# Road trips in Illinois > 9 road trips and 14 hand-picked places in Illinois, with routes, stops and practical tips for driving and camping. Source: https://camping-spirit.com/roadtrips/illinois/ 9 road trips and 14 hand-picked places in Illinois, with routes, stops and practical tips for driving and camping. ## Road trips through Illinois - [Shawnee National Forest: southern Illinois hills](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b10-shawnee-hills/): Sandstone canyons, a giant cross, the Garden of the Gods and a pirate cave on the Ohio River. - [Starved Rock canyons and Lincoln’s Springfield](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b19-starved-rock-lincoln/): From Chicago to the sandstone canyons of the Illinois River, then south to Lincoln’s New Salem and his home and tomb in Springfield. - [Route 66, part one: Chicago to Oklahoma City](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/route66-east/): From the Begin sign on Adams Street, through cornfields and Ozark caves, to the neon of Oklahoma. - [Great River Road south: Dubuque to Hannibal](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b19-mississippi-quad-cities/): Iowa caves, the Quad Cities, Burlington’s crooked Snake Alley, the Mormon town of Nauvoo and Mark Twain’s Hannibal along the middle Mississippi. - [Lake Michigan's dune coast](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/michigan-shore/): Big dunes and the Mighty Mac bridge. - [Great River Road: the upper Mississippi](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/great-river-road/): River bluffs, lock and dams, Mark Twain’s Hannibal and the Gateway Arch. - [Giant baskets and infinity rooms: a Midwest oddities run](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/midwest-oddities/): Novelty buildings, a fiberglass spaceman and a house that should not exist. - [Indiana Dunes and northern Indiana’s Amish country](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b10-indiana-dunes/): Lake Michigan dunes an hour from Chicago, then Notre Dame and the buggies of Shipshewana. - [Lake Michigan’s sunset coast: Saugatuck to Ludington](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b19-west-michigan-shore/): Art-town Saugatuck, Dutch Holland, pier lighthouses and the dunes of Silver Lake and Ludington along Michigan’s western shore. ## Places worth the detour in Illinois - [Gemini Giant](https://camping-spirit.com/places/gemini-giant/): A 30-foot fiberglass spaceman holding a rocket, one of the best-loved "muffler men" on the old highway. - [Garden of the Gods](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b10-garden-of-the-gods/): Wind-sculpted sandstone formations above the Shawnee National Forest, reached by a short flagstone trail with sweeping views at sunset. - [Starved Rock State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b19-starved-rock/): Eighteen sandstone canyons along the Illinois River, with seasonal waterfalls in spring and frozen falls in winter. Start at the visitor center; parking fills on weekends by mid morning. - [Lincoln Home National Historic Site](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b19-lincoln-home/): The only home Abraham Lincoln ever owned, set in four restored blocks of his neighborhood. Free tickets for the house tour come from the visitor center on 7th Street. - [Route 66 Begin Sign](https://camping-spirit.com/places/r66-begin/): The brown sign on Adams Street marks mile zero of the Mother Road. Grab the photo, then point the car southwest. - [Little Grand Canyon](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b10-little-grand-canyon/): A three-mile loop trail drops through a sandstone box canyon and climbs to bluff views over the Big Muddy River bottoms. Steep and slick after rain. - [Bald Knob Cross of Peace](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b10-bald-knob-cross/): A 111-foot white cross on one of the highest hills in southern Illinois, with wide views over the Shawnee Hills and nearby wine trail. - [Giant City State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b10-giant-city/): Huge sandstone blocks form “streets” in the forest, with a stone lodge built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. - [Cave-in-Rock State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b10-cave-in-rock/): A large river cave on the Ohio River once used by pirates who robbed flatboats. A free car ferry crosses to Kentucky next to the park. - [Superman Statue](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b10-superman-statue/): A 15-foot painted bronze Superman in front of the courthouse in the self-proclaimed hometown of the hero, with a small museum across the street. - [Historic Nauvoo](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b19-historic-nauvoo/): Restored brick homes and workshops of the Latter-day Saint town of the 1840s on a bend of the Mississippi, with free tours, wagon rides and craft demonstrations. The rebuilt temple overlooks the flats. - [Matthiessen State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b19-matthiessen/): A quieter neighbor of Starved Rock with the Upper and Lower Dells, a stream-cut canyon of sandstone walls and small waterfalls. Trails are short but muddy after rain. - [Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b19-lincoln-new-salem/): A rebuilt pioneer village of log cabins, shops and a tavern where Abraham Lincoln lived as a young man in the 1830s. Free; interpreters in period dress in summer. - [Lincoln Tomb](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b19-lincoln-tomb/): The granite obelisk tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery where Abraham Lincoln, his wife and three of their sons are buried. Visitors rub the nose of the bronze bust at the entrance for luck. Free. ## FAQs **What are the best road trips in Illinois?** Popular routes include Shawnee National Forest: southern Illinois hills, Starved Rock canyons and Lincoln’s Springfield, Route 66, part one: Chicago to Oklahoma City and Great River Road south: Dubuque to Hannibal. CampingSpirit has 9 trip guides that pass through Illinois, each with a stop-by-stop itinerary and a route map. **Which places in Illinois are worth a detour?** Our editors recommend Gemini Giant, Garden of the Gods, Starved Rock State Park and Lincoln Home National Historic Site.