GREAT RIVER ROAD
Starts Keokuk, Iowa ends Lansing, Iowa
241 miles
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Showboat. The Blues. The Mississippi River is arguably our most inspiring natural landmark. If you have a lot of time on your hands, you can ride shotgun with Old Man River all 2,350 miles, from the Gulf of Mexico to northwest Minnesota. Or you can sample what makes this river unique by giving the Iowa stretch of the Great River Road a try.
The Hawkeye State’s 328 miles of the River Road wind by more cultural and educational centers than it does in any other state. A good place to start is Keokuk, home to the George M. Verity Riverboat Museum. Its collection of maritime artifacts and information is housed, appropriately, aboard a historic paddle wheel boat.
The water is the star of the trip, but the scenery throughout Iowa puts on its own show, from the low riverbeds to the dramatic limestone bluffs sculpted over millennia by glacial meltwater. A three-hour drive north of Keokuk brings you to Leclaire,
birthplace of Buffalo Bill Cody and home to the museum that honors both his contributions as an explorer of the West and the Native Americans he encountered.
From there, it’s on to Dubuque, Iowa’s oldest city and a favorite haunt of Al Capone. You’ll find the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium here, along with its resident alligators, river otters, and turtles.
You can tour a bit of 19th-century America in historic Mcgregor, where Pikes Peak State Park provides one of the most expansive views anywhere along the Mississippi.
About 15 miles to the north, Harpers Ferry is home to Iowa’s most significant Native American relics: the 1,600-year-old representations of birds, bears, and more at Effigy Mounds National Monument. The sacred spot preserves
200 mounds from more than 20 tribes on 2,500 acres.
Ride along to the high scenic bluffs of Yellow River State Forest (home to 65 species of birds) on the way to Lansing’s 450-foot-high Mount Hosmer Park. On a clear day, you can see for 50 miles—wisconsin to the east and Minnesota to the north.