Missouri

Missouri has St. Louis on the Mississippi River and Kansas City about 249 road miles away on I-70. Its busiest national park site, Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis, had 2,209,028 recreation visits in 2025. In the Ozarks, Ozark National Scenic Riverways protects 134 miles of spring-fed rivers.

No national park site in Missouri adds the $100 surcharge, so a visitor's costs here sit in the Arch tram and city transport. We read the figures below on 27 October 2026 on the pages of the National Park Service, the Gateway Arch ticket site, Metro in St. Louis, the KC Streetcar and RideKC, St. Louis Lambert airport, the federal time-zone rules and NOAA's normals.

Why is the Gateway Arch tram the only park charge in Missouri?

The Gateway Arch tram is the only paid part of Missouri's national park sites. Of each ticket bought by a visitor aged 16 or over, $3 is the park's entrance fee. The museum under the Arch and the Old Courthouse are free. The other four sites in the table charge no entrance fee at all.

The National Park Service counts seven sites in Missouri. Ste. Geneviève National Historical Park and Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site make up the seven, and we did not read their fee pages.

No Missouri site is on the 2026 list of eleven parks that charge visitors from abroad aged 16 and over a $100 surcharge. The $250 non-resident annual pass never pays off here: at the Arch it takes $3 off a tram ticket, for up to four tickets. Two adults from abroad pay $30 to $38 for the tram and nothing anywhere else. Our guide to national park fees for international visitors covers the parks that do charge.

What does the tram to the top of the Gateway Arch cost?

The tram to the top of the Gateway Arch costs an adult aged 16 or over $15 to $19, depending on the date. Those are the prices on gatewayarch.com, the ticket site the Park Service names.

A child aged 3 to 15 pays $11 to $15, infants ride free, and a national park pass holder pays $12 to $16. The Park Service's own pages print three different adult prices, including "$13-19" in its FAQ, so check the ticket site for your date.

Every ticket is for a timed departure, and on busy days they sell out. A few same-day tickets go on sale at 9 a.m., but the ticket site says they are not guaranteed. On busier days one tram is sold in advance and the other on the day; on slow days only one tram runs.

The ride takes about four minutes up and three down, with under 10 minutes at the top. Allow 45 to 60 minutes for the whole visit. The Arch is 630 feet tall and 630 feet from leg to leg, and each tram car is 5 feet across with five seats. Eero Saarinen designed it, and it was completed on 28 October 1965.

The tram is not wheelchair accessible. Riders must manage at least 96 steps and may stand for 30 to 60 minutes, with no seats or restrooms at the top. A replica car by the ticket counter lets anyone nervous of tight spaces try one first.

Security is airport-style, and the entrance faces Fourth Street on the west side; the legs are exit only. The park has no car parks of its own, so drivers use city garages or street parking, which no ticket covers.

Is the Old Courthouse in St. Louis open again?

The Old Courthouse in St. Louis reopened on 3 May 2025 after renovation, and entry is free with no ticket. Dred and Harriet Scott sued for their freedom in the building. Their case is one of the stories Gateway Arch National Park tells, alongside St. Louis' role in westward expansion.

The museum under the Arch is free for all visitors too. Outside summer it opens from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, and from Memorial Day to Labor Day until 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The Old Courthouse keeps 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the grounds are open from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Both buildings close on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

Can you still take MetroLink from St. Louis airport in November?

MetroLink from St. Louis Lambert airport is disrupted until mid-December 2026, with neither terminal's station open. Metro closed the Terminal 1 station on 12 October and set 2 November for the Terminal 2 station. Riders now take a westbound Red Line train to North Hanley and a free Metro shuttle from its car park to Terminal 1, Exit 6 on the upper level, or Terminal 2, Exit 10 on the lower level. Both stations are expected back in mid-December.

On 27 October 2026 the airport's own transport page still listed both stations, with no word of the closures. The Park Service's 28-minute ride from the airport to the Arch dates from 2023 and does not hold while the stations are shut.

A MetroLink ride costs $2.50 in cash, and a One-Day Pass for bus and rail costs $5. Metro is rolling out a new fare system with Tap & Ride, fare capping and gates. For the Arch, leave the train at 8th and Pine or Laclede's Landing and walk about ten minutes. The airport is about 17 to 18 miles from the Arch by road.

Can you fly nonstop to St. Louis from Europe?

St. Louis Lambert flies nonstop to two European airports, Frankfurt on Lufthansa and London Heathrow on British Airways. Those are two of its nine international nonstops. The others go to Toronto and, in season, Montreal on Air Canada, and to Cancún, Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta, Montego Bay and Punta Cana. International flights arrive at Terminal 2.

The airport's table marks Montreal as seasonal but not Frankfurt or London, so check the airlines' winter schedules. Every other trip from abroad connects through a US hub.

Kansas City International's own site could not be read, so its routes are not listed here. The Park Service puts it about 35 miles from the Truman visitor centre in Independence. Springfield-Branson National Airport is the one the Park Service names for Wilson's Creek, and for Ozark National Scenic Riverways it names St. Louis, Springfield and Memphis, in Tennessee.

Is the Kansas City streetcar really free?

