Standing at the base of the Gateway Arch, looking up at 630 feet of shimmering stainless steel, most people have the same thought: How do you get to the top? It looks impossible. The legs are too thin for a standard elevator. The curve is too steep for a regular stairs-only approach unless you’re an elite athlete with a death wish. But inside the arch in St Louis lies one of the weirdest engineering feats in American history. It’s a cramped, rattling, slightly futuristic, and utterly unique journey that feels less like a monument visit and more like a trip in a 1960s sci-fi escape pod.
Honestly, it’s a bit of a trip.
You don’t just walk in. You descend. The entrance is underground, tucked away beneath the grassy knolls of the Gateway Arch National Park. Since the massive $380 million renovation completed a few years back, the visitor center is actually sleek. It’s bright. It’s modern. But once you commit to the tram, that modern feeling vanishes, replaced by the mechanical soul of 1965.
The Tram System is Basically a Giant Ferris Wheel Inside a Tube
Let’s get the big question out of the way. How does the lift work? It’s not an elevator. It’s not a train. Eero Saarinen, the architect, actually struggled with this. He wanted a way to get people to the top without ruining the exterior silhouette with windows or tracks. He eventually turned to Dick Bowser, a college dropout who worked for an elevator company. Bowser had two weeks to design a system.
He came up with a "tram" that functions like a hybrid between an elevator and a Ferris wheel.
When you step inside the arch in St Louis to begin your ascent, you’re ushered into a small, white, circular pod. There are eight of these pods in a chain. Each one seats five people. If you’re claustrophobic, this is your warning: it’s tight. You’re sitting knee-to-knee with strangers or family members in a space that feels like a laundry dryer.
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As the tram moves up the leg of the Arch, the pods rotate. If they didn't, you’d be sitting on the wall by the time you reached the curve. Instead, every few seconds, you hear a clack-clack-clack. That’s the pod adjusting its angle to stay level. It’s a mechanical symphony of 1960s engineering that either charms you or makes you grip the seat handle a little tighter. The ride takes about four minutes to go up and three minutes to come down.
Life at the Apex: The Observation Deck
Once the doors hiss open at the top, you aren't in a grand ballroom. You're in a narrow, carpeted tunnel. This is the observation deck. It’s only about 65 feet long and maybe 7 feet wide. At the very highest point of the Gateway Arch, the walls lean inward, following the shape of the catenary curve.
To see the view, you have to lean.
There are 16 windows on each side. They are tiny—only about 7 by 27 inches. Why? Because larger windows would have compromised the structural integrity of the steel skin and ruined the "seamless" look from the ground. You have to lie face-down on a carpeted ledge to peer out.
On a clear day, the view is staggering. To the East, you’re looking across the Mississippi River into Illinois, seeing the industrial heartbeat of the region. To the West, you’re staring straight down at the Old Courthouse, where the Dred Scott case was heard, and out toward the rolling sprawl of Missouri. You can see the Busch Stadium scoreboard; you can see the tiny cars moving like ants on I-70.
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Interestingly, the Arch is designed to sway. In a 20 mph wind, you might not feel it, but the structure is built to move up to 18 inches. It’s not breaking; it’s breathing. If you stay up there long enough on a gusty day, you might feel a very slight, rhythmic shift. It’s subtle, but it reminds you that you’re essentially suspended in a hollow rainbow made of 17,246 tons of steel and concrete.
The Parts Nobody Tells You About
People focus on the tram, but the museum tucked underneath the Arch is arguably just as impressive now. It’s no longer that dark, dusty basement from the 1980s. The Museum at the Gateway Arch covers about 200 years of history, focusing on the "Gateway to the West" concept, but with a much more nuanced lens than in previous decades.
It tackles the colonial impact on Indigenous populations and the reality of westward expansion. It's not just "pioneers were great." It’s "here is the complex, often violent, and transformative history of this patch of dirt."
The Secret Stairways
Yes, there are stairs inside the arch in St Louis. No, you can’t use them. There are 1,076 steps in each leg, but they are strictly for maintenance and emergencies. Every year, technicians have to climb through the "hollow" parts of the Arch to check sensors and structural bolts. Imagine that commute.
The Missing Windows
Ever wonder why the Arch doesn't have a "top" window looking straight up? It's because the apex is a solid structural connection. The windows are placed just below the very tip on the inward and outward faces. This means you get a panoramic view of the horizon, but you can’t look at the sky directly above you.
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How to Actually Do This Without Losing Your Mind
If you’re planning to go inside the arch in St Louis, don't just show up. You will be disappointed. This isn't a "walk-up" kind of attraction anymore.
- Book weeks in advance. During the summer or around holidays, tram tickets sell out fast. If you show up at noon on a Saturday in July, you’ll likely find the next available tram is on Tuesday.
- Security is like the airport. You’re entering a National Monument. There are metal detectors and X-ray machines. Don't bring pocketknives or anything you wouldn't take on a flight to O’Hare.
- The "Ledge" Etiquette. Because the windows are small, people tend to hog them. The National Park Service rangers are usually chill, but be mindful of the kids waiting behind you. A quick peek, a photo, and then move to the next pane.
- Check the weather. If it’s incredibly foggy, you’re paying $15-$20 to stand in a white cloud. The tram still runs, but the payoff disappears.
The Engineering Reality
The Arch is a weighted catenary curve. Basically, it's the shape a chain makes when it hangs between two points, but flipped upside down. It’s as wide as it is tall—630 feet by 630 feet. The "skin" is a double wall of stainless steel and carbon steel with concrete sandwiched in between for the first 300 feet. After that, it’s just steel all the way up.
When you are inside the arch in St Louis, you are literally standing in the gap between those steel walls. It’s an incredible feeling of being inside a shell.
Most people don't realize that the Arch was built without a central "skeleton." It’s a monocoque structure. The skin is the support. When the two legs were being built, they had to be perfectly aligned. On the day they placed the final triangular "keystone" piece at the top, the sun had heated one side of the Arch more than the other, causing it to expand and move out of alignment. They had to use fire hoses to cool down the steel so it would shrink enough for the final piece to slide in.
That’s the kind of precision you’re standing on when you’re at the top.
Actionable Next Steps for Your Visit
- Check the Official Calendar: Visit the Gateway Arch National Park website to see the "Estimated Sell-Out" times.
- Download the App: The NPS has a Gateway Arch app that includes an audio tour. Use it while you’re in the museum to get the context of the artifacts.
- Plan for Two Hours: Give yourself 30 minutes for security and check-in, 45 minutes for the tram and observation deck, and 45 minutes for the museum.
- Look for the "Secret" Marks: While in the museum, look for the original scale models. You can see how the tram pods were inspired by the curves of the Arch itself.
- Parking Strategy: Don't try to park "at" the Arch. Park at the Stadium East Garage or use the Laclede's Landing lots. It's a short walk, and you'll save yourself a massive headache.
Whether you're a history buff or just someone who wants to see what it's like to be inside a giant silver paperclip, going inside the arch in St Louis is a bucket-list item that actually lives up to the hype. Just remember: it’s small, it’s loud, and the windows are tiny, but there isn't another view like it on the planet.