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  • SOLD OUT 6/9/23: The Tram Ride to the Top is SOLD OUT for Friday, June 9, 2023. Tram tickets are expected to sell out early and often. We encourage guests to purchase tickets in advance of their desired visit.

  • Advanced Reservations: The Tram Ride to the Top is SOLD OUT for advanced reservations through Saturday June 10, 2023. Same day tickets may be available at 9 am from the Gateway Arch ticket center, online, or via the Gateway Arch call center (877-982-1410).

  • Visiting the Gateway Arch: Enter the monument through the Gateway Arch Visitor Center, which faces Fourth Street and the Old Courthouse. The Gateway Arch legs are exits only. Please allow at least 30 minutes to go through security.

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Plan Your Visit

Beyond the amazing views, the Gateway Arch offers an abundance of things to see and do. Whether you have a few hours or a full day, you’ll find activities to please every member of your party. Click below for a sample itinerary and everything you need to know to plan your visit to the Gateway Arch.

Sample Itinerary

Plan Your Visit

Beyond the amazing views, the Gateway Arch offers an abundance of things to see and do. Whether you have a few hours or a full day, you’ll find activities to please every member of your party. Click below for a sample itinerary and everything you need to know to plan your visit to the Gateway Arch.

Sample Itinerary

Activity Pricing
Schedule and pricing subject to change.

Adults
(16 & Over)		 Children
(3-15)
Unaccompanied Minor Policy**		 America the Beautiful Pass

See Everything Combo

Includes Tram Ride to the Top, Documentary Movie & One-Hour St. Louis Riverfront Cruise
Starting at
$41*
Starting at
$26
Starting at
$38*

Tram & Cruise Combo

Includes Tram Ride to the Top & One-Hour St. Louis Riverfront Cruise
Starting at
$37*
Starting at
$23
Starting at
$34*

Tram & Movie Combo

Include Tram Ride to the Top & Documentary Movie
Starting at
$19
Starting at
$14
Starting at
$16

Tram Ride to the Top

Pre-Boarding Tour & Top of the Arch (45-60 minutes)
Starting at
$15
Starting at
$11
Starting at
$12

Documentary Movie

Monument to the Dream Film (35 minutes)
 $7 $3 $4

St. Louis Riverfront Cruise

One-Hour Riverboat Cruise
 $24* $14 N/A

Virtual Reality Theater

Cobblestones & Courage
 $10 $8 N/A

*$2 off adult ticket price for seniors, ages 60 & Up. Senior discount available for cruise tickets only.

** Any unaccompanied tram rider who presents a child’s ticket must have an adult, at least 18 years of age, with them to provide permission to ride alone. Children under the age of 10 may not ride unaccompanied.

Pricing varies based on date of visit. Pricing valid through 2023. Schedule and pricing subject to change. Each adult tram or documentary movie ticket includes a $3 National Park entrance fee. All federal recreation passes are honored.

Group Pricing is available.

Hours

The Gateway Arch

Summer—Daily
9:00am–8:00pm*

Winter—Daily
9:00am–6:00pm*

The park grounds are open from 5:00am–11:00pm year round.

* Last tram leaves one-hour prior to closing.

The Old Courthouse

Temporarily Unavailable

Riverboats at
the Gateway Arch

Cruising March through November
(Cruise times and hours vary. Go to gatewayarch.com/riverboats for full schedule.)

Private events offered
year round.

Gateway Arch
Call Center

Summer
9:00am-7:00pm

Winter—Daily
9:00am–5:00pm

The Gateway Arch and Call Center are open year-round but are closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.

Summer Hours run the Saturday before Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Winter Hours run the Tuesday after Labor Day through the Friday before Memorial Day weekend.

Directions & Parking

Passenger drop-off/pick-up available on 4th Street across from the Old Courthouse, between Market & Chestnut. Accessible metered parking available (first come, first served) on Memorial Drive between Walnut & Market Streets and Chestnut & Pine Streets.

Drive

Find directions from any of St. Louis’ convenient highways and bridges.

DIRECTIONS

Walk

Find the most pedestrian-friendly routes.

DIRECTIONS

Public Transit

Skip driving and parking—take MetroLink, MetroBus, or the #99 Downtown Trolley to the Gateway Arch.

DIRECTIONS

Bus Directions

Find important details for groups arriving by bus.

DIRECTIONS

Gateway Arch

Learn more about preferred parking when visiting Gateway Arch National Park

PRE-PAID PARKING

Riverboats

Learn more about parking when visiting the Riverboats at the Gateway Arch

RIVERFRONT PARKING
Overhead view of the Arch ground which includes a walking path in a dotted line from the preferred parking at Stadium East Garage to the Arch.

