Historic Route 66 - Illinois

Historic Route 66 - Illinois

Parks Directory of the United States / National Scenic Byways

Address:c/o Illinois Route 66 Heritage Project, Inc.
CITDO - 700 E. Adams
Springfield, IL 62704
Phone:217-525-7980
Web: www.illinoisroute66.org Description:Route 66 was designated in 1926 as a federal highway linking Chicago, IL to Los Angeles, CA. The 2,448-mile route passed through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. The road was decommissioned in 1985 in favor of the new interstate highway system and today only 1,410 miles of the original route in three states (Illinois, New Mexico and Arizona) have been designated as National Scenic Byway.Traversing more than 70 Illinois communities, the "Mother Road" joins the urban cityscape of Chicago with the countryside of Illinois' heartland, presenting memories of an era in the development of the American highway through restored and preserved attractions.
Legth: 436 miles (Illinois section); 1,410 miles (entire byway). Start/Endpoint: The Illinois section of the byway runs from Chicago southwest to the Martin Luther King Memorial Bridge at the Missouri state line. Time to Allow: 8 hours (Illinois section); 5-6 days (entire byway). Designation/Year: National Scenic Byway (2005).

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Parks Directory of the United States, 5th Edition. © 2007 by Omnigraphics, Inc.