Great river road

[PICKLEKOOKEN]

I'm thinking of riding up for the gulf on the Great River Road in august. I will ride from the gulf to the Ozarks ish. What side is the better ride East or West?

[Daniel Kalal]

I'm thinking of riding up for the gulf on the Great River Road in august. I will ride from the gulf to the Ozarks ish. What side is the better ride East or West?

I think there really is no "best" side of the road.  You'll likely want the two-lane highway and not whatever happens to be larger on the other side.  Also, there are a number of old historic bridges and even a few ferries that you'll want to cross (Hickman has a nice long crossing).  Note that you'll actually rarely be riding in sight of the Mississippi--the levies will get in the way.

Consider the whole flood-plain as the Mississippi River; it might be that more interesting little towns are not on The Great River Road.  This river has changed course many, many times over the years and sometimes the old towns that were once on the river (but no longer are) are worth seeing.  I'd suggest getting at least as far north as Cape Girardeau.  Be sure to track down old downtown Cairo.  Spooky how such a large city can be abandoned when its purpose is gone.

Edit: one last item.  If you really do this in August, you'll find out how much water one body can sweat in a day's ride.  Expect hot and humid.

[old head]

In general, the east side is more hilly, the west is flatter.

have rode from Baton Rouge to vicksburg several times, 

I prefer the east side, but both are good rides.  I generally, cross several times using bridges and ferries.

If you have the time ride the Natchez Trace from Natchez to Vicksburg, nice ride, albeit slow.

The Vicksburg civil war park is a nice stop in Vicksburg if you have the time,

Old head

[M0T0Geezer]

I'm thinking of riding up for the gulf on the Great River Road in august. I will ride from the gulf to the Ozarks ish. What side is the better ride East or West?

If you're still riding out of Denver I might go with  - if you wouldn't mind company.

Dan

[John A]

I live a couple miles from that road, up in Wisconsin . Which side to use depends on time of day and temperature . In the morning the west bank will be sunny. In the evening the east bank will be sunny.

[John Ulrich]

Mike, don't forget the WI rally is the first weekend in August near the Great River road.

[rocker59]

Mike,

Do some research and planning.  You'll need to do some riding on both sides of The River.

Be sure and ride South of New Orleans on Hwy-23 to the end of the road, near Venice.  A point of interest is Fort Jackson.

Going back north, hop the ferry to the east side of the river and run Hwy-39 back up to New Orleans.

North out of New Orleans, a cool point of interest is Oak Alley Plantation on Hwy-18.

Further North, there is Ferriday LA and Natchez MS.  Then Vicksburg MS, which has a must-see civil war park.

The original Doe's Eat Place in Greenville MS.  King Biscuit Blues festival in Helena AR.

Like I said, plan your trip.  There are lots of interesting historical and musical things to see on both sides, all the way up The River.

You should ride to at least Hannibal MO, then you could cut west across the Missouri Ozarks.  Some good riding there, and interesting small towns.

[Daniel Kalal]

... I will ride from the gulf to the Ozarks...

I should have asked first off, how much time do you have?  A ride from the gulf to the start of the Ozarks can be done in half a day, so distance-wise it's not much of a ride.

Rocker has it right; figure out the things you'll want to see, as just riding north along the road may not reveal much to you.  I think lots of us on this board have covered the territory, so we should be able to give you lots of good pointers (of things that interest us, in any case).  For instance, you could just focus only on the civil war and still not be able to it all.

I agree with Rocker; Oak Alley is a good one to choose if you want to see an historic plantation.

[PICKLEKOOKEN]

Thanks everybody. This ride is a bucket list contribution I'm down to 4 states I havn't be to on the Norgy. I'm coming down from Pa. Then head back in 7 days. More ride than tourist.

[redrider90]

Thanks everybody. This ride is a bucket list contribution I'm down to 4 states I havn't be to on the Norgy. I'm coming down from Pa. Then head back in 7 days. More ride than tourist.

Route 3 from St.Louis to Cairo Il follows the Mississippi. It's pure Mark Twain country. Greta river ride.

[oldbike54]

Route 3 from St.Louis to Cairo Il follows the Mississippi. It's pure Mark Twain country. Greta river ride.

 Freudian slip Harv ? 

  Dusty

[redrider90]

Freudian slip Harv ? 

  Dusty

Hot dang that's my wife's name. 

[LaMojo]

Lots to interesting stuff to see on both sides of the river from Vicksburg to New Orleans.  Without stopping this will be a 4.5- 5 hour ride on Hwy 61 from Vicksburg to Natchez then I-10 from Baton Rough to N.O.

You can easily spend a day in and around N.O and another day riding from N.O to Vicksburg seeing Natchez and
Vicksburg and other sights as you go.

I'm located about an hour the the east from Vicksburg or Natchez and can ride over to give you a tour and/ or send a list of things to see on the river road.

[LowRyter]

yeah,  I'd be exploring all those great roads in French Quarter, like the one that goes to the Acme Oyster Bar.