Castlewood State Park: From vacation spot to a hiker’s paradise

 (Here's another wonderful hiking spot for a recent West Newsmagazine article.  All photos are courtesy of Missouri State Parks.)

Back in the early 20th century, there was a bustling resort town named Castlewood in what is now West St. Louis County. On hot days, hundreds of people would flock to nearby Lincoln Beach along the Meramec River.

Castlewood State Park, officially named with its 1974 introduction, preserves those exhilarating views which drew tourists to the area in droves. Beyond the scenery, the area itself has an interesting history.

“The (Missouri Pacific) railroads were built out this way in the mid-19th century,” said Superintendent David Meeker. “We have a neat photo in our office showing the Castlewood Depot. It was not what you think of when you think of the Kirkwood Depot. It was basically a spot where you could step up on or off the train. That depot on the tracks was near what was called The Grand Staircase, which is a concrete staircase that went from the track level, up the bluffs, and headed to the cabins, hotels.”

Meeker said the train had a custom car to transport people’s canoes to the area. People would get off work on Friday, haul their canoe to the train depot, put it on the train and come out to the park for the weekend. That train still comes through on a regular basis while Amtrak’s Missouri River Runner Line comes through four times a day.

“Back then, Castlewood was far away from the developed city of St. Louis, and out here, there were many cabins, recreation areas and business areas built up to serve more like a summer vacation type of community,” Meeker said. “You could come out with the family and rent a cabin for the weekend, hit a couple trails here and there, swim in the river, canoe … things like that.”

The area’s popularity diminished a great deal as the introduction of the automobile led to people driving greater distances to sites in all directions just after World War II. Through that time, the area fell into disarray due to building abandonments and natural deterioration.

Fast forward to the early 1970s and the Open Space Council for the St. Louis Region and other citizen activists began working together to advocate for more green spaces in what became expanded urban areas.

“What I find significant about Castlewood is that it’s 1,818 acres of primarily undeveloped forests, river bottoms and ecosystems that you rarely see in West St. Louis County,” Meeker said. “As a large point of significance, the park exists to serve as a very large greenspace.

“You could be driving down Big Bend Road and see nothing but housing, businesses and you’re near the highway. Then when you take a left heading south on Ries Road and once you hit our border, it can be overwhelming for some people because it’s nothing but forest. Then, there’s a winding road that leads into the park entrance.”

The park’s hiking opportunities featuring ruralness and scenic views spread across Castlewood’s eight trails that cover some 30 total miles.

Most first-time Castlewood visitors are totally unaware of what roughly two-thirds of the park could offer to them.

“The day-use area is where most people come to visit,” Meeker said. “But we have trails on the south side of the Meramec River as well. There’s the Castlewood Loop Trail and the Chubb Trail. Those are managed in cooperation with St. Louis County Parks. But on the north side of the Meramec River to the west of the day-use area, we have other properties as well. We have the Al Foster Trail which stretches out to Wildwood, the Cedar Bluff Loop, and the Stinging Nettle Trail.” 

Castlewood is a busy location on nice days for hiking, mountain biking and other activities. In addition, the park plays host to third party and special events regularly, and features several major volunteer events throughout the year as well. 

“Starting in April, we are beginning a series of Trail Maintenance Volunteer Days that are on the second and fourth Tuesdays every month from April-October,” Meeker said. 

Meeker said a recently improved park feature is the Lone Wolf Trailhead gazebo. 

“The structure was in need of a lot of help,” Meeker said. “We replaced all the posts on it, poured concrete sidewalks all around it, and it’s ADA accessible as well.”

Castlewood’s park gates and grounds are open year-round daily from 7 a.m. to one-half hour after sunset.

Babler State Park links suburban, rural in West County

 (As an avid hiker, I loved getting this recent area parks assignment for West Newsmagazine!)

                              (Photo courtesy of Missouri State Parks)

Located less than two miles from Rockwood Valley Middle in Wildwood, Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial State Park is a merging point for suburban West St. Louis County and the rural beauty of Missouri. 

