Chain of Rocks Bridge

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Credit: Ted Curtis

Once the crossing point for the historic Route 66 over the Mississippi River, the Chain of Rocks Bridge is now one of the most important and visible links in the Confluence Greenway along this 40-mile corridor of the Mississippi River. Restricted completely to pedestrian traffic, it has become a venue for community events and summer festivals. The bridge provides spectacular views of the distant St. Louis skyline with its distinctive Gateway Arch and a place to observe herons, egrets, and bald eagles that thrive in the ecologically rich bottomland forests and floodplain marshes at the river's edge. TPL contributed $90,000 to the renovation effort led by the local nonprofit land trust, Trailnet, Inc. The grant was part of a special fund TPL administered as a provision of 1989 settlement between the Shell Oil Company and the Natural Resources Defense Council, to be used for land conservation work along a designated segment of the Mississippi River.