The Ghost Town of Times Beach and Missouri's Most Unusual State Park
Times Beach: The Town That Disappeared
Twenty miles southwest of St. Louis, where Interstate 44 follows the historic Route 66 corridor through the Meramec River Valley, Route 66 State Park occupies the former site of Times Beach, Missouri.
Once home to roughly 2,000 residents, Times Beach became the first community in American history evacuated primarily because of environmental contamination. The federal government purchased the town, demolished it, and eventually transformed the site into the 424-acre state park visitors explore today.
The streets are still there. You can walk them. The town itself is gone.
A Town Born from a Newspaper Promotion
Times Beach began as a marketing campaign.
In 1925, readers of the St. Louis Times could purchase a 20-by-100-foot lot along the wooded banks of the Meramec River for $67.50 and a six-month newspaper subscription. The newspaper envisioned a thriving resort community. Instead, the development evolved into a modest working-class town of about 2,000 residents.
The community never generated enough tax revenue to pave its 23 miles of roads. For decades, most of those streets remained dirt and gravel. What seemed like a minor inconvenience would ultimately contribute to the town's downfall.
The Dioxin Disaster
Like many communities with unpaved roads, Times Beach struggled with dust. To control it, from 1972 to 1976 local officials hired waste hauler Russell Bliss, who sprayed the roads with what was believed to be waste oil only the mixture contained dioxin, a by-product of Agent Orange production.
The first warning signs appeared elsewhere. At horse arenas treated with the same material, horses died in unusually high numbers, birds fell from the sky, and children who played in the contaminated soil became ill. It took years for investigators to connect the incidents.
By the time the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tested Times Beach in 1982, nearly a decade had passed. Some soil samples contained dioxin concentrations as high as 300 parts per billion, far above levels considered safe.
Then on December 23, 1982, the same day the EPA publicly announced its findings, the Meramec River experienced the worst flood in the town's history. Contaminated soil was spread throughout the community by floodwaters, and residents were advised not to return.
Just two months later, in February 1983, the federal government committed $33 million in Superfund money to buy every property in town. Homeowners accepted buyouts, businesses closed, and residents relocated.
Times Beach became the first community in American history evacuated primarily because of environmental contamination.
From Environmental Disaster to State Park
Cleanup efforts finally began between March 1996 and June 1997, a specialized incinerator built on the former town site destroyed approximately 265,000 tons of dioxin-contaminated soil collected from Times Beach and 27 other contaminated locations across eastern Missouri. The project cost an estimated $110 million to $200 million.
In 1999, the EPA transferred the property to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, which transformed the site into Route 66 State Park. The area was removed from the federal Superfund list in 2001, and follow-up testing conducted by the EPA in 2012 found no significant health risks for park visitors or employees.
What had once been one of the nation's most contaminated communities became a public park.
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Visiting Route 66 State Park Today
Where Is Route 66 State Park?
Website:https://mostateparks.com/park/route-66-state-park
Hours: Park grounds are open daily, year-round. The visitor center (Bridgehead Inn) and gift shop are generally open March through November. Verify current hours at https://mostateparks.com before visiting.
Admission: Free. There is no entry fee for the park grounds or museum.
How to Get There: The park sits roughly 20 miles southwest of downtown St. Louis along the historic Route 66/I-44 corridor. The visitor center is accessible from either direction via I-44 Exit 266. The park grounds are accessible only from eastbound I-44 via Exit 265 because the historic Route 66 bridge connecting the two sides of the park is closed.
Electric Car Charging: The park does not currently offer EV charging, but several convenient options are nearby. The Pilot Flying J in Pacific, Missouri, near I-44 Exit 256/257, provides DC fast charging along with clean restrooms and travel amenities. If you're looking for an IONNA station, head east to Walley's Convenience Stop, which makes an easy charging stop before or after your visit.
Best Time to Visit
Route 66 State Park is enjoyable year-round, but spring and fall offer the most atmospheric conditions.
Morning fog rising from the Meramec River can create dramatic scenes in spring, while autumn brings vibrant color to the surrounding hillsides. Summer is ideal for walking and cycling the paved trail system, and even winter has its appeal, with quiet landscapes and relatively few visitors.
Because the park is rarely crowded, it offers a peaceful experience regardless of the season.
Amp’d Advice: Sun and Bug Protection are Essential
Always carry the basics when heading out for an adventure.
