Best Illinois
Updated Daily
The Jay Pritzker Pavilion is a modern amphitheater located within Millennium Park, Chicago. Designed by Frank Gehry, it features a distinctive structure of curving steel ribbons capable of accommodating up to 11,000 people. It serves as a venue for diverse outdoor events including concerts and perfo...
Somme Prairie Nature Preserve is an ecological site located in Northbrook, Illinois, and managed by the Forest Preserves of Cook County. It was established to protect and restore high-quality examples of mesic and wet prairie ecosystems, as well as oak savannas, which are native to the region. The p...
The Pullman Historic District preserves a unique company town established by the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago. Built between 1880 and 1890, it features distinctive Victorian-era architecture designed for its workforce. Today, the district offers insight into late 19th-century industrial lab...
The Gensburg-Markham Prairie Nature Preserve is a protected natural area located within the Chicago metropolitan area of Illinois. Recognized as a National Natural Landmark, the preserve safeguards a high-quality remnant of mesic tallgrass prairie that survived regional urbanization. The site is uti...
The Ravinia Pavilion is a modern outdoor amphitheater hosting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s annual summer festival. Located in Highland Park, Illinois, it provides a venue for diverse musical performances and events. Primarily serving classical music enthusiasts and concertgoers, the pavilion off...
Bluff Spring Fen Nature Preserve is a 94-acre protected natural area located in Cook County, Illinois, near the city of Elgin. It contains rare alkaline wetlands known as fens, fed by mineral-rich groundwater seeping through glacial gravel deposits. The preserve also includes dry gravel hill prairie...
The Walker Brothers Pancake House Apple Pancake is a signature baked breakfast dish popularized by a Chicago-area restaurant chain that opened in the 1960s. Based on a recipe from the Original Pancake House, this oven-baked pancake features sliced apples, cinnamon, and sugar baked in a cast-iron pan...
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie is a restored area within Illinois encompassing approximately 8,700 acres. It represents the first national tallgrass prairie designated by the U.S. Forest Service. The site’s significance lies in its transformation of previously contaminated former military land i...
The West Chicago Prairie Forest Preserve is a conservation area located in DuPage County, Illinois. The preserve encompasses over 300 acres of high-quality remnant tallgrass prairie that survived the region's historical agricultural development. It features a network of trails that allow visitors to...
The Chicago Golf Club is a historic private golf course located near Wheaton, Illinois. Established in 1892, it holds significant importance within American golfing history as one of the original founders of the USGA and the creator of the first 18-hole course in the United States. It remains a high...
The Galloping Ghost Arcade offers a significant collection of classic arcade games from the late 1970s and 1980s. Located in Brookfield, Illinois, it is one of the largest dedicated retro arcades in the United States, providing free-play access to enthusiasts of all ages. It’s particularly appealing...
The Cache River Wetlands form a protected wetland complex in southern Illinois within the Mississippi River's historic alluvial region. The landscape includes bottomland forest, swamps, sloughs, and floodplain habitats, with notable stands of bald cypress and water tupelo far north of the trees' pri...
The Monks Mound stands as a significant archaeological site near present-day Collinsville, Illinois. Constructed by the Mississippian culture between approximately 900 and 950 CE, this massive earthwork is the largest pre-Columbian earthen mound in North America. It served as the central platform fo...
The Galena Historic District is a nationally recognized area in northwestern Illinois featuring significant nineteenth-century architecture. Primarily Federal, Greek Revival, and Italianate buildings demonstrate the district’s importance as a bustling river town during the Mississippi trade period....
Shoe Factory Road Prairie Nature Preserve in Illinois is a dedicated state nature preserve protecting a rare remnant of undisturbed gravel and dolomite prairie in the Chicago region.
The Nachusa Grasslands are a significant Illinois prairie ecosystem representing one of the largest remaining contiguous tallgrass prairie remnants in North America. Restoration work, including extensive seeding and invasive species management, has revived this landscape. The reintroduction of Ameri...
Park Forest is an L5 ordinary chondrite that fell over northeastern Illinois on March 26, 2003. A bright fireball fragmented above the Chicago suburbs, scattering stones across Park Forest and nearby communities; several fragments struck houses and other property. Its well-documented fall, rapid rec...
The Henry Allan Gleason Nature Preserve in Illinois is a dedicated conservation area recognized for protecting diverse sand prairie and savanna habitats.
The Graue Mill & Museum preserves a functional 1852 watermill located in Morris, Illinois. This gristmill operated for over a century grinding grain using its original waterwheel. Its significance extends beyond agriculture as it served as an Underground Railroad station during the mid-19th century,...
Lincoln Tomb in Springfield, Illinois, is the burial place of Abraham Lincoln, completed in 1874 and marked by a 117-foot granite obelisk.
Opened in 1934 in Brookfield, Illinois, it was among the first American zoos to replace traditional barred cages with naturalistic, moated habitat exhibits.
Romeoville Prairie Nature Preserve is a protected area in Illinois that conserves important wetlands and mesic tallgrass prairies within a highly urbanized region.
Ethereal Confections is an artisan chocolate maker operating from bean to bar, sourcing cacao directly from small farms primarily in Ecuador and Madagascar for meticulous control over flavor profiles and quality.
Timothy Chan is a Canadian computer scientist and professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is known for contributions to computational geometry and algorithms, including output-sensitive algorithms for convex hull computation and improved bounds for geometric problems in two a...
Shoreacres is a private 1916 Seth Raynor-designed golf course in Illinois, notable for its dramatic elevation changes along the bluffs of Lake Michigan.
Lincoln Park Zoo is a free-admission zoological garden located in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1868, it is one of the oldest zoos in North America. The zoo covers approximately 35 acres within the larger Lincoln Park neighborhood along the shore of Lake Michigan. Lincoln Park Zoo is n...
Benld is an H6 ordinary chondrite meteorite that fell near Benld in Macoupin County, Illinois, on September 29, 1938. A fragment penetrated the roof of a garage and struck a parked automobile, making the fall notable as a documented case of a meteorite damaging human property. Its H6 classification...
Completed in 1896, the Grosse Pointe Lighthouse stands on Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan, guiding mariners through the entrance to Lake St. Clair and serving as a vital navigational aid for over a century.
The Chicago Harbor Lighthouse is an automated lighthouse situated on the south breakwater in Chicago Harbor, Illinois. It was originally constructed in 1893 to serve as a navigational aid during the World's Columbian Exposition before being relocated to its current position on the north breakwater i...
Camp Butler National Cemetery near Springfield, Illinois, established in 1862 on the site of a Union army training camp and prisoner-of-war facility, contains both Union soldiers and Confederate prisoners.
