's worth thinking about. The little pods are very cramped, so try out the sample in the lobby before deciding if it will freak you out. Up top was hot and packed with people. It was not very enjoyable as a result. We waited a long time to be able to get back into a pod to go back down, too. Maybe try a slower day for a better experience.

This was beautiful and very interesting. Give your self enough time to go up to the top of the Arch and get through the muesum.

Such a great place to visit. The arch is amazing and super cool to see in person and the park surrounding is well kept

A museum of history from our past. Plus this time the arch was open.

The museum inside the Arch is awesome with a lot of information in regards to Saint Louis.

Great. Grew up in STL and have visited many times, but first visit in 20 years. Love the new museum and grounds. Well done!

Beautiful views and a great place to take the family.

An absolute wonder to see. Seeing it from afar simply doesn't do it justice.

Informative and interesting. The movie was interesting as well. It really brought appreciation to the structure and complications of building the monument.

Very good collection of history. You need a good 90 minutes if you like to get a good lesson.

A whole lot better than a couple of years ago. A lot more to learn about. I would def come back with family and kids.

we just visited the park a nice place for a picnic.

Loved the great history lesson given while waiting. The live videos they offer helped update the visit and makes it more fun. The eggs you go up in are a tight squeeze but when you get to the top, all you have is beautiful views of STL. My sonw to visit here for his 16th birthday and he thoroughly enjoyed our visit and the museum with all the Missouri history.

The park is great, just know there is always a line to get to top of the Arch.

It was an awesome museum. Very informative. They are opened late, which is great cause it's really busy during the day. Being opened late allows for less crowds, shorter line and once you come down from the top of the arch, it's cooler outside (temperature wise and scenically), you can take sunset pictures with the river or arch behind you. We enjoyed sitting on the steps overlooking the river

This place is amazing. Full of fun stuff and Exhibits. It's totally FREE to enter the enter the museum and walk around. You can buy Tram tickets but plan ahead of your looking to go up into top of arch. Have fun we did.

It was Great view from the top. The elevators to the top are a little tight but still not bad. The top of Arch is only like 6ft for head clearance.

Neat place to visit, limited parking, local parking trap out front. Hidden "NO PARKING" Signs, everyone got ticketed that day.

Nice to go to but would be better if they let people know where to go as far as the entrance from the east an west entrance instead of having to park and walk a mile then find out you could have parked by the entrance

Place to walk contemplating the gigantic arch. recommendable

Very nice museum. My kids loved learning about the history of St. Louis and the building of the Arch. You should definitely allow at least an hour before or after your ride to the top to check it out.

We love visiting our national parks, and today was a treat as our family of six enjoyed the Gateway Arch National Park. We crammed into the little spherical tram car and took the 4 minute ride to the top, where breathtaking views from 630 feet up were taken in from both the East and West sides. Some of us were nervous about the ride and view but it really didn t feel like you were that high up. The construction photos in the museum & cafe are scary enough!

Speaking of, the museum below the arch is really well done, providing a brief history of St. Louis, as well as construction of the arch itself.

Be prepared for typical national park security (metal detectors, no re-entry after a certain area is reached) but nothing to worry about. Two of our kids exited as they were wrapping up their Jr. Ranger scavenger hunts, and learned the hard way about having to stay out. Thankfully, they both earned their badges. :)

There were oh so many things wrong with our experience today. Whatever I will say in this review is not said in anger, but as a reality check for people who are thinking about visiting. I am coming from the perspective of 1) a person with mobility issues who 2) came from far away and wanted to make the most of this trip and 3) happened to be traveling during covid. Here are some of the main points that people need to know before they decide to go:

1. Since the arch surroundings got updated (I last visited 20 years ago), there is no convenient parking. There is not even any signage telling you where to park. After driving around for 20 minutes, finding all kinds of closed roads down by the river, we asked a hotel employee who was outside where to park for the arch. He told us the closest place was the row of angled spaces behind the Hyatt.

2. When you arrive at the front entrance to the arch, there are 2 employees outside whose only job is to watch you read the signage that tells you you can't go in until you sign up for a time slot online. They continue standing around watching you scan the QR code to sign up on your phone. The process of "shopping" online for the free ticket and inputting all your information could have been much faster if they just had a couple iPads and were signing people in. Or it would be even simpler if they just had a take-a-number system or something like Disney's FastPass ticket dispenser.

