Ladue scheduled its 2026 leaf collection to start October 19. For about three decades, the leaves the city collected went to a 14-acre parcel at 9810 S. 40 Drive. That site is now Deer Creek Preserve, a half-mile trail along the creek, and Ladue is still building it. Grants, a sewer easement payment, garden club funding, a herd of goats and Saturday volunteers have each added a piece. The next piece starts Saturday, November 7, when volunteers pull invasive honeysuckle at the preserve, the same plant the city wants cleared before its Phase II plantings go in.
What the Trail Offers on an October Walk
The City of Ladue's parks page says more than 11 of the parcel's 14 acres are set aside for passive use. That means walking, running and biking on a shared-use path, plus restoring the natural grounds. The city lists it as one of only two parks it owns and maintains. The other is Rodes Park, where Ladue Road meets Warson Road.
Phase I includes:
- A primary shared-use path half a mile long and 10 feet wide, plus a pedestrian bridge
- A small trailhead lot, drawn with eight spaces on the Phase I plan
- Benches, an informational kiosk, a recognition bench, a flagpole and perennial beds
- A native pollinator garden designed and planted by the Ladue Garden Club
- 69 trees in the first planting, with 43 more in the planting plan
- A Little Free Library, donated by a Washington University student
The butterfly garden draws visitors well beyond the trail. Ladue's Beautification, Open Space and Tree Advisory Committee, known as BOSTA, made it one of two city-owned stops on the June 6 Native Garden Tour this year. The city also runs a photo gallery of wildlife seen at the preserve, starting with a yellow warbler.
From Edie's Mulch Site to a Public Trail
The trees along that path are young because the land had other jobs for most of its history.
- 1988. Ladue buys the property from Ameren and turns it into the mulch processing site for its leaf and brush program. The site is named for Edie Spink, Ladue's mayor from 1975 to 1995.
- 2017. The city ends the leaf-mulch program after a study. Costs were rising, and only 11% of residents were taking part. The city's page says it kept using the site to store yard waste before hauling it off for processing elsewhere.
- 2019. A Municipal Park Grant Commission planning grant pays for a master plan. SWT Design leads the work with BOSTA members and city staff, and holds public meetings along the way. The City Council approves the plan in September.
- 2021 to 2023. MSD's Deer Creek Sanitary Sewer replacement project runs through the site and strips out many of its trees and plants.
- August 2023 to spring 2024. Ideal Landscaping builds Phase I to SWT's design.
- April 27, 2024. The city cuts the ribbon at its Arbor Day celebration, with Great Rivers Greenway and BOSTA taking part.
The sewer work cleared much of the site, and it also paid to restore it.
Who Has Paid for Each Piece
Each part of the preserve traces back to a different source of money or labor. That pattern explains how the place has grown so far.
Source | Contribution | What it went toward |
|---|---|---|
MSD easement payment | $309,000 | Restoring the site after the sewer project |
Municipal Park Grant, through the Municipal League | $370,000 | Phase I construction |
Garden Club of St. Louis Green Grant | $5,000 | Phase I kiosk, recognition bench and three trees |
Ladue Garden Club | Design and planting | Native pollinator garden |
Living Legacy program, Garden Club of St. Louis, Ladue Garden Club | Tree funding | Phase I trees |
Goats on the Go | 60 goats in 2025 | Clearing honeysuckle |
The goats are the part people remember. For the 2025 Arbor Day celebration, the city brought in 60 goats from Goats on the Go to eat honeysuckle. For the next two weeks, residents came to the site to watch them work. The goats came back for Arbor Day on May 2, 2026, the second year in a row, and the event also gave away saplings.
Smaller projects keep adding to the site. Early this year, an Eagle Scout was building birdhouses for the preserve as a service project. The city's Living Legacy program accepts tree donations in recognition or memory of a person, group or pet, and that is how the 43 remaining trees in the planting plan can get planted.
Why November 7 Matters for Phase II
BOSTA has scheduled the 2026 Honeysuckle Hack at the preserve for Saturday, November 7, from 8 to 10 a.m. The event flyer in the committee's October 1 packet says volunteers will learn how to remove honeysuckle properly and what to plant in its place.
- Where: Deer Creek Preserve, 9810 S. Forty Drive
- RSVP: [email protected]
- Bring: A refillable water bottle and a pruning tool
The hack has become a yearly event, held on November 9, 2024, and November 8, 2025. This year it lines up with the next phase. The city's October 1 Public Works update lists the Phase II work as a paved loop at the west end of the trail, plantings in the area the goats cleared, natural seating looking out over Deer Creek, and a boardwalk trail. The Winter/Spring 2026 city newsletter describes the seating as boulders. Phase II plans to replant ground that has been cleared of honeysuckle, and the volunteer morning goes after the same invasive plant.
The construction money hasn't been approved yet. The City Council authorized a Municipal Park Grant application in August, and the city submitted it before the August 30 deadline. As of the October 1 update, the Municipal League is still reviewing it, and the city is aiming for completion by mid-2028. The newsletter said construction would likely happen in fall 2027 or spring 2028 if the grant comes through. The garden clubs are helping again. The city's packet includes a $5,000 Garden Club of St. Louis Green Grant application for Phase II planting beds and fencing.
Where the Path Goes After That
The preserve is also part of a larger trail plan. Ladue has federal Transportation Alternatives Program funding to extend the South 40 Drive shared-use path. The extension would connect the preserve east to the Trails End subdivision and west to the Clayton Road intersection, with new pedestrian signals at South 40 and Clayton. The city plans to send final plans to MoDOT in November 2026, aiming for construction in 2027. Once it's built, people could walk from the Clayton Road shops to the creek.
The longer-range idea belongs to Great Rivers Greenway. It is studying an extension of the Deer Creek Greenway from Lorraine Davis Park in Webster Groves and Brentwood Park, through Rock Hill, to Tilles Park in Ladue, and eventually to the Deer Creek Preserve Trail and Ladue Horton Watkins High School. The project is still at the alignment-study stage, which means picking possible routes before any design work begins. A Great Rivers Greenway presentation in BOSTA's October 1 packet summed up early public input. People leaned toward scenic, off-road routes and raised concerns about erosion and upkeep along the creek.
Until the boardwalk, the western loop and the connecting paths are built, the preserve is a half-mile trail, a bridge and a butterfly garden on what used to be Edie's Mulch Site. The November 7 cleanup is the next step for anyone who wants to help with what gets built after that.
Places like Deer Creek Preserve are a big part of why I love helping people find their home in Ladue, and I'm always glad to talk about the neighborhoods around it, the Clayton Road corridor or whatever is coming next. If you're thinking about a move in or around Ladue, Alison Sheehan would be glad to hear from you. Let's Connect.
