“the world's longest pedestrian & bicycle bridge”
At one mile, the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge is the world's longest pedestrian and bicycle bridge. The bridge is located just north of St. Louis. The Chain of Rocks Bridge spans the Mississippi River on the north edge of St. Louis, Missouri. The eastern end of the bridge is on Chouteau Island, (part of Madison, Illinois), while the western end is on the Missouri shoreline. The bridge was for a time the route used by U.S. Route 66 to cross over the Mississippi. Its most notable feature is a 22-degree bend occurring at the middle of the crossing. Originally a motor route, the bridge now carries walking and biking trails over the river. A new Chain of Rocks Bridge carries vehicular traffic to the north. The old route to the bridge is now called Chain of Rocks Road and ends near Roman Road. Parking is available at the start of the now pedestrian route. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
Parking is available on the Illinois side ONLY. The Missouri side is closed. This is a great mile long walk that gives the best view of the Mississippi River and St. Louis city skyline.
This is definitely worth a stop. Though it's technically "closed", we just pulled over to the side of the road and hopped the small chain fence. No big deal, there were lots of cyclists and joggers. Gorgeous spot for photos. Well-maintained and not too crowded at all. I suggest hitting it up in the morning.
Awesome view of the Mississippi. fantastic bridge, very much in the spirit of route 66
this wasso worth the stop & was a great place to stretch the legs
Road closed to get to it - pulled along side of road, took a couple pics, but very dangerous maneuver.
The old Chain of Rocks Bridge should be re-named:Julie&Robin Kerry Memorial bridge-in memory of the Kerry sisters who lost their life on this bridge.
If you join the Illinois Route 66 Association, you may be able to join the official Route 66 tours, including actually driving over the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge in a caravan! Very, very cool!
Do not view from Missouri side. Our car & another parked next to us both got broken into....literally, broke the windows to get in. When the police finally showed up they told us we were not supposed to even park there. We commented there we not any no parking signs...he said that's because they keep getting stolen.
Blocked off and closed :(
If you're traveling Route 66 for the history, make this a stop. It's converted to a pedestrian bridge, but the architecture is unchanged and most of the original lighting is in place so you can feel what it would have looked like in it's prime. There are beautiful views of the Mississippi and St. Louis in the distance. And you can do it all without dodging traffic!
One note of caution: we parked on the Illinois side and it was hard to find. We were convinced our GPS was leading the wrong way a couple times until we suddenly turned a corner into a parking lot with historical markers. From the bridge it looked like the Missouri side was better marked and visited.
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Old Chain of Rocks Bridge
Hours
- Sun - Sat: 9:00 am - 9:00 pm
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