Old Chain of Rocks Bridge

The Old Chain of Rocks Bridge has one of the most distinctive profiles of any major American bridge — a 5,353-foot steel-truss span with a sharp 22-degree turn at roughly the midpoint. The bend was not an aesthetic choice or a survey error; it was a forced engineering response to the Mississippi River navigation channel that runs under the bridge. The river channel curves through this stretch of the Mississippi, and the bridge piers had to be placed to align with the navigable shipping channel rather than along a straight east-west axis. The result is the 22-degree bend that became the bridge's defining visual signature.

The bend itself is dramatic when you walk it. The bridge approaches the bend as a straight steel-truss span, then the deck visibly angles to the northwest before continuing on toward the Missouri shore. Drivers crossing the bridge during its 1936-1968 automobile era had to slow significantly to take the bend safely, and the curve was reportedly a contributing factor in the bridge's eventual decommissioning — the geometry was simply not safe for the increasing speeds and traffic volumes of the late 1960s. The new Interstate 270 Chain of Rocks Canal Bridge opened in 1968 as the modern replacement, and the old bridge closed to automobile traffic that same year.

Today the bend is the bridge's defining photograph. The view from the bend looking north shows the bridge curving away into the distance with the Mississippi River below; the view looking south shows the bend itself with the steel-truss superstructure framing the river. Most visitors walk to the bend, photograph it from multiple angles, then continue across to the Missouri side and back. The full round-trip walk is roughly 2 miles and takes 45-60 minutes at a relaxed pace.

The Chain of Rocks Bridge became part of Route 66 in 1936 when the Illinois Department of Transportation and Missouri rerouted the highway across the bridge to bypass downtown St. Louis traffic. Before that, Route 66 traveled south through Granite City and crossed into Missouri via the older Municipal Bridge near downtown St. Louis. The 1936 realignment moved the crossing north to the new Chain of Rocks Bridge, which had originally been a privately-tolled river crossing built by the City of St. Louis in 1929.

From 1936 through 1968, every Route 66 traveler crossing the Mississippi between Illinois and Missouri used this bridge. The toll booth on the Illinois side collected what was at various times a 10-cent, 15-cent, or 25-cent passenger-car toll. The bridge approaches on both sides became commercial strips with filling stations, motor courts, and small diners catering to the cross-state traffic. Several of those Illinois-side businesses survived along Chain of Rocks Road and Madison Avenue in Granite City, though most of the original 1930s-1960s commercial structures have been redeveloped or torn down across the decades.

The bridge closed to automobile traffic in 1968 when Interstate 270 opened its parallel Chain of Rocks Canal Bridge a short distance to the north. The old bridge sat largely abandoned for nearly three decades — there were serious proposals in the 1970s to demolish it for scrap, and the bridge nearly went under the wrecking ball before preservation groups intervened. Final demolition was averted in part because scrap-steel prices in the 1970s were too low to make demolition profitable, and the bridge survived in a deteriorated but structurally sound state through the 1990s.

The reopening of the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge as a pedestrian and bicycle crossing in 1999 was the result of a multi-year preservation effort led by Trailnet (a St. Louis-area trails and bicycling nonprofit) in partnership with the City of Madison, the City of St. Louis, and a coalition of Route 66 preservation organizations. The project rehabilitated the bridge deck, replaced corroded steel sections, repainted the truss superstructure, and added pedestrian-friendly lighting and signage. The total project cost was reportedly around $4 million, funded through a mix of federal transportation grants, state matching funds, and private donations.

The bridge reopened to walking and cycling traffic in 1999 and immediately became one of the most popular recreational destinations in the St. Louis metropolitan area. The mile-plus walk across the Mississippi River — with views directly down onto the water, across to the St. Louis skyline, and along the bridge's distinctive steel-truss structure — is a genuinely memorable urban-recreation experience that draws walkers, runners, cyclists, photographers, and Route 66 enthusiasts year-round.

Ongoing maintenance continues. The bridge is repainted on roughly a 15-year cycle and the deck and structural members are regularly inspected. The bridge is closed during severe weather events, occasional maintenance windows, and sometimes during extreme winter conditions when ice on the deck creates safety hazards. Otherwise the bridge is open dawn to dusk, free to all users, every day of the year.

The standard Illinois-side access point is the dedicated parking lot at the eastern foot of the bridge on Chain of Rocks Road. The lot is free, has space for roughly 40 cars, and is the natural starting point for the round-trip walk. There is also a smaller parking area on the Missouri side near Riverview Drive in north St. Louis, though most Route 66 travelers approach from the Illinois side as part of their westbound Mother Road journey.

The round-trip walk from the Illinois parking lot to the Missouri side and back is approximately 2 miles and typically takes 45 minutes to an hour at a relaxed pace. The bridge deck is flat and the walking surface is paved and in good condition. The mid-bridge bend is the obvious photograph stop, but there are several other notable photo opportunities — the view back toward the Illinois shore showing the bridge truss receding into the distance, the view of the abandoned 1894 water intake towers (which sit in the river just north of the bridge and are visually striking), and the view of the downtown St. Louis skyline visible to the south.

Best photography times are early morning (sunrise lights the bridge from the east and produces dramatic backlighting on the steel trusses) and late afternoon golden hour (the bridge superstructure casts long dramatic shadows across the deck). The bridge is generally less crowded on weekday mornings and most crowded on weekend afternoons in spring and fall when St. Louis-area cyclists and walkers are out in force. Bringing water, sun protection, and comfortable walking shoes is recommended; there are no restrooms or refreshments on the bridge itself.

The Old Chain of Rocks Bridge is the natural endpoint or starting point for any Illinois Route 66 journey. Westbound travelers driving the full 301-mile Illinois stretch — from the Begin Sign in downtown Chicago through Wilmington, Pontiac, Springfield, Litchfield (50 miles north of Granite City), and on south — reach the bridge as the symbolic conclusion of their Illinois leg before crossing into Missouri. The natural plan: arrive at the bridge in late morning, walk to the bend and back (45-60 minutes), have lunch at Smokin' Z's BBQ in Granite City for a last Illinois meal, then drive across the I-270 modern bridge into Missouri to continue toward St. Louis.

Eastbound travelers approaching from Missouri can do the reverse — overnight in St. Louis or in the Granite City area, walk the bridge in the morning, then continue north and east through Illinois toward Litchfield, Springfield, and Chicago. The bridge in either direction marks the symbolic transition between the Illinois and Missouri legs of Route 66 and is the kind of stop worth a full hour even on a tight driving schedule.

For visitors based in St. Louis who are not doing a full Route 66 drive, the bridge is a 20-minute drive from downtown St. Louis via I-270 and Riverview Drive, or a slightly longer drive from the Granite City side via I-270 and Chain of Rocks Road. Many St. Louis-area residents make recreational walking or cycling trips to the bridge on weekends, and the structure functions as both a regional recreational landmark and a Route 66 tourism destination simultaneously.