Take a walk to see sculptures and along lake waters at Bellevue Park in Belleville, Il. This one-mile paved trail wraps around the park and up and down hills and along the lake’s shoreline. Located at the 27-acre Bellevue Park in Belleville, Ill. Starting the Walk We parked in a small gravel lot at the back end of the park near a bike trail that…
Take a walk that goes by multiple playgrounds and along the Meramec River at Minnie Ha Ha Park in Sunset Hills, Mo. This is a 3.4-mile paved trail hike with two loops that are mostly level and goes through forests. I brought my son who went along with me on his dirt bike stopping to play at each playground. Along the Meramec River I parked…
My son rode his bike as I walked along the trail.
I crossed clear streams and hiked up forested and through prairie along my hike at Strawberry Creek Nature Area. The nature area encompasses 118 acres with four walking trails, three of them looping into each other. Filled with wildlife I saw a few deer, but they ran away before I could photograph them, and a groundhog by the creek. I hiked the Strawberry Creek Trail,…
Take a walk around a small lake that has a fish on a bicycle at Lewis Park in University City near the Delmar Loop. I took some time to explore the area of brick homes and the paths around this four-acre park that includes a playground and landscaped grounds. Parking Parking is tricky for the park since it does not have its own lot. I…
White sands and cliffs surround a clear water lake at Klondike Park in St. Charles County just west of Defiance, Mo. I hiked the paved trail around a lake, then did two other hikes that go along Missouri River hills at this 250-acre park. LAKE LOOP TRAIL Klondike Park was once the site of an old silica sand quarry and that is the centerpiece of…
A weekend at the YMCA Trout Lodge in the Ozarks includes my son riding a pony, swishing down a waterslide, and making a tie-die shirt. YMCA Trout Lodge is about two hours south of St. Louis in the Ozark hills and is all-inclusive including meals, boating, kayaking, paddle boarding, pony rides, and much more. Our Time at the YMCA Trout Lodge We drove south from…
See a two-headed black rat snake and explore the woods at the Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center in southeast Missouri. Located on the north side of Cape Girardeau, Mo., and has numerous short hiking trails along with nature-related exhibits. NATURE CENTER We first checked out the nature center where the star is the two-headed snake. Exhibited near the front. To the right of the tank,…
Take a hike along a creek through the bottomland forest and by a unique playground with a volcano on the Joachim Loop Trail. The hike is 1.3 miles with only a slight elevation gain at about 30 feet at Bates Memorial Park in Herculaneum, Mo., off of Interstate 55 south of St. Louis. Entering the Park The road for the trailhead is along the gravel…
My son had an awesome time at a playground that includes a volcano surrounded by lava at Kade’s Playground in Herculaneum, Mo. Yet, the story of how it came about is inspirational. Kade’s Playground The playground was made in memory of Kade who had been a wheelchair-bound child due to multiple medical conditions. Kade could not use any of the playgrounds in Jefferson County. The…