The Kansas City streetcar is free: "RUNNING DAILY. ALWAYS FREE." says its operator's home page. The line runs 6.5 miles from the Riverfront to UMKC, with 32 stops. It reached that length with the Main Street Extension on 24 October 2025 and the Riverfront Extension in May 2026. The operator's FAQ still gives the older 5.7 miles and 30 stops.

Streetcars come every 10 to 15 minutes, from 5 a.m. to midnight, and until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Union Station has a stop.

Kansas City's buses are no longer free. RideKC brought fares back on 1 June 2026: a single ride costs $2 and a day pass $4, paid by contactless card, phone wallet or the RideKCGO app. No cash is accepted, and neither is American Express. Route 229 links the Northland with Kansas City International's new terminal. We could not read its frequency or a journey time to downtown.

How do you get a ticket for the Truman Home in Independence?

A ticket for the Truman Home in Independence is free but is issued only on the day, first come, first served. The ticket office is the visitor centre at 223 N. Main St.; no tickets are sold at the Home, and none can be booked. Tours take at most 8 people, with no exceptions, and last about 30 minutes. The Home has no seating, and the upstairs is closed.

The Truman site opens from Wednesday to Sunday and closes on Monday and Tuesday. An alert says the visitor centre closed temporarily on 9 September 2026, with tickets issued instead at the Noland Home, 216 N. Delaware St., across the street. The alert's end date, 24 September, has passed, and no page we read says the centre has reopened. On 27 October 2026 we could not confirm where tickets are issued, so check with the park before going.

Truman's farm in Grandview, at 12301 Blue Ridge Blvd., has grounds open all year and an audio tour in the NPS app. Tours of its farm home were suspended for foundation work, and we found no notice that they have resumed. Independence is about 11 miles from Kansas City's Union Station by road.

Can you float the Current River in winter?

The Current River can be floated all year, and so can the Jacks Fork. Floating your own boat within Ozark National Scenic Riverways costs nothing. In winter the water is about 57°F, and the park warns of hypothermia. Rentals come from outfitters the park licenses; book far ahead, and expect patchy phone signal.

Ozark National Scenic Riverways was established on 24 August 1964 and protects 134 miles of spring-fed rivers. The park calls it the first federally protected river system. Big Spring, near Van Buren, produces more than 250 million gallons of water a day.

The riverways' buildings wind down after 31 October 2026. Alley Mill and the Alley General Store close for the season, and the Big Spring entrance station opens from Monday to Friday only. Grounds, trails, picnic areas and river accesses stay open all year. Campgrounds take reservations only, through recreation.gov, at winter fees from 16 October to 14 April. Deer season brings hunters into the woods, so wear blaze orange.

On 27 October 2026 two of the park's alerts still applied. Akers Ferry, on State Highway K, will not be in service until further notice. The Round Spring pavilion and spring parking are closed for the rest of 2026 while a low-water bridge is rebuilt. The park also warns that GPS units can mislead in the Ozarks and that the roads are hilly and winding.

What is at Wilson's Creek National Battlefield near Springfield?

Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, at Republic near Springfield, marks the first major Civil War battle fought west of the Mississippi, on 10 August 1861. The first Union general killed in action fell there. Entry is free, and the park no longer sells America the Beautiful passes. Wilson's Creek was the only Missouri park site whose visits grew in 2025, to 370,558.

Some navigation systems misdirect visitors, the park warns. Aim for the visitor centre at 6424 W. Farm Road 182, by Highway ZZ.

George Washington Carver National Monument, near Diamond, is free as well. From I-44 exit 18A, take Highway 59 south to Diamond, then Highway V west for two miles and Carver Road south. Neither park's opening hours could be read from its own pages.

Branson is about 44 miles from Springfield on US 65 by our routing. Its city site could not be read, so this page says nothing more about it.

How long is the drive from St. Louis to Kansas City?

The drive from St. Louis to Kansas City is about 249 miles on I-70, just under five hours without traffic. Chicago is about 296 miles from the Gateway Arch, 5½ hours, as on our Illinois page.

The distances are our own routing without traffic, and it tends to read short. From Kansas City International to the Truman visitor centre it gives about 30 miles, against the Park Service's 35. In the Ozarks allow extra time on winding roads.

Route 66 crosses Missouri as well. The Park Service calls it "the nation's first all-weather highway linking Chicago to Los Angeles", and our Illinois page covers its Chicago end. The whole drive is in our road trip Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica.

How hot does a St. Louis summer get?

A St. Louis summer afternoon averages 90°F in July, and the city reaches 90°F or more on about 47 days a year. Kansas City sees about 36 such days and Springfield about 40. May is the wettest month in St. Louis, Kansas City and Springfield, and April in Columbia.

The table gives NOAA's 1991 to 2020 average highs and lows at four weather stations. St. Louis averages 16.6 inches of snow a year and Kansas City 18.2. The Arch is busiest in July, with 496,115 visits in 2025, and the Park Service says summer tram tickets sell out early and often.

All of Missouri is on Central Time, the same as Chicago and an hour behind New York. Its clocks went back an hour on 1 November 2026.

Missouri adds sales tax at the till, and the rate varies by city and county. The state's revenue department, the city sites of St. Louis and Kansas City and the state parks' site could not be read, so this page prints no tax rate, no hotel tax and no state park fee. Our guide to sales tax in the USA explains why prices are shown before tax.