Explore STL Parks

Explore STL Parks Steph Hampton 🥾St. Louis Mom x 5 🥾Trail & Park Reviews 🥾Baby, Toddler & Kid Outdoor Tips 🥾 Free weekly hike!
141K+ followers on Instagram Hey guys! Louis!
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I'm Steph, a St. Louis mom of 4. My husband, Mark, and I love to take our 4 daughters exploring around St. Louis, Missouri and beyond! There is so much beauty right here in St. Follow along to find some adventure ideas. I lead free, weekly hikes for families and would love to have you join us! Thanks for being here.

08/14/2026

✨Comment “trip” for my itinerary on Ludington, Michigan! We were blown away by this beautiful area. Over 28 miles of sandy beaches and over 40 miles of trails! 😮

🛥️ To arrive: We drove to Manitowoc, Wisconsin and took the SS Badger across (it arrives directly in Ludington). This is a 4-hour Lake Michigan car ferry, and it is a National Historic Landmark! The S.S. Badger Carferry was such a fun experience!

🏠 Where we stayed: Sunset Bluff Resort - Ludington, Michigan 🥰 We stayed in the most lovely A-frame with a gorgeous view of Hamlin Lake. There was a pool on the property too!

✨Other favorites:
🔥 Stearns Park Beach: 2500 miles of sandy shoreline – and check out the Sunset Beach Bonfire (happens 3x/summer)!

🛶 Ludington State Park: 5300 acres! We loved the 2-mile walk/bike ride to Big Sable Point Light, then climbing up the lighthouse. We also hiked and rented canoes at Hamlin Lake Beach. 

🏖️ Silver Lake Sand Dunes: We did the Mac Wood’s Dune Rides and absolutely loved it. Great for all ages, and it was the best way to experience the dunes. 

🛝 Sandcastles: Ludington’s children’s museum has over 40 interactive and hands-on exhibits. There are replicas of local businesses and a model of the SS Badger!

🥘 Favorite Eats: STIX Ludington, House of Flavors, Old Hamlin and the Downtown Farmer’s Market.

Have you been to Ludington yet? Highly recommend checking out this gem!! 💎

Comment “trip” for my itinerary & links! 🔗

Pure Ludington Pure Michigan

08/13/2026

I’m always in shock that Powder Valley is free 😮😮
**they are officially reopen after being closed for a waste water management project!

📍Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center
11715 Cragwold Rd
Saint Louis, MO 63122

This has been a family-favorite of ours ever since we had our first daughter. What’s not to like? Wildlife, shaded & paved trails and awesome woods, not to mention an awesome FREE nature center.

Nature Center hours are Tuesday-Saturday from 8am-5pm, but trails are open every day. There is so much to explore in the nature center from animals to puppets to art to fish tanks to interactive exhibits! It truly is incredible what they have created here for our community 🙌

Powder Valley has three paved trails:
1.) Hickory Ridge (1/2 mile loop and 1 1/5 mile loop)-pretty hilly, but so beautiful! **currently closed because one section of the trail is being repaired.
2.) Broken Ridge Trail (2/3 mile)- Pretty hilly and some fun bridges.
3.) Tanglevine trail (1/3 mile)-all flat! This is the one that I would classify as stroller-friendly. All of the others are paved, but pretty hilly. There is a great storybook walk along this trail and a new nature play area!

*Pavilion with restrooms (next to Tanglevine trail) and Nature Center has restrooms too.

Happy exploring!! ☀️

08/07/2026

🐝 Comment “bee” for more info on this awesome free scavenger hunt!

Great Rivers Greenway Greenway Quest is now open!! 🎉🎉🎉

☔️ It was raining when we filmed this, but now the weather looks beautiful today and this weekend!! Rain or shine, the Great Rivers Greenway greenways are great to explore 💕

Great Rivers Greenway and the Saint Louis Zoo have teamed up for the fifth annual Greenway Quest Scavenger Hunt! 🙌 This year, 300 hand painted rocks that look like 4 different species of native bees found along the greenways: the American bumblebee, brown-belted bumblebee, two-spotted bumblebee, and just a few of the endangered rusty patched bumblebee.

Look for rocks hidden across all 140 miles of greenways in St. Louis City, St. Louis County and St. Charles County (I’ll send you a link to the interactive greenway map to find a greenway near you when you comment “bee”) 🐝

➡️You can find them along the edges of greenways or at trailheads, never far away from the path and never on private property.

➡️There are no rocks hidden at the Saint Louis Zoo.
If you find more than one bee rock on your adventure, please only take one so other people can join in the fun, too!

➡️Be sure to log your rock in the form below to be eligible to win prizes that include Zoo Adventure Passes and Greenway Goodies!

