Discover the joys of Illinois on a themed road trip
Illinois was made for road tripping. Its cities, towns and natural areas are packed with fun things to see and do. From metropolitan Chicago to Downstate backwaters, special memories await groups looking for adventure around the next bend.
These are just a few itinerary ideas to get your motor running:
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Native American Heritage in Illinois
The story of Illinois begins long before European settlement. Covering 740 miles in four days, this road trip from the state’s northwest corner to its southern extremities spotlights ancient mounds, rock carvings and artifacts left behind by Native peoples.
The journey begins at Casper Bluff Land and Water Reserve near Galena, where walking trails provide panoramic views of the remains of Native American mounds perched above the Mississippi River. Traveling south, you’ll head to Albany Mounds State Historic Site and see burial and ceremonial mounds dating back more than 2,000 years. Next are Dickson Mounds Museum in Lewistown and Peoria Riverfront Museum, both of which display tools, pottery and other artifacts of Illinois’ first peoples. Focus on prehistoric life in the Illinois River Valley at the Center for American Archaeology Museum in Kampsville.
In Alton, the Piasa Bird Mural on the limestone bluffs along the Mississippi is a modern reimagining of an ancient image that once adorned the cliffs, a striking example of Native storytelling traditions. At the Lewis & Clark State Historic Site in Hartford, learn about the Native American guides and interpreters who were essential to the success of the epic expedition into America’s western wilderness.
Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in Collinsville preserves the plazas and mounds of what was once the largest settlement in what is now the United States. A hike up the 100-foot-high Monks Mound, the largest earthen structure in the Americas, rewards visitors with a view of the St. Louis skyline. Cahokia Mounds’ museum is currently closed for renovations.
The final day in Southern Illinois takes you to Piney Creek Ravine State Natural Area near Chester, where sandstone bluffs hold petroglyphs carved centuries ago by Native peoples. Next stop, near the Ohio River, is Kincaid Mounds State Historic Site, once a major center of the Mississippi an culture. Finally, visit Shawnee National Forest’s Hamburg Hill, part of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. Walk a preserved section with deep ruts forged by wagon wheels and countless footsteps on the path taken by thousands of Cherokee people during their forced relocation in the 1830s.
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Road to the White House
Follow in the footsteps of the four U.S. presidents who hailed from Illinois. Presidential history comes alive at homes, museums and other landmarks associated with our 16th, 18th, 40th and 44th commanders in chief. The route covers about 450 miles and can be done in three to five days.
In the Land of Lincoln, it’s fitting to begin the journey in Springfield, where Abraham Lincoln lived for 17 years before moving to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. Ranger-led tours of the Lincoln Home National Historic Site reveal details of the only home Lincoln ever owned. It’s part of a four-block historic district that has been returned to its 19th century appearance. The nearby Lincoln Home Visitor Center presents orientation videos.
The highlight for many Springfield visitors is the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum, which offers rare artifacts, state-of-the-art displays and a dramatic presentation that uses holograms to create an immersive experience. Across the street is the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln delivered his famous House Divided speech in 1858 and Barrack Obama announced his presidential campaign in 2007.After Lincoln’s assassination, his body lay in state in the House chamber.
Also in Springfield is Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site at Oak Ridge Cemetery. Rubbing the nose on the bronze bust of Lincoln is said to bring good luck.
Costumed interpreters at Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site in Petersburg, 20 miles northwest of Springfield, shed light on Honest Abe’s earlier years. Reconstructed log buildings re-create the village where he lived from 1831-1837 while working as a store clerk, rail-splitter, postmaster and deputy surveyor.
On the Historic Ronald Reagan Trail in northwest Illinois, Eureka College’s Ronald Reagan Museum features items from the 40th president’s student days, film career and presidency. In the farm town of Tampico, Ronald Reagan Birthplace & Museum offers tours of the restored apartment where Reagan was born in 1911.
Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home in Dixon paints a picture of the future president’s family life in the 1920s. The nearby Northwest Territory Historic Center is a converted 1908 school building with a President Reagan History Room, a collection of original Reagan movie posters and the restored sixth grade classroom of “Dutch” Reagan. Downtown, along the Rock River, is a statue of Reagan on horseback.
At Ulysses S. Grant Home State Historic Site in Galena, tour the home presented to General Grant by the town’s citizens after his return from the Civil War. It contains many of the 18th president’s possessions and original furnishings.
The road trip ends on the South Side of Chicago. Get a glimpse of Obama’s home in the Kenwood neighborhood and University of Chicago Law School, where he taught from 1992 to 2004. Have lunch at Valois Cafeteria, a longtime Obama favorite.
The Obama Presidential Center, opening in 2026,will feature an eight-story museum building in Jackson Park on Chicago’s South Side. Its top-floor Sky Room will offer sweeping views of the city. Other facilities will include an athletic center, test kitchen, restaurant, picnic areas and children’s play area.
