Explore the roots of one of America’s most popular presidents along the Ronald Reagan Trail. President Ronald Reagan was always proud of his Illinois roots. Hometown hero, movie star and eventual 40th president of the United States had roots that ran deep in northern Illinois. His two terms as Governor of California prepared him for two terms as president of the United States. During his eight years in the White House, Reagan ushered in a period of low inflation, economic growth and the end of the Cold War standoff with the Soviet Union.

Follow his early life through the self-guided driving tour through 13 Illinois cities. Begin in the quaint village of Tampico where Ronald Wilson Reagan was born. Explore his ancestral roots in Fulton where Reagan’s grandparents lived and are buried and his parents were married. In Dixon, tour the Reagan Boyhood Home, the First Christian Church, the Dixon Public Library, the Loveland Museum, the Dixon Historic Center (tour via Youtube: Ronald Reagan's Hometown of Dixon Remembers), the Dixon Historic Theatre and Lowell Park where Reagan worked as a lifeguard for 7 summers and saved 77 lives. At Dixon’s new Heritage Crossing on the Rock River, see the life-size bronze sculpture of a young Reagan on horseback entitled, “Begins the Trail”.

Visit our web site, ronaldreagantrail.net, to learn about the events and attractions offered by each community along the Trail. For a Ronald Reagan Trail brochure or information on things to see and do along the trail in Northwest Illinois please contact Blackhawk Waterways CVB at 800-678-2108.