Constructed almost 100 years ago, at the beginning of America's love affair with the automobile, and reinvented as a pedestrian and bicycle bridge, the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge is a MUST VISIT  attraction for every Historic Route 66 pilgrimage.

It is a two-mile round trip easy hike or bike across this historic old bridge that soars high above the Mississippi River between Madison, Illinois, and St Louis, Missouri, at one of the river's most scenic locations near its confluence with the Missouri River. Even if you can't go the complete distance, you can drive down the road to the left just before entering the parking lot, where you can admire the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge from the base of the Mississippi River.

During my Missouri Route 66 planning, I made a note to visit Red Oak II since I wanted to see the cottage-style Phillips 66 service station that had been relocated there and restored from the ghost town of Red Oak, Missouri. That was the extent of my research on this location, and while I knew there were a few other restored buildings on-site, nothing I read prepared me for the magnitude of this Route 66 treasure.