Historic National Road

Byway Details

Designation

All-American Road

Length

164 mi in Illinois

About Historic National Road

The Historic National Road is a 164-mile All-American Road that crosses Illinois. It runs through a long string of towns, from Marshall and Martinsville in the east through Casey, Greenup, Teutopolis, Effingham, Altamont, Vandalia and Greenville. It ends near St. Louis at Troy, Maryville, Collinsville, Fairmont City and East St. Louis, with smaller stops like Jewett, Montrose, St. Elmo, Brownstown, Mulberry Grove, Smithboro, Pocahontas, Pierron and St. Jacob along the way. That makes it easy to break the drive into shorter legs between town centers. Fall is a comfortable time to make the trip. Typical averages from a nearby weather station run from highs around 83°F in September to about 73°F in October. Summer highs near 90°F are typical in July. The route passes close to several outdoor stops. Old Cahokia Creek, a canoeing spot, sits about 0.2 miles from the road. The Bluestem Trail hike is about 0.3 miles away, and East Fork Silver Creek offers more paddling roughly a mile off the route.