Illinois’ African American History
The roots of African American history run deep in Chicago and throughout the state. This 300-mile road trip from Chicago to Alton can be done in three or four days.
Start on the South Side of Chicago and its historic Bronzeville neighborhood. Known historically as the “Black Metropolis,” Bronzeville became a hub of Black life and culture in the 20th century. Tour the neighborhood with the Bronzeville Visitor Information Center or simply stroll the Bronzeville Walk of Fame, where bronze plaques and monuments honor former residents like entertainers Nat King Cole and Louis Armstrong.
In Washington Park, visit DuSable Black History Museum, the nation’s oldest independent African American history museum. A few miles south is National A. Phillip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum. Exhibits explore the contributions of the first Black labor union, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, and life in the South Side’s Pullman neighborhood, once the Pullman Palace Car Works company town and now the federally designated Pullman National Monument.
The Obama Presidential Center, under construction on 19 acres in Chicago’s Jackson Park, opens to the public in 2026. The stone facade of its eight-story tower will be engraved with Obama’s speech marking the 50th anniversary of the civil rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
On the North Side, interactive exhibits at the Chicago History Museum show how African American culture is woven throughout the city’s past and present. Student-curated exhibits and performances take center stage at the African American Cultural Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), just west of downtown.
For evening entertainment in Chicago, book a performance at the Black Ensemble Theater. Or head to Buddy Guy’s Legends, the city’s premier blues club.
In west suburban Oak Brook, stories of the Underground Railroad unfold at Graue Mill, a water-powered gristmill that hid runaway enslaved African Americans in its cellar.
In downtown Springfield, both the Acts of Intolerance Sculpture and 1908 Race Riot Mural, plus various markers, memorialize the dark time when a mob of more than 5,000 white residents lynched Black residents and burned their neighborhoods to the ground. Springfield and Central Illinois African American History Museum currently is closed for renovations.
Jacksonville had several stops on the Underground Railroad, including Congregational United Church of Christ, known as the “abolitionist church” in the 1830s as it risked fines and prison time for its members by providing shelter, food, transportation and clothing to freedom seekers. Another Jacksonville “rail station” was Woodlawn Farm, which had four small cabins for free Black farm hands and is now a living history museum.
The Mississippi River town of Alton also harbors Underground Railroad history. Tours of selected sites can be arranged by the Great Rivers & Routes tourism office. In the Alton Cemetery, the 110-foot-tall Elijah P. Lovejoy Monument honors the abolitionist and newspaper editor who was shot to death by pro-slavery zealots in 1837.
Great River Road National Scenic Byway
From Illinois’ southernmost tip to its far northwest corner, this ribbon of roadway follows the Mississippi River for 540 miles through the historic towns and pockets of natural beauty that grace the state’s western border. Signs with the road’s green-and-white paddlewheel logo mark the route. Doing the byway in its entirety takes five to seven days.
Begin at Fort Defiance State Park in Cairo, the point where the Mississippi and Ohio rivers meet. Traveling north, you come upon Chester, where statues and murals on the Popeye Character Trail remind visitors this was the hometown of the cartoon character’s creator, E.C. Segar. At Fort de Chartres State Historic Site, learn about 18th century French colonial life from re-enactors. Go back further in time in Collinsville at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, which preserves ancient Indian mounds and plazas.
The Alton area requires a full day, the highlight being National Great Rivers Museum and a tour of Melvin Price Locks & Dam. Downtown Alton abounds with art galleries, antiques emporiums and other specialty shops. For fine craft brews, stop in at Old Bakery Beer. In nearby Hartford, ascend Lewis & Clark Confluence Tower to view the meeting of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Lewis & Clark State Historic Site tells the story of explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, who started their epic westward expedition from here in 1804.
North of Alton, your trek continues to the quaint historic village of Elsah and to Grafton, where the Grafton Sky Tour aerial lift at Aerie’s Resort & Winery offers awe-inspiring views of the Mississippi. Save time for a hike at Pere Marquette State Park, Illinois’ largest state park, and a fried chicken dinner at its lodge restaurant.
Historic districts in Quincy hold a vast range of magnificent homes in many architectural styles, from Greek Revival to Queen Anne. The Moroccan-style Villa Kathrine houses the local visitor center and offers sweeping views of the Mississippi.
The town of Nauvoo was the largest Mormon settlement in the country until the Mormons were driven out by an angry mob that killed their leader, Joseph Smith. Mormon heritage is preserved at the Joseph Smith Historic Site. Walking tours and horse-and ox-drawn wagon rides showcase Old Nauvoo.
In Moline, part of the Quad Cities metro area that straddles the Iowa-Illinois border, a popular attraction is the John Deere Pavilion, which showcases equipment manufactured by Moline-based Deere & Company. Then treat your self to a sundae at nearby Lagomarcino’s, an old-school soda fountain restaurant. For unbeatable views and delicious food, cruise the Mississippi on the Celebration Belle riverboat.
