Great River Road

Iowa rewards travelers willing to slow down and appreciate genuine small-town hospitality, a quality this state has in real abundance from one county to the next.

The Great River Road follows the Mississippi along Iowa's eastern border, passing bluffs, small river towns, and wide open water views most travelers never expect from a landlocked sounding state.

The Loess Hills Scenic Byway winds through a genuinely unique landscape of wind-deposited hills in western Iowa, a rare geological formation found in only one other place on Earth.

Madison County's covered bridge route connects several of the state's most photographed historic bridges, immortalized by both a best-selling novel and a Hollywood film.

Yeah.

Such a beautiful drive, though, along that Great River Road.

You're on there for probably about an hour and a half.

Wow.

Yes.

[laughs]

And that's in, uh, Ferryville, so that is again on the Great River Road.

Um, it has a hot tub, you guys.

Okay.

Route 66 or the Great River Road?

Oh, my gosh.

These are tough.

I'm going to say Great River Road because the views are just beautiful, and I think it's a little bit under the radar.

Okay.

Weird museum or weird roadside attraction?

And another one is Wisconsin's western border.

Fall colors pop on the Wisconsin Great River Road, the All-American Road.

It winds for 250 miles along Wisconsin's west coast, and it's just charming riverside communities, lots of scenic overlooks, a perfect destination for fall.

Start your fall getaway at TravelWisconsin.com. All right, Ann, what do you like best about the fall? What's an Ann Sayers fall Saturday look like?

Door County's Route forty-two winds along the peninsula's shoreline, passing cherry orchards, lighthouses, and small harbor towns that genuinely feel like a slice of New England dropped into the Midwest.

The Great River Road follows the Mississippi River along Wisconsin's western border, passing bluffs and small river towns most travelers never expect to find this scenic.

Wisconsin's Rustic Roads program preserves hundreds of miles of quiet, scenic back roads specifically protected from major development over the years.

And the drive along the Wisconsin River near the Dells offers dramatic sandstone bluffs carved by centuries of flowing water.

Illinois rewards travelers willing to experience both the big city energy of Chicago and the quiet, rolling farmland stretching south toward the Mississippi River.

The Great River Road follows the Mississippi River along Illinois' western border, passing bluffs, small river towns, and wide open water views for miles at a time.

Historic Route 66 actually begins right in downtown Chicago, and driving its early Illinois stretch takes you past classic diners and roadside attractions that help define the entire American road trip.

The Illinois River Road National Scenic Byway winds along the river through wetlands and small towns most travelers never expect to find this scenic.

The Natchez Trace Parkway runs its full length through Mississippi, a genuinely peaceful drive free of billboards and commercial trucks, tracing an ancient trail used by Native Americans and early settlers alike for centuries.

The Great River Road follows the Mississippi River itself, passing levees, farmland, and historic river towns most travelers never expect to find this scenic.

Highway 61, often called the Blues Highway, cuts straight through the Mississippi Delta, connecting the small towns where the blues genre was actually born a century ago.

And Highway 90, along the Gulf Coast, offers open water views past Biloxi and Gulfport, with casinos and beaches lining the shore for miles.

So that's fun, and another one is Wisconsin's western border.

Fall colors pop on the Wisconsin Great River Road, the All-American road.

It winds for 250 miles along Wisconsin's west coast, and it's just charming riverside communities, lots of scenic overlooks, a perfect destination for fall.

Start your fall getaway at travelwisconsin.com. All right, Anne, what do you like best about the fall? What's an Anne Sayers fall Saturday look like?