West Tyson Park - Chubb Trail
Meramec River on the Chubb Trail - West Tyson Park
On Sunday morning December 10, 2023 I hiked the Chubb Trail at West Tyson Park near Eureka, Missouri. This was my first hike at the park and I was by myself for this hike. The day was overcast with a temperature in the high 30’s at the start of the hike and low 40’s by mid hike.
West Tyson Park has a unique history for a St. Louis County Park. The park was originally a part of the Federal Government’s Tyson Valley Powder Plant. The initial 240 acres of land in West Tyson was conveyed to St. Louis County in 1955. In 1979 St. Louis County purchased an additional 410 acres dubbed the Mincke Tract with a government grant. This tract of land is just north of the original park. The whole park itself includes rugged wooded upland, which typify Ozark beauty: steep bluffs, flood plains and a portion of the a river or creek (in this case the Meramec River). In 1985, the Chubb Trail was developed and opened. The trail was developed by the St. Louis County Department of Parks and Recreation along with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources through cooperative efforts.
The trail is open to hikers, equestrians and mountain bikes. On my hike I saw many trail runners and groups of mountain bikers. My route took me from the trail head near the park entrance off of Interstate 44 all the way to the Meramec River. The route was out and back, turning near the trail intersection with Castlewood State Park and heading back to my starting trail head. There were significant elevation gains on the hike as you traverse between ridge lines and hike out of the bottomlands. Total distance was 9.5 miles. Because of the ridge lines with multiple accents and descents of the bluffs my Apple watch indicated my elevation gain was 1,116 feet in total.
During the hike I was able to capture some excellent pictures of the Meramec River and the bottomlands of the park. This was the first Missouri hike where I encountered multiple groups of mountain bikers. There were group ranging from 3 to 7 people riding on the trail throughout my hike. They were not the only people on the trail, as there were a large number of trail runners and some hikers. The Chubb Trail was a busy trail this Sunday morning. It was good to see so many people enjoying all this trail had to offer.
The Chubb trail was a combination of a dirt and rock based pathway. It was not always easy to hike as the leaves covered the rocks making the journey challenging at times.. All in all this was a great hike and a nice park with minimal travel distance if you live in the St Louis area. Definitely recommend it for hiking.
