Great Rivers: The Route

It is not actually possible to stay right next to the Mississippi River all the way from Headwaters to the Gulf despite the valiant efforts of Mississippi River Trail, Inc. The Great River Road of course purports to hug the Mississippi all the way, but this is not entirely true, and many stretches are not appropriate or desirable territory for bicycles. The best effort to accommodate cyclists along the Mississippi, as far as I can tell, has been made by our friendly neighbors to the East: Wisconsin. They have published a great and free set of maps that includes waypoint and elevation information. Hats off to them for that.

When my brother and I went across the United States, we solely relied on maps by the Adventure Cycling Association and fared very well with a combination of Western Express and Transamerica. The also offer a route called Great Rivers, which I will combine with Sections 5, 6, and 7 of the Norther Tier Route to make my way South. They really do an excellent job with their maps and allow you to just get up and go without having to plan anything besides how many days you think the indicated distance is going to take you. Very nice.

This route will deviate somewhat from the Great River's path and is therefore called Great Rivers, acknowledging that both the Missouri and the Ohio rivers will be part of the equation. I will not follow the ACA maps religiously, especially in Minnesota, but that's basically the route I will follow.