Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial State Park ended up being the perfect home base for our Route 66 stretch near St. Louis. It’s just a little outside the city, but close enough to make it easy to explore some of the smaller Route 66 towns like Pacific and Eureka, while still feeling tucked away in the woods. We also found ourselves running into Chesterfield more than once, it’s a good-sized town nearby with pretty much anything you might need (groceries, errands, all of that real-life stuff that still has to happen on the road).
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- Our Review of Babler State Park Campground (Off-Season)
The park itself has a lot more going for it than just location. It started as an 88-acre donation in 1934 from Edmund Babler’s brother and has since grown to over 800 acres. Like a lot of Missouri state parks, it was shaped by the Civilian Conservation Corps, and you can still see that influence everywhere. Two CCC companies, around 200 men each, built out much of the park’s infrastructure, from roads and trails to bridges and shelters, and today 22 of those structures are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Add in an old-growth forest with 100-year-old oak trees, and it just has that classic, quiet Missouri feel that makes you want to slow down a bit.
Babler State Park Basics
Address: 800 Guy Park Dr, Wildwood, MO 63005
Website: https://mostateparks.com/park/dr-edmund-babler-memorial-state-park…