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

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

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 Buffalo Rock State Park
Map # 12: 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: n 41.32697; w 88.91006
Site Access: free; dawn to dusk
Phone: 815-433-2220
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary Catlin County Park
Map # 6: 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: n 41.30175; w 88.91926
Site Access: free
Phone: 815-434-0518
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary City of Ottawa
Map # 1: 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: n 41.35002; w 88.84153
Site Access: free; fee
Phone: 815-434-2737
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary Hopalong Cassidy River Trail
Map # 5: 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: n 41.11881; w 88.84030
Site Access: free
Phone: 815-672-2055
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary Illini State Park
Map # 2: 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: n 41.31850; w 88.71102
Site Access: free; fee
Phone: 815-795-2448
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary Illinois & Michigan Canal and Lock 16 Visitors Center
Map # 3: 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: n 41.365890; w 89.096529
Site Access: free; fee
Phone: 815-220-1848
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary Illinois Waterway Visitors Center
Map # 11: 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: n 41.32515; w 88.98606
Site Access: free
Phone: 815-667-4054
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary LaSalle County Historical Society
Map # 10: 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: n 41.34159; w 89.01024
Site Access: free; fee
Phone: (815) 667-4861
Area: Ottawa

Add to My Itinerary Matthiessen State Park
Map # 8: 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: n 41.29628; w 89.02618
Site Access: free
Phone: 815-667-4868
Area: Ottawa

Add to My Itinerary Mitchell's Grove Nature Preserve
Map # 9: 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: n 41.37635; w 89.06792
Site Access: free
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary Sandy Ford Natural Area
Map # 4: 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: n 41.19272; w 88.90277
Site Access: free
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary Spring Lake Nature Park
Map # 13: 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: n 41.0810; w 89.5140
Phone: (815) 343-3774
Area: OTTAWA

Add to My Itinerary Starved Rock State Park
Map # 7: 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: n 41.309139; w 88.988893
Site Access: free; fee
Phone: 815-667-4726
Area: OTTAWA

 

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