Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Route
Encyclopedia
The Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Route extends for 33 miles (53.1 km) in southwestern Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, traveling through the floodplain of the Mississippi
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

, Missouri
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...

 and Illinois
Illinois River
The Illinois River is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long, in the State of Illinois. The river drains a large section of central Illinois, with a drainage basin of . This river was important among Native Americans and early French traders as the principal water route...

 rivers. The route has been officially designated as a National Scenic Byway
National Scenic Byway
A National Scenic Byway is a road recognized by the United States Department of Transportation for its archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and/or scenic qualities. The program was established by Congress in 1991 to preserve and protect the nation's scenic but often...

 by the Federal Highway Administration
Federal Highway Administration
The Federal Highway Administration is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two "programs," the Federal-aid Highway Program and the Federal Lands Highway Program...

. The route is also parallels a portion of the Great River Road
Great River Road
The Great River Road is a collection of state, provincial, federal, and local roads which follow the course of the Mississippi River through ten states of the United States...

.

Route description

The north end of the route is at Pere Marquette State Park
Pere Marquette State Park
Pere Marquette State Park is an 8,050-acre protected area in southwestern Jersey County, Illinois, United States. It is located near the city of Grafton, Illinois, at the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Illinois River...

, located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. The south end of the route is at the Lewis and Clark State Historic Site
Lewis and Clark State Historic Site
The Lewis and Clark State Historic Site opened in 2002 and is owned and operated by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. The site, located in Hartford, Illinois, commemorates Camp River Dubois, the camp of the Lewis and Clark Expedition from December 1803 to May 1804...

, located near the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. The cities and villages of Grafton
Grafton, Illinois
Grafton is the oldest city in Jersey County, Illinois, United States. It is located near the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 674. Prior to the Great Flood of 1993, Grafton had enjoyed a stable population of nearly...

, Chautauqua
Chautauqua, Illinois
Chautauqua, Illinois is a private gated summer resort that started as a 19th century tent settlement. The name Piasa is taken from a nearby Native American painting of a mythical bird, called the Piasa Bird, which was painted on the bluffs high above the Mississippi River...

, Elsah
Elsah, Illinois
Elsah is a village in Jersey County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2000 U.S. census, the village had a total population of 673. Cyrus Bunting is the the village's current acting mayor.Elsah is a part of the Metro-East region and the St...

, Alton
Alton, Illinois
Alton is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 27,865 at the 2010 census. It is a part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area in Southern Illinois...

, East Alton
East Alton, Illinois
East Alton is a village in Madison County, Illinois, United States. The population was 6,830 at the 2000 census.-Geography:East Alton is located at ....

, Wood River
Wood River, Illinois
Wood River is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States. The population was 11,296 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Wood River is located at ....

 and Hartford
Hartford, Illinois
Hartford is a village in Madison County, Illinois, near the mouth of the Missouri River. The population was 1,545 at the 2000 census. Lewis and Clark spent the winter of 1803-1804 here, near what has been designated the Lewis and Clark State Historic Site....

 are located along the route.

The Sam Vadalabene Bike Trail
Sam Vadalabene Bike Trail
The Sam Vadalabene Bike Trail, is a paved 21.5 mile biking/walking trail located in southwestern Illinois, located just north of the St. Louis, Missouri core urban area.The trail was named after Sam Vadalabene, a member of the Illinois Senate...

 parallels the route between Pere Marquette State Park and Alton. The Confluence Bike Trail
Confluence Trail
The Confluence Trail, part of the Madison County, Illinois Transit bikeways network, is an 18.6 mile bike trail between Granite City and Alton, Illinois's Russell Commons Park. The majority of the trail is paved asphalt on top of the Mississippi River levee system. The trail is part of the St...

 parallels the route from Alton south to Hartford. Other major points of interest along the Route include Piasa Park
Piasa
The Piasa or Piasa Bird is a Native American dragon depicted in one of two murals painted by Native Americans on bluffs above the Mississippi River. Its original location was at the end of a chain of limestone bluffs in Madison County, Illinois at present-day Alton, Illinois...

, the Clark Bridge
Clark Bridge
The Clark Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge across the Mississippi River between West Alton, Missouri and Alton, Illinois. Named after explorer William Clark like the bridge it replaced, the cable-stayed bridge opened in 1994. It carries U.S. Route 67 across the river...

 in Alton, and the National Great Rivers Museum at the Melvin Price Locks and Dam
Melvin Price Locks and Dam
Melvin Price Locks and Dam is a dam and two locks at river mile 200.78 on the Upper Mississippi River, about north of Saint Louis, Missouri. The collocated National Great Rivers Museum, at 1 Lock and Dam Way, East Alton, Illinois, explains the structure and its engineering.Construction began in...

.

History

The Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Route was designated as an Illinois State Scenic Byway on June 8, 1998. It was later added to the National Scenic Byway program on June 15, 2000 with an addition that extended the existing byway from East Alton south to New Poag Road. In May 2007, the Illinois Bureau of Tourism announced that the route was officially chosen as one of the "Seven Wonders of Illinois".
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK