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Great river road

M

missmuddy

Guest
I am taking the great river road from MPLS to Davenport.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Have you done this or any of the river road through Ioway?
 
Yes but it has been some time since I did the Iowa side so I am not much help with that.

http://www.experiencemississippiriver.com/ is a good resource for planning.

Depending on how much time and how hard you want to work at staying on the river makes a difference. If time is an issue I would take the MN crossing over to WI at La Crosse. Stay on 35 until at least Prairie du Chien. After that itÔÇÖs up to you. I would stay on the WI side and cross over to Iowa at Dubuque.
 
But...

If you stay on the WI side and cross at Dubuque, you will miss the opportunity to visit the highest point in Iowa and the infamous Balltown with its twice scorched Breitbach's. :dunno
 
GRR is a great ride. One side down, the other up!!! I'd suggest you make sure and take all the little side roads you can to get closer to The Mighty Mississip, it'll take you along the flood plains and through great little towns... Rode all the way up from Cairo, IL to Superior, WI twice in the last year.. Grand!!!
 
The Marquette Cafe in Marquette, IA, is awesome for a burger and chili. Effigy Mounds National Monument is neat. There is a cool hotel in McGregor, IA, called the Alexander (http://www.mcgregorhotel.com/). There a couple of good pubs on the main street overlooking the river in Guttenberg, IA, and the Riverview Cafe is cool because you can eat/drink overlooking the river and the dam. There is a fun car ferry that crosses at Cassville, WI. The Trempealeau Hotel is a very cool place with a good restaurant and saloon (http://www.trempealeauhotel.com/trempealeauhotel/default.asp?ID=29&PageData=392), neat rooms, and live music. Galena is a neat town with a great hotel/restaurant/pub, The Irish Cottage.

I have ridden almost all of the river road on both sides between Mnpls and Davenport. You will find that the smaller river towns are nice and have lots of character with small pubs and restaurants and cool, old, hotels.

I agree with another post that riding one side of the road down and one side up (remember, keep the rubber side down) is fun.
 
Thanks! This is exactly what i was looking for. Even a couple landmarks to search out will be fun.

My wife and two sons will be in the car, me and two buddies will be on bikes.

I am really looking forward to the Davenport swap meet. We went to the Springfield Mile last memorial day and it was a blast. Having my bike there this time will be great.

So I should plan on an 8 hour ride down there it sounds like.

Long live BMOA!
 
If you want a short side trip (and this for anyone else in this area), the "coulee" my dad was born and raised in (Sioux Coulee), is south of Lynxville WI, County Hwy "D" is full of nice curves and scenic, goes from 35 to Eastman WI/Hwy 27. From there you could go back and do it again or take 27 to Prairie du Chien.

Prairie du Chien I'd go south to Cassville and take the Cassville Ferry to I-O-Way:
http://www.cassville.org/ferry.html
Maybe go to Guttenburg IA for something to eat. Find "the other" Pikes Peak:
http://www.iowadnr.gov/parks/state_park_list/pikes_peak.html
(named for the same guy as the Colorado Pikes Peak, Zeb Pike.)
From there you could take the bridge back across and check out Galena IL.
All depends on the time you have, but a few of my favorite things in this area.

Gilly
 
The Minnesota and Iowa side is by far the most scenic because once you get to Savana, IL it's generally crappy farther south with nothing to see except depressed housing areas. I've done both sides this year and last and wouldn't consider the the WI or IL side again.

Can't agree about Wisconsin, Hwy 35 is a very nice ride, but totally agree about Illinois. Stay on the west side through Iowa and MO..
 
The BEST part, what you don't want to skip, is the WI side from south of LaCrosse (south of the junction of WI35 and US14) down to about that road I mentioned, County D, runs right along the river, best GRR route there is, very scenic, nice small towns to stop in if you wish. If you like sport riding, twisty WI roads, you will love County D.

Gilly
 
If you get time be sure to hop over to Anamosa,Ia. to the National Hall of Fame Museum.Some really cool stuff there.Oh and J&P cycle is just up the road.Ed
 
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