Illinois · Casino Road Trip Guide
The Mother Road
Starts Here.
301 miles of Route 66 across Illinois — and five casinos sitting right on it
Route 66 begins in downtown Chicago and runs southwest through Joliet, Pontiac, Bloomington, Springfield and out across the Mississippi at East St. Louis. Three hundred and one miles, the most famous road trip in America — and nobody has ever told you which casinos are on it. Five of them are. Add five more routes covering the rest of the state and you can drive to all seventeen Illinois casinos on roads worth driving: the Fox River run up to Rockford, I-74 straight across the farm belt, the Great River Road bluffs, and the hill country of Little Egypt. Pick a road, not a dot on a map.
Part of the Vantage Corridor Casino Network — thenetwork.casino
Six Routes Across Illinois
Every one of the state's seventeen casinos sits on exactly one of them
Casino counts add to seventeen — each property is assigned to one route. Routes intersect, and where they do it's called out on the route itself. Distances are approximate and measured end to end, not round trip.
Route 1 · Historic US 66 · 301 Miles · 5 Casinos
Route 66 — The Mother Road
Chicago → Joliet → Springfield → East St. Louis
Route 66 started in Chicago in 1926 and it still does. The eastern terminus sits downtown on Adams Street at Michigan Avenue — the westbound "Begin" sign is a block from the Art Institute — and from there the road runs 301 miles southwest across Illinois, through Joliet and Wilmington and Pontiac and Bloomington and Springfield, past Cahokia Mounds, and over the Mississippi into Missouri. It is the most-driven nostalgia route in the country. Five Illinois casinos sit on it, two of them within ten minutes of each other in Joliet, and nobody puts those two facts in the same guide. Here they are.
Mile 0 — Bally's Chicago
Bally's Corporation
The road begins downtown, and so does this. Bally's operates the only casino inside Chicago city limits, currently at Medinah Temple in River North — walking distance from the Route 66 "Begin" sign at Adams and Michigan. The $1.7 billion permanent resort at 560 W. Grand Ave targets spring 2027 with 3,400 slots, 173 tables and a 500-room hotel.
Next leg: 40 miles southwest to Joliet.
Mile 40 — Harrah's Joliet
Caesars Entertainment
151 N Joliet St. Route 66 runs straight through downtown Joliet, and Harrah's sits on the Des Plaines River right in the corridor. Full-service casino hotel, Caesars Rewards. If you're doing the Mother Road in two days, this is the natural first night.
Next leg: about 10 minutes across town.
Mile 42 — Hollywood Casino Joliet
Penn Entertainment
Opened August 11, 2025 — an all-new $185 million land-based property replacing the riverboat that ran here since 1992. Roughly 1,000 slots and 43 live table games. Two full casinos in one Route 66 town is not a thing that happens anywhere else on the Mother Road.
Next leg: 230 miles southwest through Pontiac, Bloomington-Normal, Lincoln and Springfield. This is the long stretch, and it's the good one.
Mile 275 — FanDuel Sportsbook & Horse Racing
Accel Entertainment
9301 Collinsville Rd, Collinsville — a few minutes from Cahokia Mounds, the UNESCO World Heritage site Route 66 passes on its way to the river. This is the 95-year-old thoroughbred track long known as Fairmount Park, rebranded under a FanDuel partnership and acquired by Accel Entertainment, which holds an Illinois Organization Gaming License permitting casino gaming at the site. Live racing — the only track on any of these routes. Confirm the current floor before you go.
Next leg: 20 minutes west to the river.
Mile 301 — DraftKings at Casino Queen
operated by Bally's Corporation
200 Front St, East St. Louis. The last Illinois stop before the Mississippi. Riverfront, roughly 38,000 sq ft of gaming, hotel and RV park, with the Gateway Arch filling the windows. Route 66 crossed here — the old Chain of Rocks Bridge is a few miles north and is now a pedestrian and bike crossing worth the detour.
End of Illinois. Missouri is five minutes over the Poplar Street Bridge.