This video shows you how to save money on your visit to Gateway Arch National Park by pre-purchasing your parking. It also demonstrates the process of parking in the Stadium East Parking Garage, walking to the Gateway Arch entrance and how to validate your parking if you did not pre-pay for parking. 

Security

As one of America’s cherished national parks, the Gateway Arch takes your safety and security very seriously. Here are a few simple guidelines to ensure a safe experience for all visitors.

Visitors entering the Gateway Arch facility are subject to search and screening by magnetometer and x-ray equipment, similar to airport security.

Allow plenty of time to go through security screening. During our busier times the wait can be up to 30–45 minutes.

Pack lightly for faster screening. These items are prohibited inside the security gates: pepper spray, mace, guns (including CCW), cat eyes, brass knuckles, and knives with non-folding blades or blades longer than 4”.

Accessibility

The Gateway Arch is an experience enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities. Recent improvements have expanded access to even more of our attractions. With the exception of the Tram Ride to the Top of the Gateway Arch, the second and third decks of the riverboats, and the upper floors of the Old Courthouse, most facilities at the Gateway Arch are wheelchair accessible. See below for specific directions to our various attractions.

Tram Ride to the Top: The Tram Ride to the Top of the Gateway Arch is not fully accessible for guests with mobility impairments, as no wheelchairs, scooters or strollers are permitted on the Observation Deck. To reach the top and return, you must be able to manage at least 96 steps, divided into six flights, and you may need to stand for 30­–60 minutes. No seating or restrooms are located at the top of the Arch.

New Museum at the Gateway Arch:  The new Museum at the Gateway Arch was designed to prioritize universal design throughout the galleries to accommodate people of many different abilities and to make the experience better for everyone. Universal Design is the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size or ability. The museum features hands-on, touchable exhibits; large print text cards; front access for wheelchairs; interactive computer simulations; and much more.

Gateway Arch National Park Grounds: Motor vehicles are prohibited but electric-powered mobility assistance devices (e.g. electric scooters, wheelchairs, and Segways) for transporting persons with disabilities are permitted on park roadways and walkways. See here for more information.

Guests may borrow a wheelchair by leaving a valid form of identification with a National Park Service ranger at the Information Desk inside the Gateway Arch or Old Courthouse.

Parking for the Gateway Arch: Preferred parking at a discounted rate ($9 for first five hours) is available at the Stadium East Garage.

  • Location: 200 S Broadway, St. Louis, MO 63102
  • Pre-purchase parking with no validation required: iparkit.com/TheArch If parking is not pre-purchased, validation is required by scanning/stamping your parking ticket at one of two validators located inside the Visitor Center at Gateway Arch National Park. Validators are located in the West Entrance lobby just outside the restrooms and on Level 3 next to the Explore St. Louis Information Desk.
  • Important note: On dates with St. Louis Cardinals’ home games, discounted Arch parking MUST be purchased by 11:59pm on the date prior to the game. If parking is not pre-paid, event parking rates will apply and parking tickets cannot be validated. Please check the Cardinals schedule and plan ahead for Arch parking.
  • Blackout dates, including Cardinals Opening Day, might apply for discounted rate pre-paid parking.

Additional parking locations in downtown St. Louis, visit explorestlouis.com/travel-tools/get-around-st-louis/downtown-parking/

Parking for the Riverboats at the Gateway Arch: The Riverboats at the Gateway Arch are located on the Mississippi River accessible from the cobblestone levee at 50 S. Leonor K Sullivan Blvd. (St. Louis, MO 63102). Riverfront parking is available for a cash fee and is not operated by the Gateway Arch or Riverboats at the Gateway Arch. To access the riverfront parking, take Chouteau Ave. east to Leonor K Sullivan Blvd. north. For maps and directions, go to gatewayarch.com/riverboatdirections. DO NOT USE GPS NAVIGATION due to recent street closures along and near the riverfront. Note: Parking availability is subject to weather and river conditions. For current parking updates, please visit gatewayarch.com/riverboatdirections prior to your visit.

Hearing-impaired visitors may request assisted listening and captioning devices for the documentary movie and the museum from the Information Desk inside the Gateway Arch.

Sight-impaired visitors may request audio description devices for the documentary movie from the Information Desk inside the Gateway Arch.

Service animals (as defined by the US Department of Justice) are permitted at the Gateway Arch and the Riverboats at the Gateway Arch.

Strollers are permitted everywhere except in the Arch trams and the Observation Deck at the top of the Gateway Arch. You may park strollers at the tram ride loading zones located below the Gateway Arch before taking your Tram Ride to the Top. Many families park strollers there, so you may want to label yours with your name and address.

