Murphysboro, IL to St. Louis, MO

[Eappleton]

Hi,

My wife and I are cycling across the country and are coming through Carbondale in a week or so. We're in Owensboro, KY now. We are riding the Adventure Cycling Transam to Murphysboro and then our own route to St. Louis.  I'm wondering if someone has advice about a route on the Illinois or Missouri side.

I have been told that if we can get to Collinsville, the Chain of Rocks bridge is a good way in, but I'm not sure of a good route to Collinsville. I'm also wondering if crossing the Mississippi near Murphysboro and then coming up is a better idea.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Eric

[SlowAndSlower]

Look at IL 13 to Belleville and then take the Metro Link to St. Louis. If Katy is your target then the Metro Link runs clear to Lambert Field where it is a short jaunt to St Charles via the Page bridge.

[Eappleton]

Hi all,

Thanks for the advice. We ended up taking Palestine Rd from Chester to Walsh Rd to Baldwin Rd, then we took 13 to Belleville. We took Old Collinsville Rd up to Collinsville and made our way to the MCT trail and ended up crossing the Mississippi at the McKinley Bridge. It worked out pretty well, but it was a long day.

Eric

[lukethedrifter]

Wish I had registered sooner. Would have offered up a few suggestions but not the route I took back in '88 which was across the Interstate bridge at Jefferson Barracks.
No real good options from the south for crossing the Mississippi into STL. The Eads Bridge is great but ESL is pretty rough. The next closest place to the south is down in Chester, IL.

[rwnetworks]

Hi,
We recently road that stretch west to east.  We went from St. Louis via the Chain of Rocks bridge to Ste. Genevieve on 61 to Illinois via the Moduc ferry. We then travelled along rural roads to Chester and from Chester to Cave of Rocks.  We did create a blog and have included maps of our daily route segments.  Take a peek as the route may be of interest to you.  http://rwnetworks.blogspot.ca

Cheers...and happy cycling