Route 66 State Park
public recreation area in Missouri, USA
Route 66 State Park is a public recreation area located on the Meramec River at the site of the former town of Times Beach, Missouri. The state park encompasses 424 acres (172 ha) one mile (1.6 km) east of Eureka. The park offers hiking, cycling, and equestrian trails, picnicking areas, and a boat ramp.
History
Times Beach was bought, dismantled, and decontaminated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency following the discovery of widespread dioxin contamination in the 1980s. Fields of wild grass and brush now grow where the homes of evacuated residents formerly stood. Deserted streets line the park and hint at what once was a community in west Saint Louis County.
Activities and amenities
The park has a boat ramp providing access to the river as well as a picnic area and trails for hiking, cycling, and equestrian use. The visitor center exhibits photos and memorabilia of structures along Route 66 in the Saint Louis area which have been torn down and replaced by modern shopping centers and strip malls. Displays include the first historic Route 66 marker, originally erected on the highway in Springfield, Missouri, as well as an interpretation of the ecological disaster and 20-year cleanup of the area.
Route 66 bridge
The visitor center, located in the old Bridgehead Inn on the east side of the Meramec River, was joined to the park on the west side by the old Route 66 bridge, which has been closed due to safety concerns.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7371513. Authority coordinates are 38.506, -90.590. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Route 66 State Park” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.