Riverwoods Park and Trail: Hiking, Biking, and Walking in Earth City, Missouri

Earth City is an unincorporated commercial district in St. Louis County. Bordered by Bridgeton, Maryland Heights, and the Missouri River, Earth City is, for the most part, where people work. There are no houses – just industrial parks and office buildings. The closest thing Earth City had to an attraction was Rams Park, which hosted training camp for the NFL team during its time in St. Louis. The Rams returned to Los Angeles in 2016 and the former Rams Park is now the Lou Fusz Athletic Training Center.

With just a few restaurants and a whole lot of corporations, there isn’t a whole lot to do for fun in Earth City. The cities bordering Earth City do, though. Right at the border of Earth City and Bridgeton, you can find a park with places to get out and about.

Getting There

Riverwoods Park and Trail (Google Maps link) is located near the western end of St. Charles Rock Road. For many people, the easiest way to get there is to take I-70 to the Earth City Expressway (MO-141) exit, then head north until you reach St. Charles Rock Road. Make a left onto the Rock Road, and the park is just a short distance on your left.

Alternatively, you can take MO-370 to Earth City Expressway (MO-141), then head south until you reach St. Charles Rock Road, then make a right, with the park on your left.

Parking

There is a parking lot on the property that is free to use. It’s not a huge lot, but it doesn’t seem like a park that draws a lot of visitors, so it shouldn’t regularly be a problem.

Costs and Considerations

Riverwoods Park and Trail is maintained by the City of Bridgeton and is free to the public. It’s open from dawn to dusk.

There are restrooms next to the parking lot.

At one time there was a 3.15 mile loop trail that you could take around the park, which afforded some beautiful views of the Missouri River while also affording ample shade. In 2019, flooding damaged part of the trail, including a bridge, so part of the loop is now cut off. If you want to travel what loop remains, you’ll have to head in and then turn and retreat back out.

Things to Do

The park does have a handful of benches with umbrellas over them, both near the parking lot and also farther down near the river.

The primary attraction here, though, is the trails, which the park has in both paved and unpaved varieties. The paved part includes the Earth City Levee Trail, which runs both north and south of the park and is suitable for walking or biking. If you head a few miles north on the trail, you’ll hit the end of the trail just north of MO-370.

Heading south takes you just north of I-70 before curling west and then back north along the river. A reminder, here, that the loop is closed, so if you reach the end of the trail you’ll have to double back, a total distance of roughly 4 miles.

You can also take a pathway from the park that loops west and south before ending at the site of the now-demolished bridge. This short walk affords some nice views of the Missouri River, including Frontier Park and Historic Main Street St. Charles on the opposite side of the river.

Our Thoughts

I can’t say that there’s anything particularly special about Riverwoods Park and Trail. It’s a small park with basic facilities, and there isn’t much to do beyond bike or walk. Even then the park is limited by the fact its main loop is closed. There are plenty of other parks in the area that are better spots for walking, hiking, or biking.

Despite that, the park does have the virtue of being in an area that doesn’t have much the way of parks. If you work in Earth City, for example, this is probably the closest green space you can find. And it’s a decent green space. The river view is also nice.

If you are in Earth City – or you’re a local just looking for something different – this little park might be worth dropping by.