Read (or listen to!) our Canal Stories, and discover fascinating people and tales and their impact on the region, nation and even world. Shown: Ernest Hemingway!
Celebrate the I&M Canal's 175th Anniversary with events from April 2023 to April 2024.
NOW HIRING: Apply for our open MANAGING DIRECTOR position in our Lemont office. Click for details >
The Illinois & Michigan Canal National Heritage Area is the first of its kind: a national park of communities, not federal land. Based around the I&M Canal, which connected the Illinois River to Lake Michigan creating an all-water, inland route from the East Coast to the Gulf of Mexico, our National Heritage Area is made up of 60 cities and towns, from Chicago to LaSalle-Peru, who owe their growth to the canal.