Traveling from Cincinnati to Kansas City, our family has found the best rest stops to let little ones and dogs stretch their legs and we thought we’d share!

When driving this leg, you travel through five states in a span of 9 hours: Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio… But mostly MO, IL, and IN!

Inevitably everyone will need a break to stretch and reset if traveling with littles.

Illinois

Effingham, IL

Effingham has more than one great park! You can’t go wrong with either; however, one is closer to the highway than the other. The close one is the playground we choose most often with a preschooler as it’s huge, accessible, and quite whimsical!

But! The farther one (about 10 extra minutes) is close to a Dairy Queen and has a skate park.

Casey, IL

Casey with the world’s largest mix of structural elements.

Indiana

Cumberland, IN

Cumberland at mile marker 148, headed west there’s a perfect playground.

Missouri

Brentwood, MO

Located at 2924 Brazeau Ave, Brentwood, MO 63144 [link to Maps], just south of St. Louis.

Newly opened in April 2024! Consists of a creek, playground, ginormous climbing structures and tree houses, rock wall, pavilion with seating, pond with fountain, swings, slides and zip lines!

Irv Zeid Citizen’s Park

[Link to Maps] Located just west of St. Louis in Olivette, MO.

A fully shaded natural playscape.

Indian Camp Creek Park, Foristell, MO

Near Wentzville (10 min drive from I-70), just off Route 61, [link to Maps]:

2679 Dietrich Rd
Foristell, MO 63348

We drove here one hit and sunny day as a much needed side route to avoid some St. Louis traffic! The creek was a much needed reprieve from the hot day.

Enter the park and the first stop is a tiny playground with a trail leading to a creek that’s only 1-2 feet deep. Perfect for littlest to swim. You’ll know you’re in the right spot if you see groups of people in swimming suits. It also has sandy banks for digging.

The second stop in the park is a gigantic playground nestled next to a large open pond. A great stop to play and walk your pup.

Note: We did not have cell service while stopped here.

Other Playgrounds Near St. Louis

• Missouri Botanical Garden
• Faust Park – With a fairy garden at the trailhead of the Governor Bates trailhead, 38.67009 N, 90.53956 W
• O’Day Park [link to Maps] in O’Fallon, MO, 30 min west of St. Louis
• Malcolm Terrace Park
• Dr. H Philip Venable Park
• Shaw Nature Preserve
• Creve Coeur Lake Park
• Drace Park
• Stieren Inspirational Site
• Magic House Children’s Museum [link to Maps]

Kingdom City, MO

Kingdom City at mile marker 148 is Ozarkland with the tagline, “worth stopping for.” At this stop there’s gas, a tiny dog park, and a whole building of souvenirs. At Ozarkland you can’t go wrong with candy, fudge, and gadgets for your little ones when you need a pick-me-up.

Check back often as this is an ever evolving list!