---
title: "How many steps up Gateway Arch? 1,076"
description: "1,076 steps up Gateway Arch in St Louis, United States. Not climbable by the public. What that count reaches, the height climbed, and how it compares."
url: https://atoneplace.net/how-many-steps/gateway-arch/
site: "At One Place"
---

# How many steps to the top of Gateway Arch?

**Steps to the top of Gateway Arch: 1,076**

Reaching the observation area at the top of the arch, via the emergency stairs — no public access · not climbable by the public

The Arch is climbed by nobody: visitors ride a purpose-built tram of eight five-seat capsules that rotate as they travel up the curve, because a conventional lift cannot follow a catenary. The 1,076 steps in each leg are an emergency egress route. The National Park Service uses them for maintenance and occasionally for evacuations when the tram fails. Eero Saarinen's design is 192 m tall and exactly as wide at the base.

## The numbers

- **Steps:** 1,076
- **Reaches:** the observation area at the top of the arch, via the emergency stairs — no public access
- **Public access:** Not climbable by the public
- **Where:** St Louis, United States
- **Height climbed:** 192 m — 630 ft
- **Average rise per step:** 178 mm

> This count describes a stairwell the public cannot use. Published step figures for famous structures very often refer to service or emergency stairs — worth knowing before planning a visit around one.

> Published counts for the same structure routinely disagree by five to ten per cent, and nearly always for one of three reasons: whether intermediate landings count as steps, whether the final platform step counts, and where the climb is deemed to start. The figure here says what it reaches.

## How it compares

*Only the ones marked open to climb can actually be walked.*

- Q1 Tower (SkyPoint Climb): 1,331 steps
- Tiger Cave Temple (Wat Tham Suea): 1,237 steps
- Sky Tower: 1,103 steps
- Gateway Arch: 1,076 steps
- Berliner Fernsehturm: 986 steps
- Washington Monument: 897 steps
- Space Needle: 848 steps

*Gateway Arch ranks 16 of 56 here by step count.*

| Structure | Steps | Reaches | Access |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Q1 Tower (SkyPoint Climb) | 1,331 | the SkyPoint observation deck at 230 m | Open to climb |
| Tiger Cave Temple (Wat Tham Suea) | 1,237 | the summit shrine and golden Buddha on the limestone peak | Open to climb |
| Sky Tower | 1,103 | the Sky Deck at 220 m | Restricted — events or permit only |
| Gateway Arch | 1,076 | the observation area at the top of the arch, via the emergency stairs — no public access | Not climbable by the public |
| Berliner Fernsehturm | 986 | the sphere at 203 m, via the emergency staircase — no public access | Not climbable by the public |
| Washington Monument | 897 | the observation level at 152 m — stairs closed to the public | Not climbable by the public |
| Space Needle | 848 | the observation deck at 158 m | Restricted — events or permit only |

## Common questions

### How many steps to the top of Gateway Arch?

1,076, reaching the observation area at the top of the arch, via the emergency stairs — no public access.

### Can the public climb Gateway Arch?

Not climbable by the public.

### How high is that climb?

192 m, about 630 ft, which averages 178 mm per step.

## Related pages

- [Monuments](https://atoneplace.net/how-many-steps/monument/)
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- [How many steps up Statue of Liberty (crown)?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many-steps/statue-of-liberty-crown/)
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## Sources

- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place (/about/)