The adjacent Clayton, University City, and Parkview neighborhoods are wonderful for running. Located in the western part of St. Louis near Forest Park and the Washington University of St. Louis, these are older, historic neighborhoods featuring grand homes along quiet, tree-lined streets. These neighborhoods were built in the 1880s-1930s, and many of the historic homes have been lovingly restored. We suggest creating your own route here, but here are a few suggestions of some of the nicest sections for running. Note: Some of the streets have iron gates, which are mainly meant to keep out cars — generally, pedestrian access is permitted.

Clayton: From Forest Park, the 2-mile Wydown Blvd. is a good anchor. It’s a wide street, but there’s a good sidewalk and grand homes. Run on some of the side streets south of Wydown.

Off Delmar Blvd.  Delmar Blvd. is one of the main commercial streets in western St. Louis. It’s fun to run along Delmar, with its fun stores, bars, and restaurants. There are lovely residential streets for running in the Parkview neighborhood just south of Delmar (Westmoreland Place & Portland Place Historic District, Kingsbury Blvd.). Just north of Delmar are also some lovely streets in the University City neighborhood, where there’s also a running track at University City High School.