Mississippi River locks and dams

[kb0zke]

Our Alaska trip has been postponed until 2025, so the big thing this year will be following the Mississippi River most of the way from Minnesota to New Orleans. We'd like to stay at some COE campgrounds that are at some of the locks. By then we'll have our solar system completely operational, so some boondocking would be a possibility, too. The trip will be in two parts. Part one will be in August and take us from Chaska, MN (yes, I know that's not on the river) down to the Saint Louis area. Then in November we'll do part two, from St. Louis down toward NOLA. We probably won't actually go all the way to the end (been there already), but somewhere down there we'll turn west and head back to The Ranch.

Any suggestions?

[2gypsies]

I just did a quick Google on 'The Great River Road' and this & others appeared which may help.  Looks like you can even get a travel map for it.

https://experiencemississippiriver.com/the-great-river-road-the-best-drive-in-america/

[agesilaus]

We did this from Navoo Ill up to Minneapolis last summer. We stayed at quite a few COE cg and mainly found that they were older camps and generally were w/e only. But still good spots.

We intended to follow the river north of Minneapolis but gave it up after hearing reports of an unusually severe bug season further north..

It was an interesting trip. But we did not enjoy the Minneapolis area which was having riots at the time.

[Danfreda1]

In the Alton /Grafton area there is a state park that is near the Mississippi and Illinois River confluence on the Great river road. Lots to do in the area. Need to get reservations now because it fills up every weekend. 20/30/50 amp at every site and 4 dump and fill stations. Water scattered throughout. We know the park pretty good so if you go might be able to tell you which ones are good sites. Sorry it’s grafton ,illinois

Edited December 12, 2023 by Danfreda1
State

[agesilaus]

I should have pointed out that those COE parks do not have water at every site but just a few taps in the park

[kb0zke]

Thanks. This is exactly what I was looking for. We're going to really try to slow down our travels this year.

[sandsys]

If you go to https://sandcastle.sandsys.org/?s=Great+River+Road you can read about our trip down the Great River Road in 2009. If you can get past my warped sense of humor.

Linda Sand

[trailertraveler]

The best source of information about COE campgrounds that I know of is their website. Click on the state and the map will show all the facilities with campgrounds (marked with a triangle). Click on the triangle and it will take you to a page that shows the status of all the facilities at that location, the amenities provided and a link to the reservation system if reservations are available. I don't know about the campgrounds along the Mississippi, but in recent years, some of the COE campgrounds we have visited have done away with first come first serve and are reservation only. 

[agesilaus]

We have camped at many COE cg in the last few years. Maybe 30-40 of them and I have not seen any first come cg they all use the federal reservation system online. I have sat at the gate and made a reservation online for that night tho.  Sunday thru Thursday you usually get a site. Friday and Saturday are often filled by locals far in advance.

They are also in the process of eliminating the paid contract hosts and going to all volunteer hosts

Edited December 13, 2023 by agesilaus

[trailertraveler]

1 hour ago, agesilaus said:

We have camped at many COE cg in the last few years. Maybe 30-40 of them and I have not seen any first come cg they all use the federal reservation system online.

We have been staying at COE campgrounds since 2004. If you look at the website that I linked to in my previous post you will find many COE managed campgrounds that are not on the reservation system. The ones that are have a green reserve box that you can click on to be taken to the appropriate page on recreation.gov. This link will take you to the information on recreation.gov for Riffle Run Campground. You will note that the sites are marked FF and you will get a popup that states you must be onsite to get a campsite.

If you go to the site for Mississippi River pools 11-22 you will find 9 COE managed campgrounds. Only five of them take reservations.

Edited December 13, 2023 by trailertraveler

[agesilaus]

Well you've been using COE cg longer than we have. We used one or two before 2020 bur really started using them more after that. Starting in GA/AL and a few in TX to start off and then using most of the Missouri River dam sites. Last year TN/IL and and the Mississippi River sites north of IL.

I do not recall seeing any First come during that period.

That link just goes to Riffle Run Campground on Res.Gov not a generic COE listing. You can force Res,gov to show COE sites in a particular state tho. I agree that site is the best for COE info, The actual COE websites are just about worthless like BLM websites. Indeed the only halfway useful fed websites are the NPS sites in my experience.

The classical  COE source is CAMPING WITH THE CORPS, no available as an ebook. But I find it not very helpful myself.

It should be noted that COE sites are found min eastern states with a big exception of Florida (which only has two small boating site). And a few states west of the big river. The Missouri dam sites are an exception they may be shown as BuRec but are basically COE clones. The Columbia River also has a number of good sites that we have used.

[lappir]

On 12/11/2023 at 9:30 PM, kb0zke said:

Our Alaska trip has been postponed until 2025, so the big thing this year will be following the Mississippi River most of the way from Minnesota to New Orleans. We'd like to stay at some COE campgrounds that are at some of the locks. By then we'll have our solar system completely operational, so some boondocking would be a possibility, too. The trip will be in two parts. Part one will be in August and take us from Chaska, MN (yes, I know that's not on the river) down to the Saint Louis area. Then in November we'll do part two, from St. Louis down toward NOLA. We probably won't actually go all the way to the end (been there already), but somewhere down there we'll turn west and head back to The Ranch.

Any suggestions?

Cape Girardeau has a couple campgrounds, but not on the river. It's a nice city to visit if you actually go into town. Good bike trails and paths for the most part a 3/4 mile stretch is too close to the forest and the tree roots under the asphalt make it very rough. Lots of "Antique" or collectable stores downtown and a small Casino close to the river. There are some murals along the river "Flood Wall" that are interesting. It's almost to the "Boot Heel" of Missouri, south of St. Louis a couple hours. 

Almost forgot about the "Trail of Tears State Park" I did not stay there, but rode the motorcycle through it a few times. Nice River views. 

I also should know more about Iowa parks, but don't. Have motorcycled the river road on the Iowa and Illinois side a few times. 

 

 

Rod 

Edited December 13, 2023 by lappir
Added info.

[Ray,IN]

When you get near St. Louis, you'll have a great time just North at St. Charles. It's a river town with a lot to see and do.

[sandsys]

Hannibal was fun--checking out the Tom Sawyer sites.

[lappir]

1 hour ago, sandsys said:

Hannibal was fun--checking out the Tom Sawyer sites.

Personally I avoid Hannibal as much as possible. The traffic lights are timed so you have to stop at each one through town, no matter the time of day. There is also a "Red Light Camera" at almost all. I finally found a bypass for most of the lights, but its a very narrow road not really suited for an RV. 

Unfortunately it was on my annual route for many years. 

Rod

[trailertraveler]

On the Southern part of your route, checkout Clarksdale, MS. The county fairgrounds on the out skirts of town has a few full hookup sites and a huge number of water and electric sites and a dump station. We enjoyed the B. B. King Museum and Delta Cultural Center in Indianola, MS. When we were there, there was a very basic RV park with full hookups right next door. The local restaurant had an excellent crawfish boil.  Tunica, Vicksburg and Nachez also have interesting things to do and see. In Nachez, we stayed at a County Park RV Park just across the River in Louisiana. It was right on the river and you could see the river traffic going by. Tunica has some casinos and if I remember correctly some have RV parks.