Follow the Mississippi from Source to Sea — in Your Own Rig

The Great River Road runs more than 2,000 miles through 10 states, from the headwaters at Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico. It's one of America's great bucket-list RV drives. This 212-page digital guide from Mike and Jennifer Wendland (RVLifestyle.com and RVCommunity.com) shows you how to drive it with confidence: every turn, scenic detour, campground and roadside gem.

Whether you drive a 40-foot motorhome, a travel trailer or a camper van, and whether you travel solo or with a caravan, you'll know where your rig fits, where to stay and what's worth stopping for.

Why RVers Love This Guide

• Rig-aware routing: honest clearances, narrow historic bridges, two-lane bluff roads, and when to unhook your toad instead of taking a big coach into an old downtown.
• Ready-made 6-week itinerary: or two 3-week trips, so you can do the Upper and Lower river in separate seasons.
• Campground directory: picks for every major stop, with notes on pad length, hookups and dump stations.
• Local food guide: wild rice and walleye in Minnesota, Quad Cities pizza, St. Louis ribs, Delta tamales and New Orleans beignets.
• Practical stops: big-rig diesel, groceries, propane and regional 511 travel alerts.

10 Region-by-Region Chapters

1. Bemidji and the Headwaters: Lake Itasca, Paul Bunyan and Babe, logging history
2. Minneapolis and St. Paul: Minnehaha Falls, Stone Arch Bridge, Mill Ruins, river cruises
3. The Driftless Area, Quad Cities and the Amana Colonies: Arsenal Island, locks and dams, German settlements
4. Hannibal, Missouri: Mark Twain's boyhood home, show caves, river bluffs
5. St. Louis: Gateway Arch National Park, the Missouri-Mississippi confluence, the Clydesdales
6. Memphis: Beale Street, the National Civil Rights Museum, the Peabody ducks, Graceland
7. Vicksburg: National Military Park, the USS Cairo ironclad, floodwall murals
8. Natchez and the Natchez Trace: high bluffs, Emerald Mound, antebellum history
9. New Orleans: the French Quarter, steamboat jazz cruises, the WWII Museum, classic eats
10. Plantation Country, Swamps and the Delta: Whitney and Laura plantations, bayou tours, coastal marshes

What You Get

• Instant digital download, 212 pages
• Read on your phone, tablet or laptop, at home or on the road
• Written by full-time RV travelers who drove the route

Prefer a printed copy? The print edition is coming soon. Look under Print Editions in the shop menu.