A review of Grant's Trail by Big River's own Matt Helbig.

Grant’s Trail

Address:  600 S. Holmes Ave, Kirkwood, MO 63122 (North End)

Address:  4324 Hoffmeister Ave, St. Louis, MO 63125 (South End) 

Maintained by: Cities of Kirkwood, Crestwood, Grant’s Village & Affton

Trail Map: http://bikegrantstrail.com/

Reviewer: Matt Helbig

Day Reviewed:  Sunday, June 3rd, 2012 – 8:30am

Trail Photos: HERE

In an effort to get both you and I out the door, we are going to try and review a new trail each month and give a first-hand account of our experiences on the run. After last month’s ankle sprain, we chose something a little more tame and decided on something paved J This month’s featured trail is Grant’s Trail, one of the most well-known trails in St. Louis County. Grant’s Trail (formerly the Carondelet Greenway Trail) opened as a rail-trail in 1994. This 8-mile long trail, once part of the Missouri Pacific railroad line, enjoys very heavy use from runners, walkers, bicyclists, and rollerbladers. On the Sunday we visited we had some beautiful weather (low 70’s) and the trail was bustling with folks getting in their daily mileage. Kyle (Big River’s Marketing Guru) and I met at the Kirkwood trailhead at Leffingwell Avenue and this time we had a guest. With Katie (my wife) out of town, I had my sidekick Connor (my 6-month-old son) along for the run in his new baby jogger. Luckily my ankle had healed after last month’s adventure at the Lewis and Clark Trail, albeit after a 2.5 week layoff, and training had resumed at the rate I was at before the injury.

I’m still getting used to pushing this baby jogger, so the smooth asphalt at Grant’s Trail was a great place to get some practice.  Connor enjoys hitting the road with us and usually takes a nap or two during our runs, today he was fired up and was enjoying seeing all of the traffic on the trail that morning. We ran south on the trail with the goal of heading out (and back) about 4 miles for a total distance of 8 miles. The trail is broken into sections that are about ½ - 1 mile long between street crossings and each section seems to have a point of interest or two to give you something to check out. As we headed south we passed Sappington House at Sappington Road. Sappington house, built in 1808, is the oldest standing brick home in St. Louis County and is now owned and operated by the City of Crestwood. With a museum and café on site, Sappington House is on my list of St. Louis destinations to check out.

After a brief pause at the light we carried on. The grade of the trail is pretty mild, but it definitely drops elevation as you head south from the Kirkwood terminus. Be sure to keep that in mind as you plan your workout on the trail. As you run through the Crestwood section of the trail they’ve marked every 1/10^th of a mile to help you gage your distance. Other than those marks the trail has posts on the east side of the trail (see pic) that denote every quarter mile, a nice feature if you choose to leave the Garmin at home, or in my case, forget to charge it.

At 8:30 in the morning the trail was partly shaded, but as the sun rose our shade slowly began to disappear. For summer training, I’d highly suggest hitting the trail early in the morning when the trail is shaded and cooler as opposed to running later when the trail is hot after it becomes exposed to the sun. As we neared the south end of the Crestwood section we crossed Pardee Road, which starts a spur trail that heads over to Whitecliff Park. As we entered Grantwood Village, to our right, we were greeted by the world famous Anheuser Busch Clydesdales. Connor shrieked with delight seeing his first “horsey.”  The Clydesdale pastures are a part of Grant’s Farm, a popular family attraction owned and operated by the Busch family. On this particular morning the parking lot was beginning to fill with families and visitors as the park was preparing to open. I haven’t been to Grant’s Farm in years, but have a feeling it will be an annual trip once Connor is a little older.

In 1997, the trail was renamed Grant's Trail after President Ulysses S. Grant, who established the country's first National Park. The Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site, part of the National Park Service, is located opposite Grant’s Farm and is another historical gem along the trail. We breezed by as we continued south to our turn around south. We crossed Gravois Road and ran south a bit longer till hitting our turn around mark. Had we continued on, the trail begins to level out as it winds its way around to the southern terminus at Orlando Gardens and Grant’s Lodge B &B. The southern miles of the trail are much more shaded than the miles to the north. Starting and finishing there would be a bonus during the dog days of summer.

As we made our way back to our starting point, the baby jogger seemed to push back a little more than on our trip south. The majority of the way back was at an uphill grade and Connor was probably wondering why we slowed down to our snail’s pace. Good test for Dad, right? We were feeling pretty good as we neared the end of our run. We had packed a couple water bottles in the jogger and they were a big help as things began to heat up. The trail does have a couple different points along the way with services such as restrooms, water fountains, parking, etc. Click HERE for that valuable information.

Overall a great run on Grant’s Trail. It’s not the most exciting trail if you’re looking for a single-track, technical challenge, however we love this trail for providing a safe haven from the streets and roads around St. Louis County. It brings you up close and personal with some of the best parts of South County while providing you with good services and mile markers to help you get in a great workout.

Thanks for reading!

Matt, Kyle and Connor

**For full photo album click here. To see a map of all of the other St. Louis trails, click here.