Mississippi River Road

[miller2540]

We are planning to travel the Mississippi River Road this summer. Is there one good place to find information or do we need to contact each state? Do you have any travel hints or must not miss spots? Any memories or thoughts to share?

[welove2drive]

Navybanker is referring to Cahokia Mounds and visitor center that is east of St. Louis.
I cannot imagine any stretch of river road nicer than Rt. 100 between Alton, IL and Grafton, IL. It is better viewed traveling south as you are in the lane closest to the river. It is a 2 lane divided highway between the base of the beautiful bluffs and the river. I believe it is about 16 miles. Take a little tour of Elsah, IL in your truck. Google Grafton, IL and look at "images". Grafton is at the confluence of the IL and Mississippi rivers. Just to the north of Grafton, IL is Pere Marquette State Park.

I would get on Rt 96 east of Hannibal, MO then Rt 100 by Hardin (bridge over IL river) then south to Pere Marquette SP. There is a life size chess table on the floor in the lodge. The campground has electric. No FHU. There is a nice drive up above the lodge with several lookouts and you can go back down a different way back to Rt. 100 that is also scenic. You end up about 3 miles south of the lodge. Grafton, IL is a neat river town with local restaurants, wineries. The Loading Dock has a nice flea market on the 4th Sat/Sun April-Oct. The Aeries Winery view is spectacular!
You can take your truck/toad across the Grafton Ferry($) in to St. Charles County, MO and visit old St. Charles (river history, brick street, old buildings w/shops, brewery, restaurants, casino). The Brussels Ferry is free across the IL river in to lower Calhoun County, IL. This is nice hilly scenery. You can also take the Golden Eagle Ferry ($) over to St. Charles County, MO. I don't think that I would trust GPS on the MO side as it is just country roads between the river and St. Charles.

If you are just passing through take Rt 100 to Alton, IL turn right at the light on Rt. 143 to Route 3 to I-270 to I-255 and you will cross the Mississippi just north of Columbia, IL. See the confluence tower and Lewis & Clark Museum near Hartford, IL.
Happy travels,
Marcia

[navybanker]

My bad! Native "American"!!!!

[navybanker]

Columbus - Belmont State Park in Kentucky is a civil war site, on a high bluff overlooking the Mississippi and has a nice campground. Reelfoot Lake in NW Tennessee is also interesting. Lake was created by 1811/12 earthquakes by back flow from Mississippi. Very nice state park campground but no sewer connection at sites. Bass Pro Shop in downtown Memphis is more than just a retail store. I agree on stopping in Memphis. It is like most cities now you have to be careful where you go but worth seeing. The Peabody Hotel downtown is a fun place to watch the trained ducks enter the lobby. I just finished reading a book on revolutionary war in Kentucky and Illinois that mentioned the Chokia(sp) Native Indian settlement just east of St. Louis that is now a state park. We have not been there but research on it placed on our must see list.

[Dr_Quick]

We traveled about 1/3+ of the Mississippi river from Davenport Iowa to upper Wisconsin last year. Most of the river fronts on private land, and in some areas access to the river is limited. We did notice that from LaCross to Nelson Wisc the trip along the river had much better views on the Minnesota side. Some how our GPS got us to cross the river at LaCross, along that section, which we ended up being thankful for. Stayed at a very nice campground in Nelson.

[tdsxt51]

Was just talking to friends the other day about that route, and they said do lots of research- there's places to go, and places not to go. They didn't seem to be too impressed, but seems like a great drive to me. (I got the impression they were talking about the parts of the River Road in Missouri)

[paulj]

As a grad student I took the train between Chicago and Mpls several times. That route ran through La Crosse and up the river.

One time I rode my bike back, favoring county roads. The flat roads along the river were too busy, especially on the MN side. So have I distinct memories of the hills on either side of the river. East of La Crosse I rode the Elroy-Sparta Trail, a relatively new creation at the time. Now there's 100 miles of designated bike trail in this area.

Elroy Sparta maps

Minnesota has designated a Mississippi River bike trail, with detailed maps. As long as you don't hit bike riders on the shoulder this might be a good resource for slow-and-local drives along the river.

Mississippi River Trail

[Tom_Trostel]

If you are driving the upper Mississippi, do not miss Pikes Peak State Park at McGregor, Iowa. It's at the confluence of the Wisconsin River. Also lots of history across the river in Prairie du Chien.

[tatest]

The Great River Road is one of the road trips included in Jamie Jensen's "Road Trip USA."
This is now up to 7th edition. I have the 4th and use the book extensively for trip planning and dreaming.

[paulj]

I'll admit I haven't spent much time at Itasca. Last time it was a way stop on the way to Alaska. We'd spent the night in the Osakis area (I94) with friends, and were headed to Grand Forks. My first planned stop in Canada was Riding Mtn.