What to stop for that isn't a casino.
The Gemini Giant in Wilmington. The Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum in Pontiac. The Cozy Dog Drive In in Springfield, where the corn dog was arguably invented. The Brooks Catsup Bottle water tower in Collinsville — the world's largest catsup bottle, and it is not close. Cahokia Mounds, a UNESCO World Heritage site and the largest pre-Columbian settlement north of Mexico. The Chain of Rocks Bridge at the end, with its famous 22-degree bend.
Two days, done right.
Chicago to Joliet is 40 minutes — play the Joliet pair, sleep at Harrah's. Day two is the long haul: Pontiac, Springfield, and lunch somewhere with a neon sign, ending at Collinsville and East St. Louis by evening. Cross into Missouri for dinner. That's the trip.
Caesars Stops on These Routes
Three Caesars properties sit on three different Illinois routes — Joliet on Route 66, Elgin on the Fox River run, Metropolis in Little Egypt.
Harrah's Joliet is the natural overnight on the Mother Road — forty minutes out of Chicago, two casinos in one town, and a hotel attached. If you're driving more than one of these routes, Caesars Rewards is what makes the trip add up: tier credits earned in Joliet or Metropolis carry to Las Vegas, Atlantic City, New Orleans and the rest of the network.
Illinois.Casino earns a commission if you book through these links, at no additional cost to you. We are not affiliated with Caesars Entertainment.
Route 2 · I-90 Northwest · ~90 Miles · 4 Casinos
The Fox River & Rockford Run
Chicago → Des Plaines → Elgin → Rockford
The shortest and easiest of the six. You leave the city on I-90 and inside twenty minutes you're at the highest-grossing casino in Illinois. Ninety miles later you're at a Hard Rock two exits from the Wisconsin border. A day trip, or a weekend if you time it around a show.
Stop 1 — Rivers Casino Des Plaines
Rush Street Gaming
2200 Onyx Dr, Des Plaines. Roughly 1,100 slots and 50+ table games, hotel, several restaurants, sportsbook. Five minutes from O'Hare, which makes it the single best casino in the Midwest to pair with a flight. Illinois' top-grossing floor.
Next leg: 25 miles west on I-90 to Elgin.
Stop 2 — Grand Victoria Casino Elgin
Caesars Entertainment
On the Fox River in downtown Elgin, one of the longest-established floors in the metro, with a hotel on property and Caesars Rewards. Eldorado bought it from MGM and Hyatt in 2018 and it came to Caesars in the merger.
Next leg: 50 miles northwest on I-90 to Rockford.
Stop 3 — Hard Rock Casino Rockford
Hard Rock International
Opened August 29, 2024. A 65,000 sq ft floor with about 1,300 slots and 50 table games, plus a Hard Rock Cafe, a Rock Shop, and Hard Rock Live — a real concert venue, which is the reason to time this stop around a show rather than just a session.
End of route, or take the spur.
Spur — American Place, Waukegan
Full House Resorts
Forty minutes east of Rockford, or straight up I-94 from Chicago. Operating as The Temporary by American Place since February 2023, near the North Shore about thirty minutes north of O'Hare. Full House broke ground on the permanent casino at 4011 Fountain Square Place in June 2026; the temporary floor stays open through construction.
What to stop for that isn't a casino.
Downtown Elgin's riverwalk is a genuinely good hour. In Rockford, Anderson Japanese Gardens is consistently rated among the best Japanese gardens in North America — an odd and excellent thing to find on a casino run.
Route 3 · I-88 / I-80 · ~50 Miles · 2 Casinos
The Suburban Arc
The Two Newest Floors in the Chicago Metro
The short one, and the one that didn't exist three years ago. Both casinos here opened since November 2024, and they sit on opposite edges of the metro — one west on I-88, one south on I-80. Do the arc in an afternoon, or clip either onto Route 66, which passes between them through Joliet.
