Rock Island, IL Road Trips

Rock Island is the county seat of Rock Island County, with a population of 37,000 in 2020. It is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline and East Moline in Illinois and the cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa. The city was the site of one of the largest Native American villages in the 18th and early 19th centuries. The first railroad bridge across the Mississippi River was built between Arsenal Island and Davenport in 1856. Lock and Dam No. 15, completed in 1934 as a federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) project during the Great Depression, is the largest roller dam in the world. Rock Island - The District, 226 17th St., Suite 11, ☏ +1 317 277-0937 ext 118. Summer hours: M-F 9AM-5PM, Sa 9AM-4PM; winter hours: M-F 10AM-4PM, Sa seasonal. Extended hours for special events. A full-service visitor center and gift shop that offers visitor information, maps, gifts, souvenirs, postcards, locally-made food and drink, and Quad Cities merchandise.

1 Black Hawk State Historic Site, 1510 46th Avenue, ☏ +1 309 788-9536. Hauberg Museum: Mar-Oct: 9AM-5PM, Nov-Feb: 9AM - 4PM, (closed year-round noon - 1PM for lunch). Black Hawk State Historic Site is a wooded 208-acre tract along the Rock River. The area is most closely identified with the Sauk nation and the warrior-leader for whom it is named, Black Hawk. Mississippi River Visitor Center, 200 Rodman Ave. (Rock Island Arsenal near the Government Bridge from Davenport), ☏ +1 309 794-5338. Memorial Day to Labor Day: M-F 9AM-5PM, Sa-Su 9AM-7PM; Labor Day-Memorial Day: M-Su 9AM-5PM, except Christmas Eve 9AM-noon. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. The Mississippi River Visitors Center gives visitors the opportunity to view navigation through Lock & Dam 15. There are also displays about the river's past and present. The Visitor Center is on a military installation so you will need to pass through a security checkpoint as you enter the island. People over the age of 16 will need to show a photo ID (driver’s license) and tell the security guard where you are planning to visit. 2 Quad City Botanical Center, 2525 4th Avenue, ☏ +1 309 788-9536. Nov–Mar: M-Sa 10AM-4PM, Su noon-4PM; Apr–Oct: M-Sa 10AM-5PM, Su noon-5PM.

The Downtown Rock Island Arts & Entertainment District, Downtown Rock Island, ☏ +1 309 788-6311, fax: +1 309 788-6323, [email protected]. Known locally as The District, it is home to variety of shops, cultural amenities and nightlife. A variety of festivals are held throughout the year. Grand Parade. Part of the Quad Cities St. Patrick's Day celebration in March, this parade goes from Rock Island to Davenport and is the only St. Patrick's Day parade in the country to go through two states. 1 Bally's Quad Cities Casino & Hotel, 777 Bally Blvd (I-280 and Illinois 92 West), ☏ +1 309-756-4600. The Casino features 42,000 ft² (3,900 m2) of gaming, containing 1,000 slot machines, 24 table games, live poker and a high limit slot room. A hotel, lounges and restaurants are also a part of the complex. Quad City Symphony Orchestra, ☏ +1 563-322-7276, fax: +1 563 322-6864. Box Office: M-F 8:30AM-4:30PM. Since 1915. Based in Davenport, subscription concerts are held at Centennial Hall on the campus of Augustana College on Sunday afternoons. Circa 21 Dinner Playhouse, 1828 3rd Ave., ☏ +1 309 786-2667, fax: +1 309 786-4119, [email protected]. Wednesday-Sunday evenings, and a Wednesday matinee performance. Broadway musicals and comedies are performed onstage after a buffet dinner. The Speakeasy offers adult themed improv comedy shows, comic open mic nights, burlesque shows and cabarets on Friday and Saturdays. Located in the former Fort Armstrong Theater, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Victorian Inn Bed & Breakfast, 702 20th St, ☏ +1 309 788-7068. Check-in: 3-5PM and 7-9PM, check-out: 11AM. Six guest rooms in an 1876 house listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 1 Holiday Inn, 226 17th Street Suite 100, ☏ +1 309-794-1212, [email protected]. A full-service hotel that features an indoor pool, fitness center and Bennigan's Irish American Grill. (updated Apr 2026) 2 Bally's Quad Cities Casino & Hotel, 777 Bally Blvd (I-280 and Illinois 92 West), ☏ +1 309-756-4600. Part of the Bally Casino complex. Hotel includes restaurants, lounges, indoor pool and fitness center. (updated Apr 2026)

Rock Island is about 170 miles west of Chicago, and midway between Minneapolis-Saint Paul to the north and St. Louis to the south. Rock Island and the rest of the Quad Cities form the largest urban concentration between St. Louis and Minneapolis-St. Paul along the Mississippi River. Major interstates I-80, I-88 and I-74 provide ready access to the area, making the region a preferred location for logistics and distribution facilities. Interstates 80 (east and north) and 280 (south and west) form a beltway around the metro area. Interstate 74 comes up from the south and for a short distance joins I-280 on the beltway before it travels into Moline. Rock Island is generally accessed from I-280 and Illinois Route 92. From the Interstate to just west of the downtown area Illinois 92 forms the Centennial Expressway. It is a regular 4-lane street downtown (First Avenue). From Davenport the Centennial Bridge, which carries US Route 67 traffic, is the typical way into the city on the west side of downtown. The Government Bridge on the east side of downtown is also an entry point, however the bridge sets low above the water and has a swing-span to allow barge and other river traffic to pass through. This will cause delays. Rock Island and Moline share a border and several streets which act as entry points. The street names are different in each city. Fourth Avenue in Moline (Illinois 92) becomes Sixth Avenue in Rock Island and connects the two downtown areas.

Rock Island is generally an easy city to navigate. The city streets are basically laid out in a grid pattern with the avenues traveling east to west and streets north to south. Very few streets are named and instead are numbered. The numbers for the avenues begin at the Mississippi River and progress in order as you travel south. The street numbering system begins in the west and progresses in order as you travel east. The Mississippi River generally travels through the Quad Cities from east to west before heading in its normal southerly direction. Thus, Davenport, Iowa is to the north of Rock Island and not to its west. The Quad Cities has a wayfinding color code system for signs that direct people to various venues and attractions in the area. The area is divided into quadrants with their own colors and identifying headers on direction signs have the appropriate color for each quadrant so that you will know, by color, which quadrant you are in and to which color you will have to travel to reach other attractions. Rock Island is in the southwest quadrant and its attractions are on signs that use the red color in the header. The southeast quadrant (Moline-East Moline) is blue, the northeast quadrant (Bettendorf) is yellow, and the northwest quadrant (Davenport) is green. Public transportation via city buses is available in the Illinois Quad Cities by MetroLINK buses. There is a connection with Davenport's CitiBus at the downtown bus terminal along Third Avenue.