Thanks to the teen volunteers of the Saint Louis Zoo ALIVE (Active Leaders in Volunteer Education), the Education Staff, and the many volunteers who painted all 300 rocks!!

Rock numbers coordinating with bee species:

1-100: American Bumblebee
101-200: Brown Belted Bumblebee
201-300: Two-Spotted Bumblebee
301-302: The endangered Rusty Patch Bumblebee (only two in the whole bunch!) 😮😮

Happy exploring!!! ☀️

08/06/2026

Because why not explore a waterfall with some rain?! 💦

📍Dripping Springs waterfall
Creve Coeur Lake Park

I like to park near the Taco Bell shelter and walk up to the waterfall. You can also pull your car right near it too & view from the car!

The waterfall is located on the southeast part of Creve Coeur Lake Park!

📍2194 Creve Coeur Mill Rd
Saint Louis, MO 63146
GPS Coordinates to the waterfall: 38.71170° N, 90.47982° W

Happy exploring!! 💦

08/02/2026

Steph from Steph Hampton| Missouri Hiking, Camping & Travel Mom and Sara from Sara Lesire | Family Travel & Adventure | Midwest & More are sharing their favorite August spots around St. Louis! Here’s to a great month 👏☀️

🌻 Sunflower field: check out Columbia Bottom CA, as well as the sunflower field at Eckert’s (now open)!

🤖 MADE for Kids: check out this 7,000-square-foot makerspace, a special highlight is meeting BenBen, the interactive robotic dog.

🐢 Turtle Cove: check out this inclusive playground and splash pad (all fenced in). Worth the drive to Festus for this one! There is also a short shaded trail.

🦎 Cave tour: check out Meramec Caverns and Fisher Cave to escape the heat this month. Keep an eye out for cave salamanders at Fisher Cave!

🐳 Science Center: there is so much to explore here from the special exhibits to the Discovery Room to the outdoor area (with a neat water table)!

🦖 Dinoroarus at the Saint Louis Zoo: Come check out this great exhibit with animatronic dinosaurs, open now through October 31st.

🛝 The Heights: free entry and all fenced in! Features a great playground, water feature and a nice shaded nature area.

Happy exploring!! ☀️

08/01/2026

🥾 Comment “trail” for the addresses where I park and for the interactive trail map!

Here are our 7 favorite playground + paved Great Rivers Greenway trail:
🛝Indian Meadows Park
🥾Centennial Greenway

🛝Shaw Park
🥾Centennial Greenway

🛝Fox Hill Park
🥾Boschert Greenway

🛝Brentwood Park
🥾Deer Creek Greenway

🛝Creve Coeur Lake Park
🥾Fee Fee Greenway

🛝Simpson Park
🥾Meramec Greenway

🛝Deer Creek Park
🥾Deer Creek Greenway

Great Rivers Greenway has over 140 miles of paved trails throughout St. Louis City, St. Louis County and St. Charles County!
Definitely recommend checking one of these out.

Happy exploring! ☀️

07/30/2026

🌴 Comment “link” for the booking link, pool day passes and cabana link! 🌴

AD | We had so much fun staying at Margaritaville Hotel Kansas City over the weekend. It was such a blast!

📍Margaritaville Hotel Kansas City
1491 N 98th Terrace
Kansas City, Kansas 66111

Our itinerary:
🌴Friday:
➡️Arrived after dinner and checked into the hotel
➡️Headed to bed!

🌴Saturday:
➡️Breakfast at LandShark Bar & Grill (in the hotel, great buffet option and kids’ menu)
➡️Played at the outdoor pool (opened at 9am) and indoor pool (opened at 10am) all day!
➡️Lunch (we ordered food from the LandShark Bar & Grill and ate it at one of the tables at the indoor pool)
➡️Made Friendship bracelets poolside (free activity)
➡️Dinner at our cabana (we had this rented from 3-7pm) and ordered appetizers, dinner and mocktails
➡️Live music throughout the day (DJ next to the pool and then live music performance by The Yachties in the evening)
➡️Headed to bed (we could still hear live music and watch from the balcony while our kids were sleeping)

🌴Sunday:
➡️Breakfast at Joe Merchant’s Coffee and Provisions (in the hotel, smoothies, coffee, pastries, breakfast sandwiches)
➡️Swam at the outdoor and indoor pool
➡️Arcade
➡️Lunch at LandShark Bar & Grill
➡️Drove back to St. Louis!

☀️This really was such a family-friendly spot!! Only 3.5 hours from St. Louis and it was a really fun summer oasis.
Between the live music, indoor & outdoor pool and great food, it was a great experience all around. This was our second time to this location (we were here over winter). Highly recommend this hotel! 👍

🌴Happy exploring!!

Margaritaville Hotel Kansas City Margaritaville Hotels & Resorts Visit KC

Address

Augusta, MO
63332

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