Ohio River Scenic Byway - Illinois
Ohio River Scenic Byway - Illinois is a National Scenic Byway in Illinois. Within Illinois it covers roughly 180 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Ohio River Scenic Byway - Illinois with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
Illinois' 188-mile share of the Ohio River Scenic Byway follows Highways 62 and 146 along the state's southern edge to Cairo. Designated in May 2006, it's the only National Scenic Byway to cross three states, continuing east through Indiana and Ohio along the river it's named for. In Illinois it threads the Shawnee National Forest's hills and passes Golconda, a historic river town that served as a crossing point on the Trail of Tears and still has a well-preserved downtown of 19th-century storefronts. Mound City held a Union naval shipyard and hospital during the Civil War and today holds the Mound City National Cemetery, while Metropolis, near the byway's midpoint, leans into its name as the self-declared hometown of Superman, complete with a statue and an annual Superman Festival. Bookended by Cairo's river confluence and the forested Shawnee hills, the drive mixes river history with genuinely offbeat small-town Americana.
- Shawnee National Forest
- Golconda
- Mound City National Cemetery
- 188 miles
- Cairo river confluence
- Metropolis Superman hometown
- Trail of Tears crossing
Designated for its historic qualities
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Places to stop along Ohio River Scenic Byway - Illinois
Shawneetown Bank State Historic Site
A columned Greek Revival bank from about 1840, the oldest bank building in Illinois, standing nearly alone in Old Shawneetown after floods moved the town to higher ground.
WebsiteGarden of the Gods
Wind-carved sandstone outcrops in the Shawnee National Forest. A short, paved Observation Trail winds past formations like Camel Rock to wide views over the hills.
WebsiteRose Hotel State Historic Site
An Elizabethtown inn that began as a tavern in 1812, among the oldest hotel buildings in Illinois, perched above the Ohio River with a gazebo overlook.
WebsiteCave-In-Rock State Park
A river-cut cave with a 55-foot-wide mouth that once hid river pirates and counterfeiters preying on flatboats. A free ferry crosses the Ohio to Kentucky nearby.
WebsiteFort Massac State Park
Illinois' first state park, set up in 1908, with a reconstructed early-1800s American fort on a site Lewis and Clark visited in 1803.
WebsiteMetropolis
Superman's official hometown, with a 15-foot bronze statue of the Man of Steel on the courthouse square and a small museum of memorabilia nearby.
WebsiteMound City National Cemetery
A Civil War-era national cemetery near the old Union naval yard at Mound City, the resting place of thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers.
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Where to Stay along Ohio River Scenic Byway - Illinois
3 campgrounds and RV parks sit within about 5 miles of Ohio River Scenic Byway - Illinois.
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What is a National Scenic Byway?
National Scenic Byways are roads recognized at the federal level for at least one outstanding quality — scenic, natural, historic, cultural, archaeological or recreational — that gives travelers a reason to seek them out rather than just pass through.