Rock Island Trail State Park is a 26-mile rail trail in west-central Illinois from north Peoria to Toulon, created on a former railroad corridor. Built between 1869 and 1871 as the Peoria and Rock Island Railroad and later absorbed by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, the line once carried grain to Peoria distilleries and became tied to the city’s whiskey industry. Traffic fell after Prohibition, and service ended in 1963. Acquired for public use and later deeded to the state, the route opened as a public trail in 1989. It includes bridges, a pedestrian tunnel, prairie remnants, recreation areas, and a former depot now serving as trail headquarters.