Riding the Illinois River Road

About 30 area residents attended an informational meeting Thursday night on the Illinois River Road - Route of the Voyageurs. (BCR photo/Barb Kromphardt)

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PRINCETON — About 30 local residents interested in the Illinois River Road attended an informational meeting at the Princeton Public Library Thursday.

In September 2005, the Illinois River Road — Route of the Voyageurs — was announced as a National Scenic Byways. The Illinois River Road covers 271 miles between Ottawa and Havana, and includes much of Routes 26 and 29 on each side of the river.

In Bureau County, the byway enters the county on Route 6, just north of St. Bede Academy. It runs through Spring Valley, and once west of the city, switches onto Route 29, moving through DePue and Bureau.

The designation also includes Princeton. Although Princeton is not on the Illinois River, the city is designated a gateway community, and the scenic route pathway loops through town.

Anaise Berry, director of the Illinois River Road’s National Scenic Byway, began the presentation. She said the designation will draw interest to this area, and has enabled the route to be included in a National Geographic brochure on scenic highways and byways brochure on the 275 best drives in the country. Also, an article was recently written on great places to snowmobile by the Illinois River Road.

Berry explained the gateway communities, which also include Ottawa, Peoria, East Peoria, Pekin, Canton and Havana, received their designation by supporting the project from the beginning, both with personnel and financial support. Each gateway has a nature loop, and they are considered places where people can start.

Berry said the major reason the Illinois River Road received its byway designation was because of the strong natural qualities of the area. She said that nature-based tourism is not just watching wildlife, but anything that connects people with the outdoors, and is the fastest-growing tourism market segment.

Next to speak was Mary Jeanne Packer with Fermata, a company hired to help create a plan to tie the various parts of the byway together.

Packer said interpretation is a communication process, and it involves not just presenting information, but putting the information in everyday language. She said the goal is to have tourists visit sites along the byway and gain a greater understanding of the area.

Each gateway community will have an interpretive kiosk, a 10-foot-tall structure designed to give information about the byway and the local community. Princeton’s kiosk is proposed for Sixth and Peru streets.

A number of sites were chosen to tell the story of the communities and people along the byway. Packer said some sites don’t need additional interpretation, but some need it, and they need it right away.

Princeton’s loop includes Boggio’s Little Mountain Orchard, Condit’s Ranch and Stables, Donnelley DePue State Fish and Wildlife Area and Complex, Hennepin and Hopper Lakes Restoration Project, Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park, Hornbaker Gardens, Indian Creek Vineyard, LaFayette Home Nursery, Mautino State Fish and Wildlife Area, McCune Sand Prairie, Miller-Anderson Woods Nature Preserve, Plow Creek Farm, Putnam County Conservation District, Schneider’s Orchard, Warneke Woods and the Witness Tree.

Other projects in the future include marketing brochures, visitors guide and maps, a Web site and audio tours.

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