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DRIVE TRIP

Illinois' Historic Lincoln Highway Road Trip

175.6 miles: 4 hours, 55 minutes

ROUTE

Illinois’ Lincoln Highway is part of one of the first transcontinental highways and stretches across the state from Indiana to Iowa at the Mississippi River. The historic route runs through quaint towns full of Victorian homes and murals and farmland full of crops.

1

Indiana state line to Joliet

31.6 miles: 1 hours, 3 minutes

AlinaMD / iStockphoto.com

Enjoy the Illinois scenery as you travel down US 30 from the Indiana border to Joliet through quaint downtowns and past fields of corn. A feature of this historic highway is the 1916 Arche Memorial Fountain, the “Crossroads of the Nation.”

2

Joliet to Geneva

35.0 miles: 1 hours, 17 minutes

Doug Kerr / flickr

Learn about the area’s history at the Joliet Area Historical Museum before crossing over the Des Plaines River. Drive through Plainfield and travel along train tracks into Aurora with its beautiful 19th-century Victorian homes.

3

Geneva to Rochelle

41.8 miles: 1 hours, 1 minutes

Daniel X. ONeil / flickr

This leg of Illinois' Lincoln Highway (SR 31/SR 38) is full of rural farmland, but in DeKalb, the road is lined with 19th-century, brick storefronts creating a beautiful downtown area. In Geneva by city hall and in DeKalb at the corner of 11th Street are two of several interpretive gazebos along the historic highway that house panels that share the history of the area.

4

Rochelle to Iowa state line

67.2 miles: 1 hours, 34 minutes

Rattis Irrittis / Wikimedia

Make a stop in Dixon to visit the historical sites. Start with the Dixon Welcome Center which can provide you with brochures for self-guiding tours, and do not miss the mural on the exterior of the building. Be sure to get a photo of the Lincoln statue that resides in the Lincoln Monument State Memorial.

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