Welcome to the Coffee Trail

Here's to discovering your new favorite coffee shop!

We have teamed up with Visit Effingham, Visit SI, and Southernmost Illinois Tourism to bring you the 2025 Southern Illinois Coffee Trail. This year's trail features 63 stops and spans 400+ miles. The trail runs from 8/1/2025 - 12/31/2025. We transitioned to a brochure-style passport this year to make it easier for those who mail in their completed passport. For questions email Tyler Pletsch at [email protected]. 

Request Your Passport

How it Works:

There are a few different ways you can participate in the coffee trail!

1. Download our app (go to the app store and search "Discover Downstate Illinois") → Sign Up (You must use an email we can contact you at, so that we can reach out to you regarding your prize) → Go to the Tours section → Click on "Southern Illinois Coffee Trail" → Scroll through the shops until you find one you want to visit → Show the app to the barista and click "Check-In Now" → Repeat until you've visited 8!
2. Pick up your passport from the participating coffee shops (while supplies last) → Ask the barista to stamp your passport on the designated "Stamp Your Passport Here" section → Repeat until you've visited 8 → Mail the passport brochure back to us no later than January 10, 2026 at: 4387 N. Illinois Street, Suite 200, Swansea, IL 62226
3. Request a passport from the link above → Repeat steps from #2

If you are mailing us a completed passport brochure: Please make sure to fill out the contact information. If it is not filled out, we will not be able to mail you a prize. You can choose to either tear out the page with your stamps or send us the entire passport brochure. 

The App:

For Android users: click here to download.

For Apple users: click here to download.

How to get a prize:

• Visit 8 of the coffee shops to win a prize!