Great River Road: Day Trip 3 – Pere Marquette Lodge to Kingdom of Calhoun (85 miles)

The third day on the Great River Road would not be complete if it did not either begin or end at Pere Marquette State Park about six miles north of Grafton on Hwy 100. If you’re wanting to see American Bald Eagles and experience the great outdoors, this is the spot.

BE AWARE: Filling stations and restrooms are few and far between on this trip, so start with a full tank of petrol and an empty bladder. Take our word for it!!

1. Pere Marquette Lodge

Within the Pere Marquette State Park, located 10 miles north of Grafton on IL Hwy 100, you’ll find over 8,000 acres that includes a lodge, conference center, visitor’s center, and cabins spread over 16 acres. The Lodge was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Today it has 72 rooms, plus other cabins, and a restaurant, making it ideal for families or larger groups. There are also either hooked-up or remote camping sites.

2. American Bald Eagles tours

Setting it apart from nearly every other state park are the guided American Bald Eagles tours that are available from December to March. Hiking can be done on 12 miles of marked trails and there are horse riding trails and rock-climbing opportunities for beginners and experienced climbers alike.

3. Calhoun County Ferries

Backtracking down Hwy 100 a few miles to the Brussels Ferry will give you access across the Illinois River into Calhoun County. Unlike any other county in Illinois, Calhoun is a long sliver of land about 35 miles long and 10 miles wide with the Mississippi River as its west boundary and the Illinois River as the east boundary. In between the rivers, the county is steep with rolling farm fields and tree covered terrain. You could buy some “ocean front property” here.

Four ferries and one bridge provide all the access to Calhoun County, except for highways entering from the extreme northern end.

4. Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge

Crossing the Brussels Ferry will take you into the Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge, which is good for bird watching along the Mississippi Flyway. More than 240 species of birds either use Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge as a stopover point or stay for breeding and nesting seasons.

5. Family orchards are plentiful

Traveling the rolling route on the way to Brussels, you will have opportunities to buy fresh produce seasonally from the several family orchards, that populate the southern tip of the county, Jacobs Orchard & Farms near Golden Eagle, and Tom Ringhausen Orchard & Market at Hardin.

6. Wittmond Hotel – Brussels, Illinois

This is the first town you will come upon, so plan on stopping for a while. You’ll know it by the Wittmond Hotel, which has been on the south edge of town since 1847. The Wittmond is open on week-ends for fine “family style dining”. There are also a couple of pubs that seem welcoming and the village is small enough to walk or bicycle from one end to the other, if you’d like some exercise.

7. Village of Hardin, Illinois

The road flattens and straightens when it gets into the Illinois River bottoms and becomes a straight shot for 10 miles into the county seat of Hardin, where you will find the Calhoun Visitors Center and the Calhoun Historical Society Museum. The Joe Page Bridge, one of the few lift bridges in the country, provides the only access into Calhoun County except from the north end. Otherwise, you will have to take one of four ferries to gain entry.

To me, Calhoun County seems relatively untouched by the masses of people living just across the Mississippi River to the south, because of that limited ferry access. This has allowed it to remain almost like a country into itself, which I will call the “Kingdom of Calhoun”.

The county seat town of Hardin, although I’m sure covetous of having tourists coming into the county, seems to have the same types of businesses that you would find to maintain a rural community and not be over-loaded with touristy specialty shops. Thus, this becomes not so much a shopping trip as a trip to serenity.

8. McCully Heritage Project – Kampsville, IL

Approaching Kampsville from the south, you will find the non-profit McCully Heritage Project, which has 15 miles of trails winding through 940 acres and includes horseback riding trails. The focus of the Project is upon cultural and environmental enjoyment, education, and preservation. The general public is welcome to hike, picnic, bird watch, mushroom hunt and enjoy the natural beauty of the area. There are areas for camping and lodging for rent by the day, week-end, or weekly, plus special events facilities.

9. Kampsville Landing

The Center for American Archeology is a non-profit located in Kampsville, that includes a museum and has had “digs” since 1953. In 2021, the dig location will move to the McCully Project. The Center has an active summer schedule that includes having, high school and college students helping on site for from one week to four-week stints.

Ride the free ferry across the Illinois River after dining and drinking at The Pavilion restaurant on the Landing.

10. Calhoun County’s West Coast

Turn west on Hwy 96 and head for the west coast of Calhoun. At the Mississippi River Road, you will turn left (south) and take a hilly and curvy bluff road that is the 360-degree polar opposite to the road you just traveled the length of the east side of the county. The west side road also runs the length of the county and is an unbelievably fun drive. Only made even more fun, if it is done on a motorcycle.

Shortly after starting south, you will drive into one of the more unusual villages you will see along the Mississippi River: Hamburg. This small outpost is the only village on the west side of the county that is perched on a bluff directly above the river. Tow boats following the channel come within a stone’s throw of the town and a local park and cupola provide a welcome spot from which to enjoy a sack lunch and watch river traffic slowly move in each direction.

11. Return ferries into Illinois or Missouri

Upon reaching the southern tip of the county, you will have two options on how to depart: back across the Illinois River on the Brussels Ferry or across the Mississippi River on the Golden Eagle Ferry into St Charles County, MO. There’s no driving south out of the Kingdom of Calhoun, but you will leave wanting to return for more. I suggest during fall colors. New England will have nothing “over” Calhoun in that season.

Editor’s Notes

This is the third blog post about Day Trips north out of St. Louis on a portion of the Great River Road. The entire series can be found on Two Lane Rambler’s awesome travel blog, which is written by Roger Sanders and was launched in June 2021.

Be sure to contact the sites above to verify their dates and times of operation.

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