How many times have you heard, It’s a new year, a new you in 2019? Have you downloaded the latest apps from Apple or Google? Perhaps you are looking for a new route in Forest Park to include in your exercise regime. Read on. This blog post is for you. Let’s look at all the different ways Forest Park can help you meet your goals this year, both mentally and physically.

YOUR GOAL: TAKE MORE DIGITAL BREAKS

• Take a break from screens and take a hike in Forest Park. Find the sounds of nature, not your phone, in the middle of the 60-acre John F. Kennedy Memorial Forest. There are nearly 3.5 miles of paved and gravel trails in John F. Kennedy Memorial Forest alone.

YOUR GOAL: RUN A HALF MARATHON

• The 6-mile dual recreational path in Forest Park will help you with your training needs. Whether it be an easy run day or a hard run day, the recreational path will have you covered. Bonus, the World’s Fair Pavilion steps are a perfect way to cross-train.

YOUR GOAL: MEDITATE DAILY-ISH

• Forest Park has an abundance of secret spots to practice stillness and meditate. Listen to the ripple of the water at the Deer Lake Riffles, sit on a wooden bench on the Prairie Boardwalk while closing your eyes to the sounds of the frogs or head to Murphy Lake where there will be few distractions away from your practice.

YOUR GOAL: BIKE TO WORK OR BIKE TO THE PARK

• Thanks to our friends at the Great Rivers Greenway, visitors can enter the Park via a paved pedestrian trail via St. Vincent Greenway at DeBaliviere Avenue or the Centennial Greenway at Skinker and Forsyth. Plans for the Chouteau Greenway continue too, including potential connections to Forest Park. Stay tuned.

• Other bike-friendly path options include entering the bike lane on Oakland Avenue near the Saint Louis Science Center, then cycling underneath Highway 40. You can also bike into the Park via a pedestrian bridge over Highway 40 in the Grove near Choteau Avenue.

YOUR GOAL: LOWER YOUR HANDICAP

• There are two separate public golf courses in Forest Park. One, Norman K. Probstein Golf Course, is known as the “Best City Golf Course in Mid-America,” with three separate nine-hole courses. The other course, Highlands Golf and Tennis Center, features a driving and chipping range that will help you brush up your skills in no time.

YOUR GOAL: DISCOVER A NEW HOBBY

• Looking to discover a sport that is not so well-known? Learn archery, handball or racquetball right here in the Park.

YOUR GOAL: 10,000 STEPS A DAY

• There are over 30 miles of paths just in Forest Park. Thirty miles of paths is around 250,000 steps. Get your steps in and discover new areas of the Park, a total win!

We look forward to seeing you in Forest Park in 2019! If you are in the Park taking photos, don’t forget to tag your photos using #ForestParkForever. We would love to feature your #goals this year.