Route 66 State Park is a public recreation area located on the Meramec River at the site of the former town of Times Beach, Missouri. The state park encompasses 424 acres (172 ha) one mile (1.6 km) east of Eureka. The park offers hiking, cycling, and equestrian trails, picnicking areas, and a boat ramp.
The Meramec River (/ˈmɛrɪmæk/), sometimes spelled Maramec River (the original US mapping spelled it Maramec but later changed it to Meramec), is one of the longest free-flowing waterways in the U.S. state of Missouri, draining 3,980 square miles (10,300 km) while wandering 218 miles (351 km) from headwaters southeast of Salem to where it empties into the Mississippi River near St. Louis at Arnold and Oakville. The Meramec watershed coverssix Missouri Ozark Highland counties—Dent, Phelps, Crawford, Franklin, Jefferson, and St. Louis—and portions of eight others—Maries, Gasconade, Iron, Washington, Reynolds, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve, and Texas. Between its source and its mouth, it falls 1,025 feet (312 m). Year-round navigability begins above Maramec Spring, just south of St. James. The Meramec's size increases at the confluence of the Dry Fork, and its navigability continues until the river enters the Mississippi at Arnold, Missouri.