Facility Overview

The St. Louis Children's Hospital Visitor Parking Garage is a modern, multi-level covered parking facility specifically dedicated to serving young patients, families, medical specialists, and campus visitors. Nestled within the bustling Central West End (CWE) medical district on the prestigious Washington University Medical Campus, this parking deck provides direct, weather-protected access into St. Louis Children’s Hospital. One of its standout architectural features is the fully enclosed, climate-controlled pedestrian skybridge on Level 2, which leads visitors straight to the hospital’s second-floor main lobby, welcoming info desk, and patient registration.

Engineered with families in mind, the garage features wider-than-average parking stalls tailored to make unloading strollers, loading wheelchairs, and maneuvering child safety seats as stress-free as possible. The facility comfortably accommodates standard passenger sedans, crossovers, family minivans, and full-size SUVs up to a standard clearance limit of 6 feet 8 inches (6'8"). Drivers of high-roof conversion vans, commercial delivery trucks, lifted off-road trucks, or recreational vehicles (RVs) will exceed vertical ceiling limits and should make prior arrangements with campus Public Safety for oversized or surface lot parking (such as the campus Taylor Avenue surface facilities).

Prime Location & Nearby Attractions

Situated directly at the intersection of Kingshighway Boulevard and Children's Place, this parking deck is positioned at the gateway between St. Louis’ premier healthcare cluster and the city's crown cultural jewels. Right across Kingshighway sits historic Forest Park, one of the nation's greatest urban parks. Top destinations within walking distance or a short drive include:

• Forest Park: Directly across Kingshighway Boulevard (2-minute walk), providing immediate access to scenic walking paths, water features, and expansive green lawns.
• Saint Louis Zoo & Saint Louis Art Museum: Located inside Forest Park, just a 5-minute drive or scenic campus shuttle/ride west.
• Washington University School of Medicine & Barnes-Jewish Hospital: Directly connected via interconnected medical campus corridors and covered concourses.
• Central West End Dining & Shopping District: Just 3 to 4 blocks north along Euclid Avenue (a 7-to-10-minute walk), offering award-winning restaurants, boutique bistros, coffee shops, and the World Chess Hall of Fame.
• Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis: Approximately 0.8 miles northeast along Lindell Boulevard, famous for having one of the western hemisphere’s largest mosaic collections.
• Cortex Innovation Community: Situated just 1 mile east along Forest Park Avenue, accessible in under 5 minutes.

Access, Navigation & Transit Connectivity

Ingress to the garage is exceptionally straightforward. When traveling along Kingshighway Boulevard, drivers turn east onto Children's Place (Entrance C) and immediately turn right into the garage approach ramps. Dedicated directional signage makes it easy to find both self-parking lanes and the designated patient drop-off/pick-up zone located on Level 2.

For regional highway access, the garage sits less than one-half mile north of Interstate 64 / US-40 (Kingshighway exit), allowing seamless connections across the St. Louis metropolitan area, from downtown to St. Louis County, as well as fast access to Interstate 44 and Interstate 70. Public transit riders are also remarkably well-served: the Central West End MetroLink Light Rail Station and the CWE MetroBus Transit Center are located just two blocks east (a 5-minute sheltered walk via the campus pedestrian link), providing direct rail routes to downtown sports venues (Busch Stadium and Enterprise Center), Forest Park, and St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL).

Facility Amenities & Key Features

• Direct Enclosed Skywalk: Level 2 bridge delivers visitors straight into the 2nd-floor hospital reception area without exposure to rain, snow, or summer heat.
• Level 2 Patient Drop-Off: Covered, dedicated drive-through zone on the second floor for easy loading and unloading of young patients, luggage, and medical gear.
• Extra-Wide Family Parking Bays: Generously sized spaces engineered to ease opening vehicle doors fully for strollers, wheelchairs, and car seats.
• Accessible ADA Parking: Designated accessible parking spaces located adjacent to elevator banks on all parking levels.
• 24/7 On-Site Security: Patrolled round-the-clock by Washington University Medical Campus Public Safety, complete with emergency call buttons, high-output lighting, and continuous CCTV coverage.
• Flexible Automated Payment: Modern pay stations that accept major credit cards, debit cards, cash, and validated hospital visitor tickets.
• Complimentary & Discounted Validation: Parking is validated free of charge for Emergency Room patients, as well as parents, legal guardians, and grandparents of hospitalized inpatients. Outpatient clinics also provide 50% discount vouchers.

Ideal For

• Hospital Patients & Families: Essential parking for outpatient appointments, pediatric surgical visits, urgent emergency care, and extended inpatient stays.
• Healthcare Visitors & Support Networks: Relatives, friends, and clergy visiting patients admitted to St. Louis Children’s Hospital or Barnes-Jewish Parkview Tower.
• Medical Campus Professionals & Academics: Visiting researchers, guest physicians, and lecturers attending events across the Washington University Medical Campus.
• Forest Park & Central West End Explorers: Visitors attending campus conferences who wish to step directly into Forest Park or dine along Euclid Avenue.

Visitor & Driver Tips

• Keep Your Entry Ticket With You: Do not leave your parking ticket inside your vehicle on the dashboard. Take it with you into the hospital to receive validation stamps or barcode discounts from clinic reception desks or public safety officers before paying.
• Inpatient Pass Card Savings: If staying with an admitted patient for several days, ask the guest services desk or gift shop about the discounted multi-exit parking pass card ($20 for 5 exits), which significantly lowers parking expenses.
• Peak Arrival Hours: Morning appointment times (between 8:30 AM and 11:30 AM) generate higher garage traffic; allow an extra 10–15 minutes to clear entrance gates and find preferred lower-deck stalls.
• Navigating Level 2 Skybridge: If traveling with small children or stroller equipment, aim to park on Level 2 for zero-elevator transit straight across the pedestrian bridge into the medical center.
• GPS Assistance: Set your navigation system precisely to 1 Children's Place, St. Louis, MO, and remain in the right lane of Kingshighway Boulevard northbound or prepare for the left-turn lane southbound to enter smoothly at Entrance C.