Petroglyphs and ancient sites on Route 66
Route 66 crosses land that people lived on for thousands of years before the highway, and 25 archaeological sites in our data mark it, in 4 states. By state: Illinois 15, Missouri 2, New Mexico 1, Arizona 7.
The Illinois entries are mostly prehistoric village and mound sites around Chicago and Joliet that are listed but not developed for visitors. The ones you can actually walk through are in the West: Petroglyph National Monument on the edge of Albuquerque; Homolovi State Park near Winslow; Walnut Canyon National Monument and Elden Pueblo at Flagstaff; and Puerco Ruin and the Newspaper Rock petroglyphs inside Petrified Forest National Park near Holbrook. Missouri adds Sugarloaf Mound in St. Louis and Gourd Creek Cave near Rolla. These sites are the farthest off the road of any kind — about 6.8 mi for a typical one — so give them a couple of hours.
Practical hint: petroglyph trails are open and hot by mid-morning; go early, stay on the marked trail and never touch the rock art.
Tap a dot to see that stop here.
Tap a dot for the photo and a link to the stop. Open this kind on the full map to filter by state or add a stop to your trip.
Archaeological sites in Illinois (15)
All of Illinois →
More archaeological sites in Illinois 9
- Huber SiteChicago
- Palos SiteChicago
- Anker SiteChicago
- Oak Forest SiteChicago
- Hoxie Farm SiteChicago
- Knoll Spring SiteChicago
- Horseshoe Lake Mound and Village SitePontoon Beach
- Mitchell Archaeological SitePontoon Beach
- Lunsford-Pulcher Archeological SiteColumbia