Stop 1 — Hollywood Casino Aurora
Penn Entertainment
Opened June 24, 2026 — the newest casino in Illinois. An all-new $360 million resort off I-88 across from Chicago Premium Outlets, with 1,200+ gaming positions, a hotel, a full-service spa, a retail sportsbook, an outdoor entertainment area and a 12,000 sq ft event center. It replaced a Fox River riverboat.
Next leg: 35 miles southeast, crossing Route 66 at Joliet.
Stop 2 — Wind Creek Chicago Southland
Wind Creek Hospitality
East Hazel Crest, at I-80 and Halsted. Opened November 11, 2024 — a $529 million property with roughly 1,400 slots, 56 table games and three restaurants, parking structures reaching into neighboring Homewood. The first casino built to serve Chicago's south suburbs directly.
End of route.
This arc crosses Route 66.
Joliet sits between these two stops, which means you can run Aurora, both Joliet casinos, and Wind Creek in a single day and cover four floors inside fifty miles. That is the densest casino driving in Illinois.
Route 4 · I-74 · ~230 Miles · 3 Casinos
The I-74 Cross-State
Indiana Line → Peoria → Iowa Line
The longest straight line in Illinois gaming. I-74 enters from Indiana at Danville and leaves into Iowa at the Quad Cities, collecting three casinos with farm country in between. It crosses Route 66 at Bloomington-Normal, which makes it the natural second leg if you've already driven the Mother Road.
Stop 1 — Golden Nugget Danville
Golden Nugget
Right on the Indiana border. Opened as a temporary casino in May 2023 with a 41,500 sq ft floor — 500+ slots, 14 table games, a sportsbook and a Saltgrass Steak House. A permanent facility has been in development, so confirm which building is operating before you drive.
Next leg: 90 miles west on I-74 through Champaign-Urbana, crossing Route 66 at Bloomington-Normal, to Peoria.
Stop 2 — Par-A-Dice Hotel Casino
Boyd Gaming
East Peoria, on the Illinois River across from downtown Peoria. Full floor, hotel, dining, and Boyd's B Connected rewards. The only casino in central Illinois and the natural overnight on this route.
Next leg: 90 miles northwest on I-74 to Rock Island.
Stop 3 — Bally's Quad Cities Casino & Hotel
Bally's Corporation
777 Bally Blvd, Rock Island, on the Mississippi opposite Davenport, Iowa. Opened as Jumer's in December 2008 and rebranded under Bally's. Casino, hotel and banquet center.
End of route — and the north end of the Great River Road.
If you cross the river.
The Quad Cities straddle the state line, and Iowa has three more casinos within twenty minutes on the other side. That's a different guide — see BestInIowa.Casino.
Route 5 · Great River Road · ~280 Miles · 1 Casino
The Great River Road
Rock Island → Alton — a National Scenic Byway
The best-looking drive of the six and the only designated National Scenic Byway among them. The Great River Road follows the Mississippi down Illinois' western edge through limestone bluffs and river towns. It has exactly one casino on it, which is the point — this is the route you drive for the road, with a floor at the end. Take the two-lane where you can; the interstate parallels it and misses everything.
Stop — Argosy Casino Alton
Penn Entertainment
1 Piasa St, Alton. A genuine riverboat on the Mississippi, no hotel on site, about 35 minutes north of St. Louis. Alton is where the bluffs are at their best, and the stretch of Great River Road north of town is what people photograph.
End of route.
Connecting it up.
Start at Bally's Quad Cities where Route 4 ends and drive south — 280 miles of river. Finish at Alton, then drop 35 minutes further and you're at the tail of Route 66 in Collinsville and East St. Louis. Routes 4, 5 and 1 chain together into the best three-day casino drive in the Midwest.
What to stop for that isn't a casino.
The Piasa Bird painted on the bluff face just north of Alton. Pere Marquette State Park at Grafton. The Brussels Ferry, which is free and has run across the Illinois River for over a century.
Route 6 · I-57 / I-24 · ~200 Miles · 2 Casinos
Little Egypt
Metro East → Carterville → Metropolis
Southern Illinois is called Little Egypt, and it does not look, sound or feel like the rest of the state. This is hill country — Shawnee National Forest, a real wine trail, sandstone formations — and it's closer to Nashville and Memphis than to Chicago. Carterville is about 320 miles south of the Loop, roughly the distance from Chicago to Cleveland. Two casinos, and the drive between them is the reason to go.
Stop 1 — Walker's Bluff Casino Resort
Elite Casino Resorts
777 Walkers Bluff Way, Carterville. Opened August 25, 2023 — a $147 million, 190,000 sq ft resort with roughly 650 slots and table games, a 116-room hotel, restaurants, a full-service spa and a 1,200-seat event center. Minutes from Carbondale, Southern Illinois University and Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge.
Next leg: 60 miles southeast on I-24 to the Ohio River.
Stop 2 — Harrah's Metropolis
Caesars Entertainment
On the Ohio River in far southern Illinois, ten miles from Paducah, Kentucky. Caesars Rewards. About six hours from Chicago, which tells you everything about how long this state is.
End of route — and of Illinois.
What to stop for that isn't a casino.
The Shawnee Hills Wine Trail runs about twenty miles between Carterville and the Garden of the Gods, with a dozen wineries on it. Garden of the Gods itself is a sandstone overlook that looks nothing like Illinois. And Metropolis leans all the way into being Superman's hometown — there's a fifteen-foot statue on the courthouse square and a museum a block away.
Planning the Drive
Before you go
Minimum age is 21 at every Illinois casino. All seventeen are commercial licenses under the Illinois Gaming Board — there is no tribal gaming in Illinois. Sports betting has been legal since 2019 and fully mobile statewide since the in-person registration requirement was dropped in June 2022. Online casino gaming is not legal in Illinois.
On the road
Illinois has roughly 49,000 video gaming terminals at about 9,000 licensed bars, restaurants, truck stops and gaming cafes — the largest network of its kind in the world. On every one of these routes you will pass dozens. They are not casinos: no tables, no poker room, no comps, no loyalty tier. Fine for a stop; not a destination.
Crossing state lines
Five of these routes end at a border. Iowa across the river at the Quad Cities, Missouri across the bridge at East St. Louis, Kentucky across the Ohio at Metropolis, Indiana at Danville, Wisconsin past Rockford. Sports betting apps are geofenced by state and stop working the moment you cross.
More in the Network
BestInIllinois.Casino
The full statewide directory: all 17 casinos by region, operators, and the video gaming terminal story
→ bestinillinois.casino
BestInChicago.Casino
Where Route 66 begins: the eleven Chicagoland casinos in depth
→ bestinchicago.casino
SaintLouis.Casino
Where Route 66 leaves Illinois: seven casinos across two states in the St. Louis metro
→ saintlouis.casino
BestInIowa.Casino
Where Route 4 ends: all 23 Iowa casinos across the Mississippi
→ bestiniowa.casino
CasinoRoadTrip.Casino
Casino routes across the rest of America
→ casinoroadtrip.casino
Midwest.Casino
The full Midwest corridor in one guide
→ midwest.casino
Play Responsibly in Illinois
A road trip makes it easy to lose track of a budget across several days and several floors. Decide what the whole trip is worth before you leave, not at each stop. Free, confidential help is available around the clock, and Illinois' voluntary self-exclusion applies statewide — at every licensed casino and every video gaming location.
Illinois Gambling Helpline
1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537)
Or text ILGAMB to 833234
24 hours a day, 7 days a week — free and confidential
areyoureallywinning.com
• Illinois Gaming Board — igb.illinois.gov
• Illinois Department of Human Services, gambling help — dhs.state.il.us
• Statewide voluntary self-exclusion covers casinos, video gaming and sports wagering
You must be 21 or older for all casino gaming, video gaming and sports betting in Illinois. Illinois.Casino is an independent guide and is not affiliated with the Illinois Gaming Board or any casino operator. Distances and drive times are approximate. Hours, floors and opening status change — verify with the property before you drive.