Ohio River Scenic Byway
Fort Defiance State Park, IL

Once labeled as the "park no one wants" by the Chicago Tribune, Fort Defiance has made a miraculous recovery from neglect through the efforts of the citizens of Cairo. Fort Defiance, the Civil War post commanded by General U.S. Grant, was once a Union supply base. The southern terminus of the Illinois section of the Great River Road, Fort Defiance State Historic Site lies at the awesome confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Although they flow down the same channel, the two rivers remain separate, the Ohio blue and the Mississippi a muddy brown for several miles.