Jefferson Barracks Park

This park is definitely Forest Park’s South County cousin and often overlooked as a recreation space, in my opinion. There are several walking trails all over the park, these vary in length and some include fitness activities along the way. The paths are well marked and paved. Also in the same area is Sylvan Springs park. It has several playground areas, including a splash park. New this year is the Pavilion Fitness Center and Aquatic Area. It’s a great addition to the park for swimming and exercising. JB also has an amphitheater for concerts, festivals and carnivals. The whole park sits alongside the Mississippi River on lovely bluffs. There are great scenic views and plenty of picnic tables, covered pavilions and park benches.
I haven’t even started on all the historical features of this park including a WWII museum, Civil War artifacts and other historical areas. Of course all of this rests alongside the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery which is a place of beauty, sacrifice and inspiration.
If you haven’t been to Jefferson Barracks, or JB as the locals refer to it, you’re missing out on one of St. Louis’ true gems.

If there’s one great thing about South County, its all the parks that are available that offer something for everyone!
I will go here many times a year to walk, to play sports, to visit the museums, see the guard area and when they have live music.
Most recently I drove through the cemetery as a friend was recently laid to rest there. I had heard about the deer that wandered about and sure enough I got to see those magnificent creatures beautify an already gorgeous area.
Make one trip here and you’ll find yourself coming back again, and again!

I cannot wait to have my wedding here in a little over a month!!! Since I was a little girl, I have grown up going to this park for picnics and family gatherings… I have had some of the best times of my life here. From the little castle to the grave sites. My family has history here. From being buried here to just passing through, we’ve got history. Now, I get to extend my history into my soon to be husbands family history. I’m excited for the years and lifetimes to come! :-) :-) :-)

One of my favorite parks. The facilities are always well-​maintained, especially the women’s restrooms, and the park is usually packed with families and dog-​walkers. The main path is paved, with two conjoined loops totaling about two and a half miles; there are some light hills, but nothing too strenuous. Lots of deer, too!

Jefferson Barracks is really a gem in St. Louis. I use it mostly for running, and there are a lot of options here. There’s the main paved trail that is about 3 miles long. You almost always see people (and animals) making use of it. Most often for me, though, I run along the outside of the park and take advantage of more of the park’s space. It makes for a decently lengthy run and provides a few hills. And most importantly some nice views and the feeling that you aren’t in the middle of a big metro area.
The park has much more to offer too. There’s a frisbee golf course; several softball, baseball, and soccer fields; playgrounds; shelters; and general open space. You also aren’t far from another park — Sylvan Springs — where there are tennis courts, a skate park, and a playground. There are also a lot of historical markers that help you understand the park’s original purpose — as a military barracks. There are even museums and gift shops around. And of course you’re next door to the national cemetery, which everyone should visit at least once.

Upon reading up on the local Frisbee Golf venues in St. Louis I stumbled across Jefferson Barracks.
You may be wondering: Why was Aaron B reading up on local Frisbee Golf venues? Well reader, I’ll tell you.
My brother is getting married in a couple of weeks and is a rather athletic fella. For his bachelor party, he wanted to start it with some active-​day-​activities. One of his friends had a broken leg so golfing was out of the picture (thank goodness). The other option was rock climbing… which is a little on the pricier side and still excludes the cripple friend.
So, I thought to myself, why not FROLF?! For those of you who don’t know, Frolf is the unholy-​mutant-​love-​child that resulted from the monster who decided to combine two things I cannot do: play golf & properly throw a frisbee.
Despite coming in 7^th place out of 7, I still enjoyed the course. Relatively speaking. It was the perfect thing to do considering the weather and group make-​up.
Upon arriving to the course, there are score cards on a sign that have maps on them. We utilized these in order to calculate everyone’s scores.
The Jefferson Barracks Frolf course is rather large – it’s an 18 hole course. We only played the front 9 for time purposes. All of the Frolf «baskets”(?) were set at a fairly large distance. I think they managed to place every single one behind a tree to make it even more difficult to find/​score. This makes me think that this course is intended for the real Frolf professionals.
Apart from the course, the park was large and beautiful. We saw a few war-​vets driving around as well.
I would like to go back and explore other areas of the park. I would recommend this place to anyone in the area.