Rock Island is home to Quad City Botanical Garden and Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse. On an island in the Mississippi, Rock Island Arsenal, a U.S. Army site, has an excellent museum, and Mississippi River Visitor Center offers a bird’s-eye view of river traffic at Locks and Dam 15.
More river vistas await at Mississippi Palisades State Park in Savanna. From there, follow the Great River Road to Galena, a hilly town brimming with 19thcentury charm. Main Street is packed with inviting shops and restaurants, and several historic homes are open for tours. Many groups do their sightseeing with Galena Trolley Tours.
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Get Your Kicks on Route 66
Travelers looking for heady doses of nostalgia and Americana will find them in abundance on Old Route 66. From the Lake Michigan shoreline of Chicago to the Mississippi River in southwestern Illinois, museums, retro diners, quirky roadside attractions and other nods to yesteryear drive tourism on what John Steinbeck nicknamed the “Mother Road” in his classic 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath.
Spanning eight states, the asphalt artery symbolized freedom and mobility in the mid-20th century, attracting vacationers, adventurers and those searching for a better life out West. Though Route 66 was replaced long ago by Interstate 55 in Illinois, reminders of it can be found in many communities along its diagonal 300-mile path. Expect these towns to be putting their best foot forward in celebration of Route 66’s centennial in 2026.
Many road trippers get their first kicks on 66 at Lou Mitchell’s Restaurant, a diner on Jackson Boulevard in downtown Chicago, just west of the famed road’s starting point. “Serving the world’s finest coffee,” as its sign proclaims, the breakfast/lunch favorite has been dishing up comfort food since 1923. If you wait for a food stop outside of the city, consider a fried chicken meal at Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket in suburban Willow brook or White Fence Farm in Romeoville, both filled with Route 66 and other memorabilia. In Joliet, stop at Rich & Creamy for a cold treat or take a tour of the Old Joliet Prison, which appeared in The Blues Brothers movie.
In Pontiac, Mother Road enthusiasts flock to the free-admission Route 66 Association Hall of Fame and Museum and ogle classic cars at the Pontiac-Oakland Automobile Museum. The place of pilgrimage for Route 66 fans in Bloomington-Normal is Ryburn Place, a vintage gas station turned gift shop.
The town of Atlanta recently unveiled the American Giants Museum, which chronicles the story of the 20-foot-tall fiberglass “Muffler Men” statues once used as advertising characters by automotive and other highway businesses. Several of these towering figures stand outside the museum. Across the street is the Bunyon Giant, a fiberglass man holding a hot dog. Another great photo op awaits on Old Route 66in the town of Lincoln, where a statue of Abraham Lincolns its in the driver’s seat of the Railsplitter Covered Wagon, the world’s largest covered wagon.
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Springfield’s newest Mother Road attraction is the Illinois State Fairgrounds Route 66 Experience, an outdoor walk-through exhibit highlighting businesses and attractions, past and present, in 92 Illinois communities. The garden courtyard brims with replicas of neon signs that once advertised motels and other places along Route 66.
For lunch in Springfield, stop at Cozy Dog Drive In, famous for its cornmeal-battered hot dog on a stick and loaded with Route 66 lore. Or eat at Motorheads Bar & Grill with its huge collection of vintage advertising and automotive-themed memorabilia. Motorheads’ towering Route 66 shield sign and the Fairgrounds’ installations were done by Springfield’s family-owned Ace Sign Company, which offers free guided tours of its plant/museum.
Litchfield takes pride in the Ariston Cafe, a fine restaurant that’s been around since 1924. Or grab a bite at nearby Jubelt’s Bakery & Restaurant, a homey cafe on Old Route 66. The neighboring Litchfield Museum and Route 66 Welcome Center salutes local businesses that flourished during the roadway’s heyday.
In Livingston, a giant pink elephant visible from I-55, plus other larger-than-life sculptures, beckons wayfarers to Pink Elephant Antique Mall, housed in a former high school. Next door is the 1950s-style Twistee Treat Diner, whose whimsical ice cream cone-shaped building whets your appetite for burgers, fries and ice cream creations.
West End Service Station in Edwardsville served Route 66 motorists for nearly four decades and recently was transformed into a visitor information center with attractive displays on the road’s lore. In nearby Granite City, the past comes to life at It’s Electric Neon Sign Park, where three restored neon signs from local businesses, plus two large murals, celebrate the town’s place on America’s Mother Road. The signs are turned on from dusk to dawn.
At the Mississippi River in Madison, the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge marks the end of Route 66 in Illinois. Built in 1929, it is one of the world’s longest bicycle and pedestrian bridges and is open for vehicular traffic during special events.
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