Forest Park has several forgotten corners, seemingly cut off from the rest of the park; no man’s land caught between the urban and the pastoral, belonging neither to one or the other. In the north-east of the park, nestled into the intersection of Kingshighway and Lindell, cut off from the rest of the park by Forest Park Parkway and the Metrolink tracks and divided into 3 distinct parts by Grand Drive and West Pine Boulevard lies quite a substantial piece of land. All of this section is dotted with trees (the park claims to have over 90 varieties of trees in it) and the portion along Lindell also contains a pond with benches and attractive plantings.

The smallest of the sections, a triangle immediately next to Kingshighway and Lindell, has a monument and fountains commemorating the founding of the first Jewish settlement in North America (in New Amsterdam) in 1654.

The largest of the three pieces lies along Kingshighway just south of the memorial and slopes down westward from Kingshighway to the embankment next to the Metrolink tracks. It’s a great place to play frisbee, run with your favorite canine or stroll with your sweetheart.

There is another side, though, to any urban park. It seems to be frequented by the homeless. In my wanderings today, I came across several “nests” used by transient members of our species at various times. I found empty cans of St. Louis’ most famous beverage, camping equipment, and a bundle of winter clothes. Here are the photos, if you’d like to see for yourself.