As a National Guard service member, I have been drilling here off and on since May of 2005, after when I raised my right hand to enlist at the end of April. This location boasts a ton of history. There are many of buildings at this location that have been standing since the civil war era. Jefferson Barracks was also the site where they had the first jump landing, so there is a lot of history in this place.
There is the park, the cemetery, various military armories and a few museums here, so there are a lot of things to do.

I live in Lemay, and I have been visiting this park for the past 6 years I’ve lived in the area. I originally went for some nice leisurely walks. I have been jogging for the past 14 months and this is one of my favorite places to jog. I live about a mile from there, so sometimes I just jog to the park from my house and back. The park itself is an excellent jog as well. You have a few options; there is the actual paved path within the park, which has a large outer loop as well as a cutoff for 2 smaller loops. These offer a couple spots with some nice challenging hills. A good portion of the time, I tend to jog the perimeter of the park, to avoid dodging people on the path. The perimeter is essentially the sidewalk that goes almost all the way around the entire park. Part of this section you jog alongside the roadway, but it’s safe. The outer jog has a little more hill variation to it. If you are a fan of deer, this is a great place to see many of them and they are used to seeing people, so they aren’t very skittish. I’ve also glimpsed a few wild turkeys, some snakes, and even a pretty little red fox one day.

I’m reviewing the JB Barracks Cemetery than I am the actual park. The cemetery is a National one that lays to rest soldiers. The cemetery is one of the best in the nation is care for with meticulous detail and strives for the best experiences for family members. They are doing some major renovations to the headquarters and is working on expansion, which creates an eye-​sore, but this cannot be helped.

Caught a concert here this weekend. The park was very large, and nicely maintained, however it’s not the ideal place for a concert. There are only a couple of exits which makes getting out after a show a very slow process.

JB Park has just about the tidiest little 2.5 mile jog I can think of that isn’t Choose Your Own Adventure style street jogging. The park offers a blacktop paved trail that winds its way through gently rolling hills, past flat soccer/​baseball fields, and through a fair amount of underbrush that almost always rewards you with great deer sightings. Of the last 3 times I’ve been out there, no matter what time of day, I see at least two deer, just hanging out by the path, close enough for you to stop, catch your breath and hang out with them for a bit.
The other great thing about this jogging path is that Taco Bell sponsored it. Taco Bell, owner of the Fourth Meal enterprise, actually paid the county to put up obstacle course style training drills the entire length of the path. So, with this jog, you not only get the chance to get a quick run in, but you could essentially practice with speed drills in between chin up, push up, wall climb, and monkey bar drills. How’s that for a shake up to your routine!

One of the best concrete skate parks in the St. Louis area! Tho’ I’m sure all you skaters out there already know about that. Watch out for anxious park police if your dog is off leash.

The trail isn’t long (2.7 miles), but it’s nicely paved, well maintained, has some challenging hills to it, and bends through some beautiful wildnerness in deep south county. Perfect for running, and if you are willing to wrap around a few times, it’s pretty perfect for biking as well.
Other than the trail, this park has a ton to offer. This park butts up to the Jefferson Barracks military cemetary which is one of the coolest sights in St. Louis if you are interested in that sort of thing. The park is massive, and has everything from picnic areas to good hiking areas, to baseball fields. Also, there’s a great amphitheater here where live music concerts are held all summer long. Just bring your bug spray, you are awfully close to Meremac here, so the bugs can get a little out of control. A lot of schools hold their spring picnics here as well, so on any given weekend there could easily be a gigantic carnival going on with rides and funnel cakes. WOO!
The place has a lot of history as well. It was the first Infantry School of Practice, was the sight of the first airplane jump, and played a key role in westward expansion. The barracks still exists and now works as a museum, where you can make your own candle…(I distinctly remember doing this in Girl Scouts). The barracks also doubles as a reserve space.