Midwest Road Closes Annually for a Massive Snake Crossing.
Thousands of people flock to Illinois' “Snake Road” every year to view the slithering serpent crossing
Cottonmouths are one of the more common snake to participate in the biannual movement (Photo: kristianbell/Getty Images)
Owen Clarke
Published September 19, 2025 03:11PM
Forest Service Road No. 345, better known as “Snake Road,” winds for roughly two and a half miles through southern
Illinois’ Shawnee National Forest, a region home to nearly 60 percent of the state’s reptile species.
And for over 50 years, it has intermittently closed to protect a massive snake crossing.
Each fall, between September 1 and October 30, and every spring, from March 15 to May 15, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) closes the road to vehicles and bicycles. During this time, around two dozen species of snakes slither from their winter dens in high limestone cliffs to their summer feeding grounds in LaRue Swamp.