Culture & History

Photos: St. Louis cools down from the summer heat with a splash at Citygarden

St. Louis Public Radio | By Lylee Gibbs

Published July 11, 2025 at 5:00 AM CDT

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Payton Mitchell, 9, right, is hit in the face with a water spout as she and her sister Sophia Noah, 10, left, run through the Citygarden Sculpture Park splash pad while holding hands on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in downtown St. Louis. — Payton Mitchell, 9, right, is hit in the face with a water spout as she and her sister, Sophia Noah, 10, left, run through the Citygarden Sculpture Park splash pad while holding hands on Wednesday in downtown St. Louis.

Temperatures well into the 90s this week brought St. Louisans out to splash pads and wade pools to seek a reprieve from the heat.

At Citygarden Sculpture Park, Sophia Noah, 10, and Payton Mitchell, 9, held hands tightly as they raced across dozens of water spouts.

The downtown St. Louis splash pad attracted several first-time visitors, including 3-year-old Kayden Mason and his family. He ran full speed through the water shooting from the ground, goggles barely hanging on his head.

The region offers more than 60 splash pads, spray poles, wade pools and other ways for families to cool off from the summer sun — many of them free of charge.

See photos of families keeping cool by St. Louis Public Radio's Lylee Gibbs.

Mazie Mitchell, 5, runs through water spouts at the Citygarden Sculpture Park splash pad on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in downtown St. Louis. Mitchell and her siblings, of St. Louis, visited the splash pad for the first time with their mother to escape the summer heat. — Mazie Mitchell, 5, runs through water spouts at the Citygarden Sculpture Park splash pad on Wednesday. Mitchell and her siblings visited the splash pad for the first time with their mother to escape the summer heat.

Kayden Mason, 3, of downtown St. Louis runs between the water at the Citygarden Sculpture Park splash pad on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in downtown St. Louis. — Kayden Mason, 3, of downtown St. Louis, runs through the water at Citygarden Sculpture Park splash pad on Wednesday in downtown St. Louis.

Sophia Noah, 10, holds her hands out and smiles as water rains down around her from splash pad spouts while she and her siblings play together at the Citygarden Sculpture Park splash pad on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in downtown St. Louis. — Sophia Noah, 10, holds her hands out and smiles as water rains down around her from splash pad spouts while she and her siblings play together at the Citygarden Sculpture Park's splash pad.

Mazie Mitchell, 5, is hit in the forehead by a water spout while sitting on the ground at the Citygarden Sculpture Park splash pad on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in downtown St. Louis. — Mazie Mitchell, 5, is hit in the forehead by a water spout while sitting on the ground at the Citygarden Sculpture Park splash pad on Wednesday in downtown St. Louis.

Sophia Noah lays on the ground while her sisters Payton Mitchell and Mazie Mitchell, left to right, sit next to her while water splashes around them at the Citygarden Sculpture Park splash pad on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in downtown St. Louis. — From left: Sophia Noah lies on the ground while her sisters Payton Mitchell and Mazie Mitchell sit next to her as water splashes around them at the Citygarden Sculpture Park splash pad on Wednesday.