Midwest Fall Foliage Trip: Great River Road at Mississippi Palisades State Park

By Robert Duffer.

This is one we've driven on many occasions and a great drive it is.

Starting at Galena, Illinois, Illinois' Great River Road hugs the Mississippi River south for 550 miles of bluffs and riverside stops that can rouse the ghost of Mark Twain.  Head south on Illinois Highway 84 through Savanna, in an area around the Mississippi Palisades  State Park, where eagles soar and a lazy road winds around the lazy river under the bluffs and along waysides..(Galena, however, is not actually on the Mississippi River, but the Apple River, a tributary.)

A drive up on the bluffs there affords great views of the river and Iowa. He recommends a drive south to the Quad-Cities.

Both sides of the river afford great views and vistas.  We like to cross the Mississippi at Dubuque, Iowa, and drive down the Iowa side to the Quad-Cities, always with a stop at beautiful Clinton, Iowa.

Mighty Pretty Driving.  --RoadDog