[Alabama_Jim]

Fulltimedanile summoned it up well. If you like casinos there are some just outside of Memphis in Tunica, MS. and more in Vicksburg. Don't miss the battlefield at Vicksburg. Natchez is pretty. Get hot tamales at Vicksburg, Sollies Tamales is great. Good tamales in Natchez also. Port Gibson, just south of Vicksburg is pretty; it is the city that Grant stated was too pretty to burn. Hwy 62 from Memphis to Vicksburg runs right through the delta area and is a good road, but long stretches with little to see. You can hear some good blues music at several places. Have fun and be safe. God Bless your trip.

[dewey02]

paulj wrote:
Lake Itasca is a modest size state park with the big draw being a stream exiting the lake.

33,235 acres; or
13,450 hectares; or
51.5 square miles.

I'd say that's a fairly hefty sized state park for a state in the Midwest.

[agesilaus]

We've taken ILL 96 in IL which is semi-close to the river. We do this to avoid St Louis and usually cross the river at Keokuk. US 64 on the west side of the river is closer in some places.

[dewey02]

We live in Northern Minnesota and have been to Itasca State Park many times.
It is a beautiful park, and has two campgrounds. We prefer Pine Ridge campground, which is away from Lake Itasca but has a more wooded atmosphere. Bear Paw campground is right on the lake but more open. Lots to do there. The Douglas Lodge was built by the CCCs and has great meals. They have two excellent visitor centers. The one by the East entrance is far more educational than the one at the headwaters outflow. Be sure to take Coborn's Boat tour to learn about the history and exploration of the area, as well as see some interesting wildlife (eagles are almost always seen on the boat tour).

We took the Great River road up from Kentucky back to Minnesota last November. Very beautiful views for much of the route. There are many state and other parks along the route for camping. In many places, the byway runs on both sides of the river. We used this to try to avoid the big cities when we could, but perhaps you want to explore the cities as they have a lot to offer as well.

I also just finished reading the book "One Good Story" by Ron Severs. It is a quick read, but he travelled from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico in a kayak a few years ago, camping along the way with just what he carried on his kayak. His overall takeaway was that the people he met along the way were the absolute best part of his trip. It might be fun for you to read this or take it along with you to read on your journey. Here's the Amazon link: "Link to One Good Story by Ron Severs"

And here is a link to the National Scenic Byways website. There you can get email contact information for each state that has the Great River Road running through it and they can provide more specific info for that state. I used to work for the National Scenic Byway National Resource Center and we could have provided you with all this information. However, US-DOT chose to defund pretty much the entire program about 4 years ago. So there is little support for existing National Scenic Byways, other than the local byway organizations that promote and manage the byways and many are struggling. When accessing the National Scenic Byways link, be sure to click on the individual state maps and photos link on the left side of the page. Lots of detailed maps and great photos there. Link to Great River Road info, individual state maps and photos

And here is a copy of the final edition of the Journal for America's Byways. While geared toward managers of scenic byways, it (and its two other companion editions) can give you an idea of some of the byways you may encounter along your route and in other areas. There is an article that deals with the Mississippi River byway in Minnesota, and one that highlights the Creole Nature Trail (In Louisiana, but not on the Mississippi River).

Byways Journal Issue 3 - Mississippi River Byway and Creole Nature Trail
Byways Journal Issue 1 - Roads designed for Pleasure, Part 1
Byways Journal Issue 2 - Roads Designed for Pleasure, Part 2

[paulj]

I have relatives in Mpls, and have lived in Chicago, so I've driven at one time or other along the northern part of the river.

Lake Itasca is a modest size state park with the big draw being a stream exiting the lake.

I never tried to stay close to the river as it flowed toward the Twin Cites. But there are lots of lakes and recreation in that part of the state.

At Mpls the river drops over St Anthony Falls (now a dam near downtown), and runs in a gorge from there to Illinois. But south the cities you can't get close to the river until the WI/MN border (where the St Croix joins). From there to I90 there are towns and divided highway on the MN side. On the WI side river access comes and goes. This is probably the most scenic part of the river.

South of I90 I believe there's better river access on the WI/IL side. The Illinois Palisades is a nice scenic area.

My impression is that further south, the river flows mostly across flat land, with a scattering of bluffs. River access and views will come and go.

Starting in Ohio you could go north through Michigan, and approach the headwaters from US2. I consider the northern Great Lakes to be more scenic than the river.

If going south, skirting Chicago, you could see scenic stuff in south central WI before getting to MN. For example, the WI river, Devil's Lake, WI Dells, etc. WI south of I90 is old rolling hills, north of it is flat (like the NS contrast in Ohio).