National Park Service to Turn Off Gateway Arch Exterior lights for Bird Migration Season

Monday, Sept. 1, to Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025

Gateway Arch National Park
11 North 4th Street, St. Louis, MO 63102
The National Park Service will not illuminate the Gateway Arch at night throughout the month of September to protect birds migrating south for the winter.

According to the National Park Service, 40% of the nation’s migratory waterfowl use the Mississippi River corridor during their spring and fall migration.  

The National Park Service began turning the Gateway Arch’s exterior lights off in 2002 to protect migrating birds. The Arch’s exterior lights will be turned back on beginning the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, and the monument will be lit nightly thereafter.