St Louis to Tulsa drive: Distance, time & best road trip stops
The distance from St Louis to Tulsa by car is 394 miles, with a 5h40m driving time. The road trip stops on the St Louis to Tulsa drive are Meramec State Park, Springfield MO and Joplin MO.
Planning a St Louis to Tulsa road trip itinerary
The St Louis to Tulsa drive takes you through Missouri and into Oklahoma.
St Louis is one of America’s great crossroads cities. The major landmark is the 630ft-tall Gateway Arch, which visitors can go to the top of. Other top attractions include the Cathedral Basilica of St Louis, the Missouri Botanical Garden and Busch Stadium.
Good St Louis experiences include highlight-packed trolley tours, true crime walking tours and small group tours that include going to the top of the St Louis Arch and a Mississippi River cruise.
For St Louis accommodation with personality, try the Last Hotel or the Pennywell.
Tulsa’s big ticket attraction is the Philbrook Museum of Art, but you’ll get more of a local cultural education at the Woody Guthrie Center.
Alternatively, the Tulsa Air and Space Museum has a decent planetarium and Gathering Place is a great park with play areas on the Arkansas River. The classic photo stop, though, is at the enormous Golden Driller Statue.
St Louis to Tulsa distance and driving time
By car, the distance from St Louis to Tulsa is 394 miles. That makes for a driving time of around five hours and 40 minutes. The quickest route is down the I-44.
The best stops to add to a St Louis to Tulsa road trip itinerary are Meramec State Park, Springfield MO and Joplin MO.
Best stops between St Louis & Tulsa: Meramec State Park
The highlight of Meramec State Park is Fisher Cave. Tours into the cave include narrow passages cut by the stream, massive chambers with 30ft calcite columns and bear claw marks preserved in the cave walls.
Not part of the state park, but next to it, are the Meramac Caverns. Again, you can take a tour of the caves, but there’s also plenty more on offer – including riverboat cruises, panning for gold and ziplining.
St Louis to Tulsa drive: Springfield MO
Springfield is the third biggest city in Missouri, and packs an impressive amount in. Top of most visitor’s lists is the Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium. The aquarium is the best section, but the rest is a quirky celebration of model animals. It flits from penguins in the Antarctic to elephants on the African savanna.
Other options include the Route 66 Car Museum, the Dickerson Park Zoo, the Mizumoto Japanese Garden and craft beer tours.
For something totally bizarre, head to the Pythian Castle, built in 1913 by an order of knights. You can visit on a history tour or a nighttime ghost tour.
- For more attractions, check out the guide to the St Louis to Springfield MO drive.
St Louis to Tulsa road trip attractions: Joplin MO
Joplin MO is a long-standing stop on Route 66. Culturally, the top attraction is the Joplin History and Mineral Museum. This has a fairly cool collection of minerals, but the local history section is more engaging, covering mining, Route 66 and notorious outlaws Bonnie and Clyde.
The main reason to stop in Joplin, however, is to admire Grand Falls – the biggest permanent waterfall in Missouri.
More St Louis road trips
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