#57: Fort Belle Fontaine

I've been to North County many times...well, actually 'driven through' is more like it. But I never knew this place existed until 2014. For one, there are no signs off of I-270 that bring attention to it. It's a simple drive from the Bellefontaine Road exist, just going straight north and you'll eventually see signs. Once you're there, you meet with a guard and they'll give you a temporary parking pass. Then its time to enjoy the views! And the cake!

• The Fort Belle Fontaine park is located just 3 miles west of the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.
• It was the site of the first United States military installation west of the Mississippi River. Jefferson Barracks would eventually replace it.
• This was the location of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, where the explorers camped out in 1806 before their famous journeys to the Pacific.
• Other expeditions to the west started here up until 1819.
• The park shares an entrance with the Missouri Hills Campus of the Missouri Division of Youth Services.
• The park is 305.6 acres, and consists of four different parts: Coldwater Creek, Belle Fontaine Spring, the Missouri River and a 50-acre prairie.
• The park opened in 1986.

The Missouri River in the background

A stone commemorating its bi-centennial

Looking down from the top

Missouri Division of Youth Services building

The cake sides. I do not know what the '9' stands for on the cake:

Fort Belle Fontaine on FB
Official website from St. Louis County's Parks page

13300 Bellefontaine Road, ST. LOUIS, MO, 63138
Cake artist: Screwed Arts Collective