Great River Road? (Mississippi River in IL/IA)

[rv_safetyman]

Hi folks, trying to put together some sight seeing between two rallies.  We will be in Elkhorn WI for the regional FMCA and then have a bit less than two weeks till we have to be in DeQuion, IL for a Fleetwood rally.

I thought someone had a thread on a highway that runs along the Mississippi in the IL/IA area, but I can't find it.  I have gone to a few websites but they really don't show the highways involved. It does look interesting though.  My Delorme does not show any highways  that parallel the river for very long distances.

Would someone be kind enough to give me some insight or links?  My main concern is to make sure I don't get into trouble with the Eagle and service truck.

Thanks,

Jim

[gumpy]

You're talking about 67 and 52. 67 runs from about I-80 north along the river to Sabula and meets 52 there. 52 runs through Dubuque and north into MN though it diverges from the river
north of Dubuque and it looks like there's one on the other side of the river that stays pretty close.

I've been on 52 from Dubuque with the bus. No problems, other than trying to find my way through Dubuque. I don't think you'll have any problems with the Eagle and service truck.

craig

[rv_safetyman]

Hi Craig.

I see those highways.  Is that a scenic drive?

I was concentrating on the roads south of I 80 heading down towards St. Louis.  Looks like US 61 follows the river more or less to St. Louis.  At Hannibal there is a state highway 79 that follows the river much closer, but looks like it could be a marginal highway.

I know that Pat, the girls, and I had a lot of fun in Hannibal when we drove my '56 Chevy on its first trip back east in '87.  Would like to spend a night or two there.

Jim

[Sean]

Jim,

We've done most of the Great River Road at one time or another, and even some smaller roads sometimes closer to the river.  No problems.  I found these two posts from way back, on our own visit to Du Quoin:
http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com/2005/09/where-ohio-meets-mississippi.html
http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com/2005/10/laptop-is-dead-long-live-laptop.html

HTH,

-Sean

[rv_safetyman]

Hi Sean.  That is funny.  I tried to search your blog, but did not find a good way to do it.  I figured you had done that route.

Thanks

Jim

[gumpy]

I see those highways.  Is that a scenic drive?

It's as scenic as you're going to get out here. It's hill country down there so there's some scenery. There are several things along the river to stop and see.  About what you'd expect
for an eastern state.

[rv_safetyman]

Sean, I looked at the blogs you linked.  They are all south of the area we are looking at. 

We are looking at starting at Debuque or Davenport and traveling south to St. Louis.  Looks like US 61 goes most of the way, but leaves the river in several places.

What I am struggling with it that folks talk about the "Great River Road", but so far I have not found a good site to show me what that is and what I can expect to see.  This will be one of our rare occasions where we have some spare time and want to take the "back roads".

Jim

[luvrbus]

Jim, we drove 84 on the Illinois side from I 80 north


good luck

[Melbo]

Jim there is an Iowa side and an Illinois side to the great river road.  There are good places to cross over and see different things on each side of the river. I have driven both sides at different times --- sometimes in the bus and sometimes in a car.  The only time I remember having problems going where I wanted was during the flooding of '93. Watch for the truck routes as you go through the cities.  The only three cities that come to mind as unusual (only when trying to follow the river) are dubuque keokuk and hannibal (which is really in MO)You can drive right down the middle of the quad cities on the iowa side but on the illinois side you will need to follow the interstate by pass or you will end up on the iowa side.  You can get some good information by looking at the little towns along the way and seeing what each one has to offer. If you want more specific information or ideas of what to look in different areas let me know.

Melbo

[Sean]

Jim,

We've been through most of Illinois on the river road, too, but those were the only posts I found in the blog.  BTW, we use Google to search our own blog -- works much better than the built-in search box on BlogSpot (which, ironically, is owned by Google).  For example, to find posts including the term "xyzzy" you would enter into Google "xyzzy site:ourodyssey.blogspot.com" (without the quotes).  This will work for any site or domain that Google has indexed.

Since a lot of your trip would be on the Illinois portion of the road, here is the web site for it, complete with maps:
http://www.greatriverroad-illinois.org/

HTH,

-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com

[gumpy]

What I am struggling with it that folks talk about the "Great River Road", but so far I have not found a good site to show me what that is and what I can expect to see.  This will be one of our rare occasions where we have some spare time and want to take the "back roads".

Well, this site says it's the "official" site...  http://www.experiencemississippiriver.com/

[rv_safetyman]

Thanks guys. 

I finally went to:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_River_Road.  At that site they talk about the "Great River Road"  about being a series of roads running from Canada to the Gulf. 

At:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Routing_of_the_Great_River_Road    they actually list the route in terms of each of the highways involved.

Looks like I have a lot of reading to do. 

We are really looking forward to a leisurely drive for once. 

Hope the bus cooperates

Jim

[Bill B /bus]

www.seeya-downtheroad.com/

Check the above website for the RV trip north on the Great River Road. 2007 trip.
Found this on the Escapees discussion forums several years ago. I was going to use the trip as a guide for our trip on the Great River Road.