Great River Road - Minnesota
Great River Road - Minnesota is a State Scenic Byway 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
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What is a State Scenic Byway?
State Scenic Byways are roads a state has formally recognized for their scenic, natural, historic or cultural value — each state's own curated collection of drives worth taking slowly.