Attractions Nearby Springfield, Day Trips and Excursions

(Springfield, Illinois - IL, USA)

Enjoying a relatively central location within the state of Illinois means that Springfield is extremely well-placed when it comes to planning day trips. There are plenty of attractions lying outside of the state capital, in all directions, and excursions are popular, both with locals and visiting tourists.

To the west and reached via Interstate I-72 is Jacksonville, Illinois, where the MacMurray College and the Illinois College are important historical colleges, founded in 1846 and 1829 respectively.

Lying further to the west of Springfield is the Meredosia National Wildlife Refuge, Pittsfield and Hannibal, the latter of which is a small town located just across the border in Missouri. The tourism scene in Hannibal is thriving, thanks in no small part to its strong connections with famous author Mark Twain, who grew up in this town and set his hugely successful Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn novels here. Visitors to Hannibal will find that the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum is a real must-see attraction.

General Information

Head to the north of Springfield, via Interstate I-55, and you will reach the small Illinois town of Lincoln in approximately 50 minutes.

Although there are a few places of interest within the town, such as the wealth of Abraham Lincoln artifacts on display at the local college, it is the recreational attractions and the green spaces just outside that are the big draw. These come in the form of the Edward R. Madigan State Fish and Wildlife Area, the Kickapoo Creek County Park and the Railsplitter State Park.

Further afield and located roughly an hour and a half away is the small city of Bloomington, meaning that this spot is just close enough for a day trip from Springfield to be possible. There are numerous family based attractions to be found within Bloomington, such as the Constitution Trail, the Genevieve Green Gardens, Grady's Family Fun Park, the Pepsi Ice Center (an indoor ice skating rink) and Miller Park Zoo, which has its origins in the 1890s and features many themed exhibits, such as Birds of North America and the Tropical Rainforest.

Other notable day trips from Springfield include the town of Petersburg, where Abraham Lincoln first chose to settle when he arrived in Illinois. Sited just on the outskirts of Petersburg and serving as one of the region's main tourist attractions is Abraham Lincoln's New Salem State Park, which is an authentic reconstruction of an early 1830s settlement, with more than 20 log cabins. Over 500,000 people now come to the park each year, enjoying the visitors center and the presentations at the open-air theater.

Around 75 miles / 121 km to the southeast of Springfield, Vandalia makes for an interesting excursion, being founded in 1819 and once serving as the Illinois state capital. One attraction to look out for here is the Vandalia State House State Historic Site, which was built in 1836 in a Federal style, with Greek Revival architectural features added a few decades later.