Great River Road Mississippi Drive Planner

The Great River Road follows the Mississippi for over two thousand miles, and the problem is that you cannot drive it all in one trip, so the real question is which stretch to pick. Most people assume the whole thing looks like the postcards of the South, but the river changes character every few hundred miles, and so does the road beside it.The upper river, from Minnesota through Wisconsin and Iowa, is the most scenic for driving, with limestone bluffs, small river towns, and overlooks that drop down to the water. This is the section to choose if you want quiet two-lane driving and the classic bald eagle and barge views, and it is best in the fall when the bluffs turn color and the traffic stays thin.The middle and lower stretches trade scenery for history and food. The river widens below St.

Louis, the cotton fields take over, and the towns, from Cairo to Natchez