“We have natural reasons and cultural reasons to visit,” said Babler Park Superintendent Christopher Ferre. “Specifically for Babler, it’s preserving a large swath of the forest and hillsides that are indicative of this part of Missouri. We call those ‘the river hills.’

“Overall, we’re just over 2,400 acres, so it’s a nice piece of greenscape to hold onto for parks. We’ve got over 16 miles of hiking trails which includes equestrian horse use trails. Of course, our ever-popular 75-site campground is kind of the main focus of the park along with our visitor center. There we have exhibits, our retail shop, and it’s the place for information for the whole park. Another key feature is our group camp we have down in part of the park. We call it the Outdoor Education Center.”

That latter amenity includes overnight cabins, a dining hall and an accessible pool. It was all designed to be barrier-free to suit any park-goer’s accessibility needs. It’s run in partnership with Parkway-Rockwood Community Education and can be rented out with cabins for a weekend or longer as in the case of summer camps.

                                                 (Photo by Elaine Collins)

The park is named after Edmund Babler, who was born in 1874. He died at age 55 and his legacy as a general surgeon was honored by his brother Jacob and younger brother Henry by purchasing a large swath of land to donate to the state of Missouri during the depression years. A bronze statue of Babler was added in 1938, unveiled at a dedication ceremony that drew a crowd of 3,000 people, according to the Missouri State Parks website. The size of the park increased greatly in future years. 

The statue of Dr. Edmund A. Babler, which has been in the park for 87 years. (Photo courtesy of Missouri State Parks)

“Of course, a lot of our Civilian Conservation Corps-built shelters are able to be reserved by families and friends,” Ferre said. “Also, the natural area we talked about is home to a good portion of Missouri’s flora and fauna that is found in this part of the state. We have a little bit of everything here.”

Babler State Park is also known for a few prime events.

“Chronologically, what we’re looking at first is a big Memorial Day weekend with  various events throughout the park with crafts and programs, and we’re going to cap that off with an outdoor movie night,” Ferre said. “There’ll be a big screen to sit out in the field and watch a movie.”

Babler plays host to many organizational meetups, such as this Missouri Mycological Society event. (Photo courtesy of Missouri State Parks)

That event will be followed by the offering of art classes with a good deal of painting.  Ferree said people who register will be welcomed with a plethora of all the supplies needed to paint landscapes and also parts of the park. That’s because some of the classes will be held at the visitor center while others will be held outside in the park.

“Also, we will have our Halloween event known as the Howl-O-Ween,” Ferree said. “It’s always a highly-popular event capping off the season. On the campgrounds and the regular visitor center, we do crafts, trick-or-treating, costume contests, and campground contests. That happens the weekend before Halloween, which is Saturday the 24th. This is a totally free event with no reservation necessary and no limited capacity.”

Updates on events can be found on the Missouri State Parks website or the Babler’s Facebook page.

                                  (Photo by Elaine Collins)

Ferree said Babler is ready to be fully open again for the full season, starting in April. Renovations have been done on 38 of its campsites, upgrading them to full hookups with concrete pads.

Another project in the works is upgrading the water distribution system, switching over from an independent well to a more modern system through Missouri American Water. That’s going to provide better water pressure across the site and consistency.

                             (Photo by Elaine Collins)

“The other key thing that’s kind of coming along is the lodge that sits back in the corner of the park,” Ferree said. “For the past few years, it was used as kind of an outpost by the Division of Youth Services for some of the kids they had in their care. But it’s come back into the state parks’ hands. 

“We are in the process of designing a renovation of that lodge. It will be opened back to the public, which it has not been for a lot of years. That would include overnight stays and special events. We’re excited about that coming along once we complete the final design process.”

All Missouri parks are free to enter for all guests because of the Parks, Soils and Water Sales Tax, a one-tenth-of-one percent sales tax which comes up for a vote once every 10 years. The tax will be on the ballot again for the Nov. 3 General Election. According to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the tax costs the average resident about $10 a year. Half of those funds go to the parks, but that accounts for 80% of each park’s funding.