Visiting the Riverboats from the Arch grounds:  New, sloping pathways now lead from the Arch grounds down to the riverfront. If driving by car, parking is available for a cash fee on the levee at 50 South Leonor K. Sullivan Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63102.*

Visiting the Arch from the Riverboats: Enter the Arch grounds from the riverfront via the Grand Staircase. For wheelchair access, use the ramps from the riverfront to the Arch grounds. Another park entrance is available at the north via Laclede’s Landing, the 1st and 2nd Street entrances to the park are also wheelchair accessible.*

Visiting the Arch from downtown St. Louis: All walking paths onto the Arch grounds from the City are open. See our Pedestrian Map for details.*

*Visitors entering the monument must use the west entrance, which faces Fourth Street and the Old Courthouse. The Gateway Arch legs have become exits only.

**NOTE ABOUT RIVERFRONT ACCESS: Due the slope of the levee, the paved pathways on the cobblestones leading to the Riverboats at the Gateway Arch are not ADA compliant.

For additional information or assistance, please email [email protected] or contact our Call Center at 877-982-1410.

To learn more about accessibility at the Arch grounds, visit the Gateway Arch National Park website.

Frequently Asked Questions

630 feet, which is 63 stories, 192 meters, or 7,560 inches tall, making it the tallest man-made monument in the United States—taller than the Statue of Liberty, the Washington Monument, and even the Space Needle in Seattle. From the base of one leg to the other, the Arch is as wide as it is tall! Each leg of the Arch is 54 feet wide at the base, tapering to 17 feet wide where they meet at the top.
On a clear day, you can see up to 30 miles in either direction. View St. Louis and Missouri looking out the west windows. See the Mississippi River and Illinois to the east.
The entire tour takes on average 45 minutes to an hour. First, your tour guide will lead you through an interactive multimedia experience prior to boarding the tram. Once on the tram, it is a 4 minute ride to the top and a 3 minute ride back down. To ensure each group has a great experience on the observation deck, with ample access to windows, guests will be limited to under 10 minutes at the top of the Arch. Please follow tour guide announcements.
The structure was built as a monument to the vision of President Thomas Jefferson and to St. Louis’ role in the westward expansion of the United States. That’s why both the Arch and St. Louis are often referred to as “the Gateway to the West”.
It was built as a memorial to President Thomas Jefferson, who championed the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and sent Lewis & Clark on their great expedition westward. The entire Jefferson National Expansion Memorial consists of the Gateway Arch and grounds (about 62 acres), plus another 30 acres encompassing the Old Courthouse, Luther Ely Smith Square, and many of the surrounding streets.
Steel and concrete. It has a double wall construction with ¼” stainless steel skin on the outside and 3/8” structural steel on the inside. The distance between the skin at the surface is 3 feet, narrowing to less than 1 foot at the top. There is a layer of concrete between the skins going approximately half way up the legs of the Gateway Arch. To support this massive, 43,226-ton structure, the foundations go about 60 feet into the ground.
Finnish-American architect and designer Eero Saarinen won a national design competition in 1947, earning the privilege to design this timeless monument.
Under normal conditions, the Gateway Arch does not sway, although it was designed to sway as much as 18 inches and can withstand an earthquake. It takes a 50-mile per hour wind to move the top just 1.5 inches either side of center.
MacDonald Construction Company of St. Louis was the primary contractor on the project. A few hundred workers built the Gateway Arch with no loss of life, despite the danger involved in raising such a tall, unique structure.
To install the last 4-foot section at the top, builders had to use over 500 tons of pressure to pry apart the north and south legs of the Arch. Larger windows could not withstand that pressure. At just 7”x27” in size, the 16 windows on each side of the observation deck may seem small. But the views they reveal are truly monumental.
Construction began February 12, 1963. The final piece was put in place on October 28, 1965. The trams were not completed for over 2 years, with the north tram opening in July 1967 and the south tram in May 1968.
The tram rises at 340 feet pet minute, or approximately 3.86 miles per hour. It takes 4 minutes to go up to the top and 3 minutes to come down (thanks gravity!). Tram rides leave approximatively every 10 minutes.
There are 1,076 steps inside the Gateway Arch. And even if you wanted to climb them, you cannot. The steps are used for maintenance and emergency purposes only.
The entire tour takes on average 45 minutes to an hour. First, your tour guide will lead you through an interactive multimedia experience prior to boarding the tram. To ensure each group has a great experience on the observation deck, with ample access to windows, guests will be limited to under 10 minutes at the top of the Arch. Please follow tour guide announcements.

Still curious about the fascinating
Gateway Arch?

Learn More
Website popup promotes the new Virtual Reality Theater at the Gateway Arch. It shows two children sitting with VR headsets on enjoying the program. There are also two images showing what the visitor will see during the VR experience of the 1850s St. Louis riverfront era.