Bring sunscreen and insect repellent. Missouri's ticks are persistent, and avoiding bites is much easier than dealing with the consequences later.
The former site of Times Beach, Missouri, where a faint roadway crosses open ground once occupied by homes and neighborhoods before the town was evacuated and demolished following the dioxin contamination crisis.
The Bridgehead Inn and Route 66 Museum
The park's visitor center is also its most important surviving historic structure.
Built in 1935 as a Route 66 roadhouse, the building operated under several names over the decades, including Bridgehead Inn, Steiny's Inn, and Galley West.
Inside, exhibits document the evolution of Route 66 in Missouri, showcasing the architecture, businesses, roadside attractions, and communities that once lined the highway. Among the collection is the original historic Route 66 highway marker from Springfield, Missouri.
A separate exhibit focuses on Times Beach itself, tracing the contamination, evacuation, cleanup, and eventual rebirth of the site. Rather than ending with the town's disappearance, the story highlights one of the most ambitious environmental restoration projects ever undertaken in the United States.
The gift shop, open seasonally from March through November, offers one of the better selections of Route 66 merchandise you'll find anywhere in Missouri.
Walking Through a Town That No Longer Exists
The former residential areas are now open green spaces crossed by paved trails that follow the original street grid. Although the houses, schools, and businesses are gone, the layout of the town remains surprisingly easy to recognize.
Walk the trails and you'll find yourself following streets that once led to neighborhoods, front yards, and local gathering places. Today, those roads pass through grasslands, scattered trees, and wildlife habitat. Deer are common, and the Meramec River edge of the property.
The experience feels different from visiting a traditional ghost town. There are no abandoned buildings, weathered storefronts, or dramatic ruins. Instead, the landscape tells the story through its absence. The streets remain, while everything else is gone.
One important caveat: the historic Route 66 bridge that once connected the visitor center to the main park grounds remains closed because of structural concerns, and the bridge deck is missing. Vehicles and pedestrians cannot cross it, as a result, visitors must use separate Interstate 44 exits to access the two sides of the park.
Tips for Visiting Route 66 State Park
Access the Bridgehead Inn visitor center via I-44 Exit 266. Access the main trail network via eastbound I-44 Exit 265. The closed bridge does not connect the two areas.
The visitor center and gift shop are typically open from March through November.
The park grounds, trails, and Route 66 museum are free to visit year-round. There are no parking fees.
The trail system is paved, level, and ADA-accessible, making it suitable for cyclists, families with strollers, and visitors with mobility considerations.
The trails follow the original street grid of Times Beach. While all buildings were removed during the cleanup, the layout of the former neighborhoods remains visible, creating a surreal ghost-town experience.
Birders should bring binoculars. More than 175 bird species have been recorded within the park and along the Meramec River corridor.
Leashed dogs are welcome throughout the park.
Route 66 fans should budget extra time for the gift shop, which offers a surprisingly extensive and thoughtfully curated selection of souvenirs and books.
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Birds Eye Review: Why Route 66 State Park Is Worth the Detour
The massive concrete piers and green steel trusses of the historic Route 66 bridge span the Meramec River at Route 66 State Park, a reminder of the roadway that once connected travelers and the residents of Times Beach.
Route 66 State Park isn't the flashiest stop along Missouri's stretch of Route 66, but it's arguably one of the most interesting.
Few places combine roadside history, environmental recovery, and the story of a vanished town quite like this.
The Bridgehead Inn preserves decades of Route 66 history.
The Meramec River still flows past streets that once led to homes and businesses.
And the trails follow a community that disappeared from the map but never completely faded from memory.
If you're the kind of traveler who enjoys unusual history and places with stories that linger long after you've left, Route 66 State Park deserves a spot on your Route 66 itinerary.
If you are interested in other Missouri locations, then explore why Missouri should be called the EV Adventure State.
Your assignment is to take grab your outdoor essentials and head to Missouri State Parks and explore the town that was.
👉 Charge up and head out on The Great American Electric Highway, you never know what you will find.
John’s life mission is to educate readers that EVs are simply cars powered by an alternative energy source.
His favorite way to experience it? Road-tripping along the Great American Electric Highway, where the miles turn into opportunities to visit family, reconnect with friends, and soak in the country’s scenic beauty.
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