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Castlewood State Park features more than 15.5 miles of trails for hiking, bicycling and equestrian use.
River Scene Trail (red arrows)
This three-mile loop is the most spectacular trail in the park and highlights the park’s most memorable features. The trail climbs to and then traverses a series of bluffs overlooking the Meramec River. It then goes down a long wood staircase that takes you from the top of the bluffs to the valley below. From there, the trail takes you through an up-close and personal look at the river and the bottomland surrounding it. Along the way, you will pass panoramic vistas, remnants of the historic resort era and floodplain forest. This trail is designated for hiking and bicycling (hiking only on the bluff portion).
View comments from hikers of this trail during 2007
Grotpeter Trail (blue arrows)
This three-mile loop follows Kiefer Creek as it meanders through the park. After leaving the creek valley, the trail climbs and then winds through a group of hills adjacent to the creek valley. The trail runs on the north side of Kiefer Creek and also includes several road crossings. Stop, look and yield before crossing any road. This trail is designated for hiking, bicycling and equestrian use.
Lone Wolf Trail (orange arrows)
This 1.5-mile loop parallels the River Scene Trail on top of the bluffs before plunging into the Kiefer Creek valley. The trail then follows the south bank of Kiefer Creek. There is also a creek crossing that connects this trail with Grotpeter Trail. The trail was originally built to allow bicyclists access to the bluff area, but it is also an excellent hiking trail. Features along the trail include beautiful ridge top views, fern covered bluffs and a gravel strewn creek bed. The trail is named in honor of the Lone Wolf Club, a speak easy/tavern from the historic resort era. The club is adjacent to the park near the trail on private property.
Stinging Nettle Loop (yellow arrows)
This trail is reached at the trailhead parking lot in Sherman Beach County Park off of St. Paul Road. The trail is a three-mile loop designated for hiking and bicycling. It circles through bottomland forest adjacent to the river. The area was the site for gravel dredging operations many years ago, so there are many ups and downs as you go through several large depressions. The trail is named on behalf of the Stinging Nettle plant, which when touched produces an irritating fluid that causes a temporary burning, itching feeling.
Cedar Bluff Loop (brown arrows)
This two-mile trail can be accessed from the Stinging Nettle Loop. The trail wanders through an old farm site before climbing to the knob of a large hill. Along the way, the trail crosses a dry creek bed two times, passes by two large blackberry brambles (blackberries are delicious in season) and skirts by some interesting rock formations while running through alternating fields and forests. The trail is designated for hiking and bicycling.
Chubb Trail/Castlewood Loop (black arrows)
Chubb Trail is a seven-mile (one way) trail that starts at the Chubb Shelter in West Tyson County Park. It passes through a part of Castlewood State Park and goes to the entrance of Lone Elk County Park. The trail is hilly and rugged in West Tyson County Park before entering the river valley. It passes two fields where prairie restoration areas are maintained by the St. Louis County Department of Parks and Recreation and then becomes tightly wedged between a railroad embankment and the river. The trail widens as it enters the bottomland within Castlewood State Park before climbing one big hill to the entrance of Lone Elk County Park. The Castlewood Loop is a three-mile trail that branches off Chubb Trail and further explores the bottomland of Castlewood State Park and the site of Lincoln Beach (swimming beach during the historic resort era). The trail is very flat but it does give some excellent views of the Castlewood Bluff directly across river. The trail is designated for hiking, bicycling and equestrian use.
Al Foster Trail (green arrows)
Located in the Rock Hollow Unit of Castlewood State Park and Sherman Beach County Park, the trail provides scenic views of bluffs, bottomland forest and the Meramec River. The Al Foster Trail is a cooperative partnership between the Department of Natural Resources and St. Louis County Parks and Recreation. This trail will connect with an existing trail system in Sherman Beach County Park. When completed, the Al Foster Trail will become an official segment of the Ozark Trail, which one day will be developed from the confluence of the Meramec and Mississippi rivers to the Arkansas border.
All connector trails or side trails are marked in white, regardless of their location to another trail.
