Arnold Parks and Recreation

This is a decent sized park in the Arnold, Missouri area. There is a nice circular walking area where you can either take a walk or a run. And the beautiful water features make it much nicer. There are some play areas where kids can have some fun.
However, some people are used to bigger parks in the St. Louis area. Jefferson Barracks park is amazingly huge and offers a much longer walk/​running trail.

This is a decent sized park with several benefits to offer. There’s a playground for the kiddos, several shelters and a tennis court. There’s a walking path around the lake with a little branch that runs through the woods. There’s always some fishing going on in the lake. Farmers market every Saturday morning. There’s disc golf and some good sized fields. There’s also a dog park. There’s also a decent sized trail that runs behind the park. It used to be a neighborhood from what I’ve read and seen there. There’s a few benches along the trail. The park is right next to the meramec river so it can and has flooded.
A section of the trail that used to be a neighborhood behind the park is blocked off from cars and has recently been resurfaced. It now seems to suitable for rollerblades (to a point), but I have only biked on that section so far. I have yet to see it crowded at all and usually have it all to myself no matter what time of day I’m there.
The loop around the lake is about ¾ mile long and paved. It’s not bad for rollerblades, but there are a few spots where you need to watch the cracks. I wouldn’t skate into the woods, too many sticks/​acorns. This section does get busy with walkers/​joggers and occasionally a bicycle.
The park isn’t landscaped at all which disappoints me, but sure that’s because it would hard to keep with the frequent flooding, which it seems to do once or twice a year.
The worst thing about the park for me though is the geese. I can’t stand all the goose «droppings» around lake. There’s ALOT.

We run here often since there is a nice 4 mile trail around the park and lake. You do have to be careful of mud covering the trail after heavy rains since it is right next to the Maramac River. That also means there are swarms of bugs in the summer.
The farmers market is getting bigger and better every year. It is on Sat. from 8 — noon in May — October.
Our boys also love the play ground.

Great place to run, ride, or take your dog. Beautiful scenery around the path and no cars to deal with.

I don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth…(that gift horse being a free dog park), but the dog park is the size of maybe 2 large back yards. I think I’m spoiled after living in Columbia for a while and they have 4 acres with a lake. But, I took Zeppelin Wiggles there this weekend and he had a lovely time. I agree with Chip, I believe it’s acceptable for the smaller dogs to be in the bigger dog one because there was a small dog there when we arrived. However, my dog has a lot of love to give (not in the biblical sense) so the small dog went to the other area. I’m sure Zep would give this 5000 stars, but as his critical owner, I have to knock it down a couple. I am longing for a huge dog park for him. Let me know if you find it.

The actual park looks nice, and there are almost always large groups here during the summer.
However, the only reason I drive all the way out to Arnold is because this park has, to the best of my knowledge, the only 100% free dog park in the St. Louis area.
There’s a section for dogs under 25 lbs and a section for dogs over 25 lbs. Although you’re not supposed to mix, it seems to be informally accepted that small dogs are allowed in the big dog area (at the owner’s risk), but not vice-​versa.
For the most part, the people are nice and tolerant of other peoples’ dogs. There are, however, exceptions to every rule.