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7. Flock to the Rock
LaSalle County's "Flock to the Rock" festival, held from January through Ma...Read Details

8. Hegeler Carus Mansion [Map It]
The Hegeler Carus Mansion is an architectural masterpiece and a key to the ...Read Details

28. Weber House and Garden [Map It]
The Weber House, built by Ernest and Zelma Weber in 1937, is a storybook Tu...Read Details

Experience Ottawa Along the Illinois River Road

Waypoints In and Around Ottawa
The Pleistocene epoch went out with a bang in northern Illinois as the southern shore of "Lake Chicago" gave way, sending an untold volume of glacial melt water barreling along the young Illinois River. The result? One of the most ornate river valleys in all of the Midwest, carved 125 feet deep into an 80-mile stretch of Paleozoic bedrock. Visual evidence of this incredible event exists in the sheer sandstone bluffs which line the southern bank and accompanying tributaries of the Illinois River between the towns of Marseilles and Utica. The best examples of these can found at Illini, Matthiessen, Buffalo Rock and starved Rock State Parks. For the best view of Starved Rock itself, visit the Illinois Waterway Visitors Center. While touring the loop, be sure to visit Catlin County Park, which hosts one of the best remaining chinquapin oak savannas in the state.


Add to My Itinerary 3. Buffalo Rock State Park
1300 N. 27th Street, Ottawa, IL 61350
So named because (legend has it) the area once served as a "blind canyon" where Indians ran buffalo for capture, this 298-acr...Read Details
GPS: 41.32697, -88.91006 Map It!
Site Access: free; dawn to dusk
Phone: 815-433-2220
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary 5. Catlin County Park
East 1251st Road, Ottawa, IL 61350
In Catlin County Park, you'll find upland forests of maple, hickory, and black, white, red, pin, and chinquapin oak. Cottonwo...Read Details
GPS: 41.30175, -88.91926 Map It!
Site Access: free
Phone: 815-434-0518
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary 6. City of Ottawa
Reddick Mansion, Ottawa, IL 61350
Constructed in 1858 by former LaSalle County Sheriff and Illinois State Senator William Reddick for $25,000, Reddick Mansion ...Read Details
GPS: 41.35002, -88.84153 Map It!
Site Access: free; fee
Phone: 815-434-2737
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary 9. Hopalong Cassidy River Trail
West Main Street, Streator, IL 61364
This 0.5-mile trail parallels the swift-flowing, translucent green waters of the Vermilion River in the town of Streator, whi...Read Details
GPS: 41.11881, -88.84030 Map It!
Site Access: free
Phone: 815-672-2055
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary 11. Illini State Park
2660 E. 2350th Road, Marseilles, IL 61341
Located across the Illinois River from the town of Marseilles, the 510-acre Illini State Park lies along the northern edge of...Read Details
GPS: 41.31850, -88.71102 Map It!
Site Access: free; fee
Phone: 815-795-2448
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary 13. Illinois & Michigan Canal and Lock 16 Visitors Center
Highway Route 351, LaSalle, IL 60441
French explorer/cartographer Louis Jolliet first suggested the construction of a canal connecting Lake Michigan with the Miss...Read Details
GPS: 41.329131,-89.095001 Map It!
Site Access: free; fee
Phone: 815-220-1848
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary 15. Illinois Waterway Visitors Center
Rt 1, 950 N 27th Road, Ottawa, IL 61350
Located at the Starved Rock Lock & Dam, the Illinois Waterway Visitors Center is owned and operated by the US Army Corps of E...Read Details
GPS: 41.32515, -88.98606 Map It!
Site Access: free
Phone: 815-667-4054
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary 16. LaSalle County Historical Society
101 E. Canal Street, Utica, IL 61373
The Utica Museum Complex houses the LaSalle County Historical Society, a group that acquired the stone warehouse (ca. 1848), ...Read Details
GPS: 41.34159, -89.01024 Map It!
Site Access: free; fee
Phone: (815) 667-4861
Area: Ottawa

Add to My Itinerary 17. Matthiessen State Park
Route 178, Utica, IL 61373
Donated to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources by the F.W. Matthiessen family in 1943, Matthiessen State Park is com...Read Details
GPS: 41.295027,-89.025307 Map It!
Site Access: free
Phone: 815-667-4868
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary 19. Mitchell's Grove Nature Preserve
East 5th Road, Utica, IL 61373
Mitchell's Grove Nature Preserve is a 184-acre wooded site donated to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources in 1998 by...Read Details
GPS: 41.37635, -89.06792 Map It!
Site Access: free
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary 20. Port of LaSalle Lock 16 Canal
Joliet Street, LaSalle, IL 60441
Of the 15 original locks installed to maneuver boat traffic up and down the 140-foot elevational grade between Chicago and La...Read Details
Phone: 815 588-1100
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary 21. Sandy Ford Natural Area
Leonore Road, Streator, IL
Owned and managed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the 200-acre Sandy Ford is located on the east bank of the...Read Details
GPS: 41.19272, -88.90277 Map It!
Site Access: free
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary 22. Seneca Grain Elevator
Williams Street, Ottawa, IL
Located in Seneca, IL, the Seneca (M.J. Hogan) Grain Elevator (open by appointment only: 815-942-9501) is one of the last of ...Read Details
Phone: 815-942-9501
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary 23. Spring Lake Nature Park
1413 E. 16th Street, Streator, IL 61364
The park contains spring-fed creeks, a sandstone formation waterfall, a trail system, and flora and fauna typical of central ...Read Details
GPS: 41.134452,-88.862185 Map It!
Phone: (815) 343-3774
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary 25. Starved Rock State Park
Route 71 & Route 178, Utica, IL 61373
The 2,816-acre Starved Rock State Park complex is one of the premier publicly held natural areas in all of Illinois. The Park...Read Details
GPS: 41.309139, -88.988893 Map It!
Site Access: free; fee
Phone: 815-667-4726
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary 27. Utica Museum Complex
Mill and Canal Streets, Utica, IL 61373
Houses the LaSalle County Historical Society, a group that acquired the stone warehouse (ca. 1848), one of 3 remaining origin...Read Details
Phone: 815-667-4891
Area: OTTAWA

 

Illinois River Road National Scenic Byway
Illinois River Road National Scenic Byway