Fisherman's Corner Recreation Area COE

   This is a nice, well maintained, little campground. It sits along the Mississippi but few of the sites have a good water view. The sites are fairly close together with no vegetation between them for privacy. Easy access to the Great River Trail bike path.

  None of the sites are marked as accessible but most are usable. All have concrete parking pads. Some of them have been recently resurfaced and the concrete extends under the tables. The tables have a very short overhang.

Many of the sites are long enough for any size RV.  Campground
 41.56917, -90.39055

Jumer's Casino Rock Island

   Most of the time casinos are good, quiet places to spend the night but shortly after we parked the section on the right in the picture was filled with trucks. It was just like parking at a truck stop! We left but if you want to stay here just follow the signs for truck and RV parking.

  The casino entrance is a good distance away. There isn’t a back door so you must go completely around to the front.  Casino
41.46037, -90.61442

John Deere Factory Tours–Harvester Works

   Photography is not allowed on the tour but you can get a photograph of yourself in the cab of this huge combine,  pretending to be a farmer – a farmer with an extra $700,000 to spend on new equipment! This is the largest combine John Deere makes which is not sold to the average farmer but the factory tour gives visitors a good idea of all the work and parts that it takes to build even the smallest combine.

  The tour, a tram ride through the whole factory, is about 1 1/2 hours long. The paint station stop involves climbing two sets of stairs but anyone staying on the tram will still be able to hear the commentary from the tour guide.Call a few days ahead to give them time to get the wheelchair accessible tram car out of storage. The car has a ramp for access and tie down straps.

  The parking lot is large enough for all RVs. Tour
41.52402, -90.44121

John Deere Pavilion

   John Deere's first piece farming equipment, built in 1837, was a simple horse pulled plow with a polished steel blade designed to slice through the sticky mid west soil.  Now the company has factories worldwide making farming, construction, logging and home lawn care equipment. This museum has a short history of the company founder plus lots of new equipment to climb on.

  The museum is all accessible. It even had a excavator simulator with a moveable chair so that a wheelchair can be rolled into position.

  The parking lot at the pavilion is too small for large RVs but there is another larger lot just east across 15th Street. Pavilion
41.50732, -90.51748

Buffalo Bill Museum

   Bill Cody spent the first seven years of his life on his family’s farm near the small town of Le Claire, Iowa and has been honored with this museum in his name. The Cody display is a small part of the museum which also has  local history and an intact riverboat housed in its own building.

  The main museum is accessible but some of the displays are too high to easily view.The riverboat is not accessible but exterior can be viewed.

The parking lot is large enough for all RVs.  Museum
41.59862, -90.34273

Mississippi River Distilling Company Tour

  The entire brewing process take place in this room. During a short tour, given by one of the owners, visitors learn about what’s involved in producing the small batch ryes, vodkas,
 gins and bourbons which are made as much as possible with local ingredients. A generous shot of your choice is available at the bar after the tour.

  Everything is accessible.

  Parking for RV is available at the Buffalo Bill Museum. It’s just a short walk to the distillery. Tour
 41.59981, -90.34348 
          

Black Hawk State Historic Site

 Many buildings and roads in our national parks and state parks were built by young men serving in the CCC during the depression. This CCC lodge was built by much older men, WWI veterans who had lost their jobs and needed to support their families. It’s a beautiful building carefully crafted of locally quarried limestone, huge log posts and beams, and hand forged ironwork. It contains a large meeting room, an exhibit about the CCC project and a museum about the Sauk and Meskwaki  Indians who lived on this land until they were forced out in 1831.

 A long slightly sloped walkway leads to the lodge entrance. The CCC exhibit and meeting room are accessible but the Indian museum has a dangerously steep ramp leading down to it. Help is  necessary to prevent tipping backwards on the trip back up.

 The parking lot is large enough for all RVs. Turn into the right lot because the left lot has a low clearance.  Lodge
41.46446, -90.57215

Quad City Botanical Center

          
    Tropical plants, a waterfall. and Koi ponds are located in the atrium. The outside gardens include rare conifers, ornamental grasses, wildflowers, and perennials.

   The atrium and the first part of the outside gardens are accessible but the major portion outside has no walkways, only thick grass which is very hard to push through.

  The parking lots are large enough for any RV. Go to the far end of the entrance driveway before turning into the lot to avoid brushing against the tree branches.  Garden
41.50938, -90.56384

Hennepin Canal Trail Camping - Lock 21

   Hennepin Canal State Park is a 104.5 mile long linear park that includes nine camping areas. The campgrounds are primitive with pit toilets, tables, and fire rings. There are no pay boxes. A ranger makes the rounds to collect fees.

   Lock 21 has a small boat ramp and camping area with room for a few RVs (picture above), another  larger camping area and a horse camp. The sign along US 6 designates this as a day use area but camping is permitted. There’s some noise from traffic and an occasional train.The canal tow path is great for hiking, bike riding, or horseback riding.

  The ground is hard parked so rolling around is fairly easy. The tables have short overhangs. The pit toilets have good concrete walkways, easy to open doors and roomy interiors with grab bars. The tow path is finely crushed rock with a few soft spots.

  The larger camping area should accommodate any size of RV.  Canal Camping
41.36399, -89.61241
 

Illinois Route 66 Hall Of Fame and Museum

   Along with hundreds of Route 66 artifacts this museum has two special gems, the 1972 Volkswagen van that artist, Bob Waldmire, lived in as he drove back and forth on the road, painting murals and selling small copies of his drawings; and the 1966 converted school bus that he lived in in Illinois. The building also has a War Museum which is mostly just uniforms from different wars.

  The museum is partially accessible. There’s a slight ramp to the door, which opens out, so it’s a little difficult to maneuver plus the threshold is high. The first floor of the museum is all accessible. An elevator goes to all of the floors except of the fifth. The second floor is a gift shop which we didn’t visit. The third floor has displays about daily life during the 1940s. Most of it is accessible. The forth floor is the War Museum which is accessible. The curb cuts and sidewalks are fairly good.

  A free parking lot is located across the street from the museum. Vans and small RVs will fit but larger RVs might have to be parked along the street. Museum
40.88108, -88.62903