Sight · Gateway Arch National Park
A tactile way to understand the Arch’s famous curve.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Gateway Arch Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Gateway Arch National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this place
Gateway Arch and Visitor Center“You're approaching the Gateway Arch and its Visitor Center. For the tram, book ahead and allow about an hour. You'll ride in a small five-person capsule, but the round trip still involves at least ninety-six steps.”
Plays as you drive up to Catenary Curve Wayside in the Parkwolf Gateway Arch Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Catenary Curve Wayside is an outdoor interpretive exhibit beside the Gateway Arch’s north leg. Its tactile map shows the park grounds, and a tactile model demonstrates the curve behind the monument. If you’re already walking the grounds, stop to feel the shapes and connect the exhibit to the Arch overhead; it’s a short interpretive pause, not a separate destination.
A catenary is the curve made by a heavy chain hanging freely between two supports. Turn that shape upside down and you have the Arch’s form. The exhibit makes the idea tangible, while the monument gives it scale: the Arch is 630 feet tall and 630 feet across at ground level. Eero Saarinen won the memorial design competition in 1947, and his winning design made the curve the defining form of the monument.
The wayside sits by a green lawn with the north leg rising behind it. Try the tactile model, then look up at the stainless-steel structure to see the same curve at full size. The exhibit also links the Arch’s architecture to curved forms echoed in the park’s landscape design.
Wildlife
17 sightingsRed-tailed HawkMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
14 sightingsGroundhogMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
11 sightingsOpossumMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
16 sightingsCottontailMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
113 sightingsCanada GooseMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
70 sightingsMallardMost seen around 6 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Gateway Arch. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyNorth Pond Loop1 mi · 30 min · 0.2 mi awayThe Arch gets a second frame in the pond.
EasyGateway Arch Loop1.6 mi · 45 min · 0.2 mi awayA short city loop for Arch reflections and riverfront views.
ChallengingSt. Louis Riverfront Trail23 mi · 11.5 hr · 0.6 mi awayFlat riverfront miles lead to a mile-long Route 66 bridge.
Sight · 0.1 mi awayThe Captains’ ReturnA 22-foot bronze of Lewis, Clark, and Seaman returning to St. Louis.
Sight · 0.1 mi awayNorth PondA small reflection pond whose curves repeat the Arch.
Sight · 0.1 mi awayNorth OverlookThe Arch and Eads Bridge share this north-riverfront view.
Sight · 0.1 mi awayExplorer’s GardenA wilder patch of native plants beneath Eads Bridge.
Store · 0.2 mi awayThe Arch StoreArch gifts, park-history books and homemade fudge.
Restaurant · 0.2 mi awayArch CaféA convenient place to try St. Louis toasted ravioli.
Sight · 0.2 mi awayGateway ArchRide up the 630-foot arch for a city and river view.
Sight · 0.2 mi awayGateway Helicopter ToursSee the Arch, river and city landmarks from above.Parkwolf’s Gateway Arch ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
