11 Fenton Parks to Frolic Around In This Spring

Fenton calls itself the “city of parks” and they do have quite a few. There are eight city parks in town, with a total of 286 acres, plus the large recreation center on Horan Drive. There’s also a decent trail system that interlinks Fenton City Park to Fabick Nature Preserve to Bud Weil to Westside Park, meaning you can walk from one end of Fenton to the other, all while shaded by trees.

Two and a half county parks—Unger, George Winter and the south part of Buder—are also in or around Fenton, which brings total park acreage up to about 560. Then if you want to count nearby parks like Lower Buder, Minnie Ha Ha, Lone Elk and Castlewood…well, there’s a lot of parkland to explore around here. You had better start now.

Have a ball around . The best known of the city’s park system, Fenton City Park has it all. There are seven softball and eight soccer fields, six more practice fields, two playgrounds plus 1.4 miles of paved trail for joggers and dog walkers. It’s also the home of Fenton’s memorial to 911 heroes.

Cavort with the turtles at Bud Weil Memorial Park. This is a smaller park tucked behind city hall with a pond, short trail and stone pavilion that honors the memory of Gregory Domijan, a Croatian stonemason who first owned the land. Say hello to the turtles who make their home in the middle of the pond when you go. There’s no playground here, but kids will have fun feeding the fish from the little dock. Fabick Nature Preserve backs up to this park and is connected by hiking trails.

Hook some fun at Fabick Nature Preserve. This hidden gem was donated by the Fabick family (those guys with all the bulldozers and backhoes) and is actually the largest of Fenton’s parks. It’s basically undeveloped, but it has two fishing ponds stocked by the Missouri Conservation Department. There’s also the ruin of the old Fabick mansion to explore—it was knocked down a few years back but the patio and some interesting stone work remains. Be careful—the road to Preslar Lake is rough gravel and only one lane. Hikers can park at the Fenton Library and take the Fabick’s old driveway (marked with the lion head pillars) up to the park.

Peddle along merrily at . Not so much a park as a bike trail, this 25-acre strip of land near the river has a boardwalk pavilion and two sand volleyball courts. A five-mile bike trail runs through it.

Daydream at Old Towne Plaza. This tiny park (not quite five acres) is in Old Towne, with a bench and brick walking path. It will one day be a trailhead for the Meramec Greenway and is next to the proposed Farmer’s Market.

Dribble at Riverside Park. Another of Fenton’s residential pocket parks, Riverside’s only attraction is a rough looking basketball court. It’s across the street from Fenton City Park and on the Meramec Trail, so it makes a decent parking spot for bike riders.

Clamber at Valiant Park. This 2.5-acre pocket park has a simple playground for little ones, a picnic shelter and a softball field.

Trek through Westside Park. A true neighborhood park, Westside is hidden behind Woodridge Trails subdivision. The park has a lot packed into its 10 acres: a small playground, picnic shelter, basketball court and fishing pond stocked by the Missouri Conservation Department. There’s a paved one-mile loop around the park and a hilly .7-mile trail that connects it to Riverchase.   

Cast a line at . Unger is an out of the way St. Louis County Park just outside across the city line, near the Meramec River and St. Louis Soccer Park. The park has 140 acres and is dominated by a large fishing lake. There’ not much here, but there’s a large picnic shelter and a mile of the Meramec Greenway Trail runs through it.

Float around George Winter Park. George Winter Park is located on the Meramec River roughly east of Gravois Bluffs, as the crow flies. The park has 160 acres with some hiking trails, but the main attraction here is the boat ramp. A lake of sorts was formed in the Meramec River by the dredging operations of the Winter Brothers Material Company (hence the name). It’s a popular spot for jet skis, fishing and redneck fun. The county collects a $3 ramp fee on Saturdays from May to September.

See a quarter of a park at Buder. Buder South was lopped off the rest of Buder Park the construction of Hwy 44. There’s an older playground here, a picnic shelter and a fenced tennis court without a net that’s great for learning to roller skate or having an RC monster truck rally.