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Trip Ideas & Trails
Signature driving trails and day-by-day itineraries across Carroll, Lee, Ogle & Whiteside counties, with real stops, honest timings, and end-to-end maps.
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Itineraries
2 DaysItineraryFeaturedA Weekend in SavannaCarroll CountyA cabin above the Mississippi, an old movie house, coffee and books on Main Street, bluff trails, wildlife backwaters, and a choose-your-own lunch crawl, all within a few miles of Savanna.CouplesFriendsOutdoors
2 DaysItineraryFeaturedFly with CSC: Sky, Prairie & Rock River CountryOgle County · Lee CountyMake a tandem skydive the headline, then come back to earth with airport lunch, Rock River overlooks, restored prairie, Italian food, craft beer, and a pine-country cabin.FriendsOutdoorsCouples
2 DaysItineraryA Dixon Evening and the PrairieLee CountyAn evening in Dixon, a night by the Rock River, and Reagan’s boyhood home and the Nachusa bison the next day. Dates to be confirmed.HistoryOutdoorsCouples
WeekendItineraryA Family Weekend Outdoors in Ogle CountyOgle CountyTwo days of white pine forest, Rock River bluffs and open prairie, with a roller rink from 1948, a fifty-foot statue on a clifftop and a free natural history museum. Almost everything on this weekend is free, and the paid parts are cheap.FamiliesOutdoorsBudget-Friendly
Full DayItineraryFall Color Full-Day DriveCarroll County · Ogle CountyOne long October day from the Mississippi bluffs to the Rock River, taking in four state parks, an orchard and a dinner table facing the Black Hawk statue. Roughly 120 miles west to east, timed so the last overlook lands at golden hour.OutdoorsCouples
2 DaysItineraryPrairies, Palisades & Small-Town BitesLee County · Carroll County · Whiteside CountyCross the region from restored tallgrass prairie to Mississippi River bluffs, using Dixon, Savanna, and Fulton’s independent kitchens as the thread between two very different landscapes.OutdoorsFood LoversFriends
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823 restaurants, trailheads, museums and shops across Northwest Illinois. Filter by town, type or map.