3. Heads up, due to covid, you can't go up to the top of the arch and they are not playing the movie. So the only things left to do are take pictures outside, visit the museum, shop the gift shop, and take the boat ride (boat costs $).

4. When you get inside the actual building, you have to go through security. It was super strange to me how "official" the security process was, just to get into a museum. It was just like the airport, except we didn't have to take our shoes off.

I still don't understand why, between items 1-4, they make it so off-putting to even get inside the "attraction," especially since the main attraction (the tram ride to the top) isn't even open. But let's continue....

5. The museum building was nice and accessible, but I really need to comment on the accessibility of the grounds, especially if you are interested in the boat ride. It is best if you have a powered chair or electric scooter, because technically the outside is accessible...but it does not mean it's a short walk - or a flat walk! Also, there is no signage telling you where the ramp is down to the dock. Fyi, if you are facing the wide, overwhelming stairs, look to your right for a bike rack. That's where the ramp is hiding. If you are in the museum, like we were, and see a screen telling when the next boat ride is and it's less than 20 minutes until boarding time and you are a slow walker without power wheels...just wait until the next boat! Between the long distance and the ramps of varying steepness and some steep inclines with no handrails...it is a long, hot, exhausting walk.

6. Finally, something positive! My mom and I (both with mobility issues) finally made it down the ramp before crossing the levee to the dock after the boat left. We were about to fall over and still had the ominous, steep, and uneven walk without handrails down the levee staring us in the face. (Btw, I still think it was wrong of all the employees we passed by, asking how to get to the boats, not to fairly warn us how long or difficult the walk to the boat was - or for there to not be any informative signage about accessibility. They just let us keep walking and hurrying on our way to the boat, only to be late and worn out when we got there.) Thankfully, a boat employee named Marques came up the hill with a wheelchair and rescued us down to the ticketing/gift shop area. We were incredibly thankful that he helped us, because my mom, who also has heart issues, would not have been able to sit in the sun for an hour while our friends rode the boat. Marques was very kind and humble when we thanked him for his help.

Clean, observes masks and social distancing. Great history! And the ride is awesome! My 79 yo step mom was Amazed!

The museum has been completely redone. It is beautiful, spacious, and more informative! If you haven't been this year, you need to go again.

Really good stop to take if you are just passing through. Also good if you have yet to go. Really good learning experience if you dont know much about the area as well and want to know more. My only disappointment was they never mentioned how Cario IL was a big role for the cities history. Outside of a few minor historical things they left out is a really fantastic stop!

Great place to tour. Was disappointed that the museum was not opened but the overall experience was great.

The museum is very interesting, the exhibits are great. It has some interactive activities and gives a complete story of the history of St Louis and the building of the arch. The arch itself is impressive and the ride to the top is cool. The top section is compact. If you don't like people in your space you might want to skip this part. The views are not that great but, overall well worth the time.

The arch in St. Louis is a must see. If you go make your way to the top to see the breathtaking views. They play a historical video before going up top, watch it! You will learn a lot of the history and how the arch was built. (Which is really cool) There is a park right next to the arch and river that s nice too.

Amazing place for the family. A must see if you're in St Louis

Loved it, what a difference from 20 years or so ago.

Very nice. The only complaint is that like everywhere you go here someone has to take your picture in the hopes you will buy a ridiculously overpriced print.

It's been remodeled and updated. The museum is free.

The newly rebuilt Jefferson Memorial is a great place to visit in St. Louis!

Bucket list visit. The Arch is amazing and the trip up it like an old fashioned roller-coaster ride before they got suoerfast and added loops. Views are fantastic from the top.

Great way to spend the day. They doba great job there

Worth a visit if you are in St Louis. Go to the top for $15.

The movie was an amazing account of how the arch was built. The museum was under construction so we were unable to see it.

North and South feet of arch for exit only? There's no West or East feet!

The cruise was closed due to the flooding, so we had only briefly walked through the museum on our way to the line to take the last trip to the top of the arch before they closed. Was a spectacular view and experience. It was not very expensive and was definitely worth the experience. They have a discount if you have an America the Beautiful Access Card which saved us a few more dollars on the ticket price. The line took a while to wait through to go up and the ride up would be difficult if you are claustrophobic but the views from the top are amazing.

The view from the top of the arch is spectacular. If it's windy though you might feel the memorial Sway in the Wind, some people might find that scary. Be prepared to wait for the small elevators, and if you're claustrophobic the ride could be the long. All in all it was a fantastic experience and highly recommended

Absolute joke that this man made monstrosity is considered a national park....