The elegant Gateway Arch, reaching up to 630 feet dominates St Louis’ skyline. Standing in the Jefferson Natural Expansion Memorial Park, the arch symbolises the role St Louis played as the gateway to the west.

Shortly after the Second World War in 1947, a competition was privately financed to find a suitable architectural centrepiece for the park. The aim was to commemorate Thomas Jefferson’s vision of the spread of freedom and democracy from “sea to shining sea” and his commissioned expedition in 1804 to the west coast headed by Lewis and Clark.

Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen and structural engineer Hannskarl Bandel’s design of this graceful tapered stainless-steel catenary arch won over the 171 other entries. Construction of this remarkable structure took around three years to complete. Pictures of the construction can be seen as you queue to travel up the top of the north leg of the arch or you can see the film “Monument to the dream” showing in one of the theatres in the arch (for a fee). The arch opened to the public on 24th July 1967. Sadly, Saarinen died of a brain tumour in 1963 and never saw his design completed.

The arch stands on the exact border between Missouri and Illinois and is the centre-piece of the Jefferson Natural Expansion Memorial Park which is landscaped to reflect the curves of the arch. Getting to the entrance of the arch necessitates a longish walk through the park. Pathways ensure that it is wheelchair accessible and there are seats dotted along the paths to enable walkers to rest - these were most welcome. Our trip to America followed my being newly diagnosed with secondary progressive MS. The walk, I don’t think would pose a problem for able bodied however my now reduced mobility did make the walk rather difficult.

The entrance slopes down underneath the arch to a security post. Bags and coats are searched and you have to pass through an airport-style metal detecting door way. This can take a while if there is a queue (and there usually is).

Entrance to the arch is free however if you want to ride to the top you have to pay ($10 for adults and $5 for children) – and of course no visit to the arch would be complete without going all the way!

There are two tramways ferrying visitors to the top; one on each leg of the arch. Before, you get to the queue you have to pose for a photograph that will superimpose you in front of a background picture of the arch. In super-quick time, the photograph will then be ready for you to inspect and buy for $20 when you come back down.

The tram cars are shaped like little white eggs and made me feel a little like Mork in his egg. These however are made to squash in more than one person.. Each tramcar can fit in five people at a time. Luckily for us, the queues were not too excessive on our visit so we had tramcar to ourselves. There are eight tramcars operating on each side and leave every 10 minutes.

The unique tram system that combines an elevator cable lift system with gimbled cars function in a similar manner to a Ferris wheel and trundle you slowly upwards. It takes four minutes to get to the top and three minutes to come back down again.
Unfortunately, the only way to the tramcar is via long corridors and down some steps. There are then more steps at the top of the arch making it impossible for wheelchairs users to travel. Buggies have to be left at the bottom as well so if you have a baby or toddler be prepared to carry them! They do allow people with impaired mobility to use the top tram thereby minimising the number of steps you need to negotiate.

At the top is what is referred to as the arched observation area. This in reality is a small 20’ x 6’ corridor lined with thirty-two small windows (16 per side). On one side are views over the Mississippi River, southern Illinois and the old Cahokia mound. The other side offers views over Saint Louis city and beyond. The views are spectacular and a good photographic opportunity. Your stay at the top is timed and after an appropriate length of time, you are called once more to your egg.

OK, so you’ve ridden to the top, got your photos – now what. There is a large open space at the bottom with seating. Surprisingly there is no café however you can buy coffee in take-away cups and sit on the benches. There is a shop with the usual tourist souvenirs including postcards, DVDs and a rather nice scrapbooking kit which I did buy. There are toilets in plenty and they spotlessly clean.

Leading off from the central space is the Museum of Westward Expansion with a permanent exhibit of 33 large format photographic murals depicting the campsites and places visited by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark during their exploration which started and ended in Saint Louis. There are 150 quotes from the diaries, letters and speeches of the pioneering two. You can look inside a covered wagon and listen as history unfolds through the voices of various animatronics’ figures.
There are two film theatres showing, “Monument to the dream”, which depicts the construction of the arch and “Gateway to the West” which has won four emmys for best documentary, writing, audio and best director. Entry to the theatre is $7 for adults and $2.50 for children. We didn’t see the films, so I can’t comment on the theatres or the films.

As for the practicalities, they do advise you to go early to avoid the queues. We went at 8.30 a.m. and there were already a lot of people around. We, thankfully, didn’t have to queue for the tram – if we had had to, I don’t think we would have bothered.
Getting there is easy, as all interstates converge on the park. A metro station is very close (less than 5 minutes away). Paid parking ($6 for the first 9 hours and 75 cents for each additional half hour) is available in the allocated parking area. You can park alongside the river for free if there is an available space! As I have said previously, wherever you park there is a walk to the arch!

The Gateway Arch and Museum of Westward Expansion are open daily from 8 a.m.to10 p.m. in the summer and from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. in the winter. Entrance to both is free, however if you want to ride the trams or see a film, then prepare to pay.
I do recommend that you visit. The Gateway Arch has become symbolic of St Louis and Missouri. It would be rather like going to Paris without visiting the Eiffel Tower to go to St Louis without visiting the Arch. However be prepared! Try to choose your time of visit to avoid queues and take what little baggage you can to speed up the security check.