Grand View Drive

Grand View Drive was laid out along the wooded bluffs above the Illinois River in the late 1800s and early 1900s, in an era when scenic pleasure drives were a popular civic improvement. It winds for a couple of miles along the heights through what is now Peoria Heights, curving with the land so that new views of the river open around the bends.

Along its length rose grand homes, built to take advantage of the bluff-top setting and its outlook over the valley. The mix of stately architecture, arching trees, and river views gives the drive its distinctive character, a genteel parkway of a kind that many cities once cherished.

The drive's enduring fame owes much to a story about Theodore Roosevelt. As the tale goes, the president visited Peoria in the early 1900s, was taken along the bluff-top road, and pronounced it the world's most beautiful drive, a quote the city has treasured ever since.

Like many such quotations, the exact wording is hard to pin down, but the association has become part of the drive's identity and is proudly repeated on markers and in local lore. True or embellished, the story captures the genuine appeal of the road, a beauty striking enough that people wanted a president to have praised it.

The drive's great asset is its outlook over the Illinois River, which spreads wide through its valley below the bluff. The overlooks and turnouts along the road frame the river, the wooded slopes, and the far bank, a broad and peaceful river-valley panorama that changes with the seasons and the light.

This river valley has drawn people for millennia and was the homeland of Native nations of central Illinois, including the peoples of the Illinois Confederacy, whose descendants today are enrolled in the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. The very name Peoria comes from that heritage, and the river the drive overlooks was a highway and home for the region's Native peoples long before the parkway was built.

Grand View Drive is best taken slowly, with stops at the overlooks and small parks along the way to take in the view. The road is narrow and winding and runs through a residential neighborhood, so an easy, respectful pace suits it best. Autumn is the showcase season, when the bluff and the valley below blaze with color.

The drive pairs naturally with a visit to Peoria itself, central Illinois's largest river city, with a revitalized riverfront, museums, and downtown attractions along the water below the bluff. Together the scenic drive and the river city make a full and rewarding day in the Illinois River Valley.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.