Iowa Great River Road

[2wheels4me]

I will be traveling out to Montana in July and was thinking of taking the Great River road from about Dubuque Iowa up towards Minnesota. I'm coming from northern Illinois and have normaly gone up thru Wisc, to and thru Minnesota to Sioux falls SD for my first day of travel. Anyone have any info on the route along the river for that portion? Also, is going thru Iowa, after the river road, the rest of the way to Sioux falls SD a better option than 90 thru Minnesota? Any info is appreciated

[coopdway]

As far as the part west of the River goes, I'd take Iowa #9 long before I-90 if that's at all possible for your schedule.  You've got experience on the Interstate and as Interstate's go, Minnesota's I-90 is one of my least favorite but you have to know.

[DavidLSI]

I do not know if this is part of the "GRR" but CY9 is great section along the river on the Iowa side starting north of Debuque.  

It is on my list of favorites.....

CY9 north out of Debuque to Cassville from David Narens on Vimeo.

The ST.N R4 guys go to Debuque for coffee and then ride CY9 north out of town.  Great road with wide open sweepers that follow the Missisppi.

[County Tar]

Take the River Road from Dubuque, through Balltown and up to McGregor and north to Lansing.  Before you get to New Albin take A26 along the Upper Iowa River to Hwy. 76.  Go north a few miles and take A16 into Minnesota.

Download the maps here:

http://www.iowadotmaps.com/msp/pdfview/counties.html

There are not a lot of good alternatives to I-90 if you are heading to the Black Hills.  You could get on Hwy 9 at Lansing and head west but its all about the same.

[Scottyfizz]

I'd cross over from Illinois into Clinton Ia. Take hwy 67 to Sabula. Then hwy 52 to Dubuque. Then C9Y. Awesome road btw. Then back on 52 to Guttenberg. And then the back way into Mcgregor. Can't think of the road number right now. And then hwy 76 on up to Lansing.

Coopdway just came down that way from Minnesota so you might want to pm him. I know all those roads and it's easier for me to just go instead of describing them!

[clyde]

Ride up the Wisconsin side of the river. Any road named with a letter, is good. Any road with the word "coulee", "hollow," or "ridge" in it, is good, too.

[mxvet57]

Ride up the Wisconsin side of the river. Any road named with a letter, is good. Any road with the word "coulee", "hollow," or "ridge" in it, is good, too.

will these roads work to?

[clyde]

Works for me.

[2wheels4me]

Looks like #9 thru Iowa, after the river road, might not be a bad way to go. Ive done #90 thru Minnesota enough.

[naustin]

Take the River Road from Dubuque, through Balltown and up to McGregor and north to Lansing.  Before you get to New Albin take A26 along the Upper Iowa River to Hwy. 76.  Go north a few miles and take A16 into Minnesota.

Download the maps here:

http://www.iowadotmaps.com/msp/pdfview/counties.html

There are not a lot of good alternatives to I-90 if you are heading to the Black Hills.  You could get on Hwy 9 at Lansing and head west but its all about the same.

+1 - A26/A16 is a nice stretch.

I90 is under a lot of construction this year.  Not sure what it looks like west of Alden, but between Alden and Rochester, its all tore up in a few places.  The section between Dexter and Rochester was basically unridable due to huge frost heaves, so I'm glad they are fixing it.

I'm heading out to the black hills at the end of august and planning to stay off the freeway.  I'll work my way north west on county black tops up to Pipestone, SD and then follow SD HWY 34 to Pierre.  From there I'll swing South though the Badlands and then back up into Custer SP.  It'll be two 300 mile days instead of 1 600 mile day, but this will be my wifes first ride over 150 miles, so obviously we're not going to push it.

[coopdway]

+1 - A26/A16 is a nice stretch.

I'm heading out to the black hills at the end of august and planning to stay off the freeway.  I'll work my way north west on county black tops up to Pipestone, SD and then follow SD HWY 34 to Pierre.  From there I'll swing South though the Badlands and then back up into Custer SP.  It'll be two 300 mile days instead of 1 600 mile day, but this will be my wifes first ride over 150 miles, so obviously we're not going to push it.

All good!

[nevada72]

Looks like #9 thru Iowa, after the river road, might not be a bad way to go. Ive done #90 thru Minnesota enough.

That's going to take quite a while, which is fine, maybe even the whole point, if time allows. Lots of small towns and low speed limits.

I just got back from the Black Hills. I took I-90 back. Brutal. Lots of construction and, as you know, quite boring. The up side is that it's fast. Even in construction zones you're going 65 mph, same as the speed limit in Wisconsin. In my case I just figure that Iowa and Minnesota are pretty dull regardless of how you get through it. I would ather speed through them to get to the good stuff.

[coopdway]

I'd only add that the county roads can be pretty efficient if you get the right ones.  Time-wise, they can't compare with the freeway, but 300 mile days allow for some slowing down.  Some of those Co. roads that follow the grid can drift along quite well, often they miss towns (no stoplights) though may have a stop sign or two as they cross other, higher priority roads.  I think they can be great alternatives to the US-14, US-16, US-20's that hit every major town with lots of intersections and traffic.

Some time spent with maps make it pretty clear and let you make the best choices based on what you're after.

[2wheels4me]

I've taken 90 thru Minnesota the last two years on my way to Red Lodge, so I need something different. I  know #9 all the way thru Iowa will take more time, but fortunately I have more of it this trip.

[County Tar]

I'd only add that the county roads can be pretty efficient if you get the right ones.  Time-wise, they can't compare with the freeway, but 300 mile days allow for some slowing down.  Some of those Co. roads that follow the grid can drift along quite well, often they miss towns (no stoplights) though may have a stop sign or two as they cross other, higher priority roads.  I think they can be great alternatives to the US-14, US-16, US-20's that hit every major town with lots of intersections and traffic.

Some time spent with maps make it pretty clear and let you make the best choices based on what you're after.

I agree.  I always print county maps and take the roads around the major towns.  It is still fun to go through the small towns though.