Great River Road - Minnesota
Great River Road - Minnesota is an All-American Road in Minnesota. Within Minnesota it covers roughly 570 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Great River Road - Minnesota with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
The Minnesota leg of the Great River Road begins where the Mississippi rises at Lake Itasca — small enough to wade across at its headwaters — and follows the growing river south. Below the Twin Cities the route runs through the dramatic bluff country of the river's gorge, past river towns, locks, and broad overlooks. It is one segment of the ten-state Great River Road that traces the Mississippi to the Gulf.
- Mississippi headwaters at Itasca
- river-bluff country
- historic river towns
- the Great River Road
- Mississippi gorge
Designated for its scenic and historic qualities
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Places to stop along Great River Road - Minnesota
Itasca State Park
Minnesota's first state park, where you can walk across the infant Mississippi on stepping stones at its source, Lake Itasca.
WebsiteForest History Center
A Grand Rapids living-history site with a re-created 1900 logging camp and a river wanigan, or floating cook shack.
WebsiteCharles A. Lindbergh Historic Site
The aviator's boyhood home on the riverbank at Little Falls, a National Historic Landmark with exhibits on his famous flight.
WebsiteOliver Kelley Farm
A working 1860s farm and the home of the Grange's founder, with heirloom crops, oxen, and costumed farmhands.
WebsiteMill City Museum
Built into the ruins of what was once the world's largest flour mill, with a rooftop deck over St. Anthony Falls.
WebsiteHistoric Fort Snelling
A stone fort at the meeting of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, telling Dakota, military, and enslaved people's histories at Bdote.
WebsiteMississippi River Visitor Center
A National Park Service center in the Science Museum of Minnesota's lobby in St. Paul, with ranger programs on the river.
WebsiteNational Eagle Center
A Wabasha center with resident bald and golden eagles, overlooking a stretch of river where wild eagles gather each winter.
WebsiteMinnesota Marine Art Museum
A Winona museum of water-inspired art on the riverbank, with works by Monet, Van Gogh, and Hudson River School painters.
Website
Where to Stay along Great River Road - Minnesota
21 campgrounds and RV parks sit within about 5 miles of Great River Road - Minnesota.
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Photos of Great River Road - Minnesota
What is an All-American Road?
All-American Roads are the top tier of America's National Scenic Byways. To earn the title a road has to be a destination in its own right — offering features so exceptional, across several intrinsic qualities (scenic, natural, historic, cultural, archaeological or recreational), that they can't be found anywhere else.