Route 66 Park

The Belvidere Cafe sign is the showpiece for good reason. The original Belvidere was a Litchfield institution from 1929 to 2003, a 24-hour cafe and tourist court on Route 66 that fed three generations of travelers, truckers, and locals. When the building was condemned and demolished in 2003, the sign came down with it and would have been scrapped if not for a last-minute rescue by the Illinois Route 66 Association. Volunteers stored the sign in a warehouse for a decade while raising the money and the expertise to restore it. The rebuilt sign incorporates the original metal frame and porcelain face with new neon tubes, transformers, and modern LED weather protection.

The Vic Suhling sign is the second-most-photographed object in the park. Vic Suhling's Gas For Less was a discount gas station that operated on Old Route 66 from 1948 until 1981, when Suhling retired and the lot was redeveloped. The sign - a curving, white-painted steel piece with red lettering and a small neon arrow - was donated by the Suhling family in 2011 and restored over two years. It is now lit nightly along with the Belvidere and has become a favorite background for Route 66 motorcyclist group photographs.

Other signs in the park rotate occasionally as the city and the Route 66 Association add new restorations. The 2019 phase added the restored Greyhound depot sign and a small piece of the original 1924 Ariston Cafe sign (the predecessor to the current 1935 sign), and 2025 saw the addition of a restored sign from the long-vanished Litchfield Theater, which closed in 1986. The city plans to add at least one new restoration per year through the 2030 anniversary cycle, with several signs in storage awaiting funding.

A paved walking path roughly 200 yards long connects the welcome center entrance to the rear of the park, passing each of the restored signs and a series of interpretive plaques along the way. The plaques cover not only the businesses whose signs are displayed but also the broader history of Litchfield's Route 66 era: the gas stations, the tourist courts, the diners, and the businesses that disappeared after the I-55 bypass of 1977. Most visitors complete the circuit in 20 to 30 minutes, with longer stops at the Belvidere sign and the photo wall.

The photo wall, installed in 2019, is a large painted Route 66 shield with the words DRIVEN BY in big letters above an open space where visitors can stand and have a photograph taken framed by the shield. The wall is one of the most-shared Route 66 photo spots on social media for Illinois travelers, and the welcome center staff will offer to take a group photograph for any visitor who asks at the front desk. The wall is angled to face north, which means the best light is in the morning; afternoon light puts the wall partly in shadow.

Beyond the signs and the photo wall, the park includes a small picnic area with three covered tables, a water fountain, bike racks, and a small dog-relief area. The grounds are well-maintained by the city parks department, with seasonal plantings of red and yellow flowers that complement the Route 66 color scheme. The park is open dawn to dusk but the signs remain lit until midnight, making evening visits the best for photography enthusiasts who want the neon at its full glow.

The Route 66 Park and the Litchfield Museum and Welcome Center share an address, a parking lot, and a single visitor flow. The natural way to visit is to start at the welcome center for orientation, brochures, and the indoor exhibits, walk out through the back door to the park for the signs and the photo wall, and then continue on foot or by car to the Ariston Cafe three blocks south. The total time for the full Litchfield Route 66 morning - museum, park, lunch at the Ariston, pastries at Jubelt's - runs roughly three hours.

Evening visits are also popular. After dinner at the Ariston, walk three blocks north to the park to see the Belvidere, Vic Suhling, and other signs lit against the Illinois night sky. The Skyview Drive-In is a mile farther north on Old Route 66, so a Friday or Saturday evening can combine dinner, the park, and a drive-in movie into a complete Litchfield Route 66 night. The welcome center is closed in the evening, but the park itself remains open and the signs remain lit.

Practical tips: the park is fully ADA-accessible, with paved paths and accessible parking shared with the welcome center. Restrooms are inside the welcome center and are accessible during the center's open hours. There is no charge for anything in the park, but the welcome center accepts donations for the ongoing sign restoration program. The Belvidere sign is one of three Illinois Route 66 stops officially recognized in the 2026 Centennial event circuit, and the park will host special evening illumination events during the Centennial year.