Kankakee is a small city in northeastern Illinois, sitting along the Kankakee River about sixty miles south of Chicago, and a rental car is a straightforward way to get around a region better suited to driving than to public transit. Kankakee has a small municipal airport and local rental options in town, though many visitors instead pick up a car in Chicago itself, either at O'Hare or Midway, and drive down via Interstate 57, a direct route that typically takes an hour to ninety minutes depending on Chicago-area traffic.
Once you are on the road around Kankakee, the city sits at a useful crossroads for exploring the surrounding farm country and river towns of Illinois' Kankakee River valley. Kankakee River State Park, just northwest of downtown, offers riverside trails and canoe access within a short ten-to-fifteen-minute drive, while the flat agricultural land stretching in every direction makes for easy, low-stress highway driving compared with denser Chicago traffic. Bourbonnais and Bradley, immediately adjacent to Kankakee, blend into the same drivable area and add a few more dining and shopping options within minutes of the city center.
Driving is on the right throughout the United States, and Illinois' interstate network around Kankakee is well maintained, toll-free on I-57 itself, though nearby toll roads exist closer to Chicago on routes like the Tri-State Tollway. Winters bring genuine snow and ice to the region, and driving conditions on I-57 can deteriorate quickly during a Midwest winter storm, so checking forecasts before a longer trip and allowing extra following distance in poor weather is sensible. Fuel stations are common along the interstate exits and throughout town, making Kankakee an easy, low-friction base for exploring this quiet corner of Illinois by car, whether your trip centers on the river, the farmland, or simply passing through on I-57 between Chicago and points south.