American River Trails

American River Trails Traveling along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to Little Rock Arkansas Memphis Tennessee Kansas City Missouri Alton Illinois Dubuque Iowa and Alexandria Minnesota

Little Rock and the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum Little Rock is a cultural, economic, government, and transportation center within Arkansas and the South located on the south bank of the Arkansas River in Central Arkansas. Fourche Creek and Rock Creek run through the city, and flow into the river.

Little Rock is an Intermodal River Port with a large Industrial Business Complex

Memphis Tennessee and the Mississippi River Museum Memphis is a city with a rich and eclectic history: Home of the Blues, Birthplace of Rock ’n’ Roll, BBQ Pork Capital of the World; it began with the Native Americans who settled on the Fourth Chickasaw Bluff, then onto Hernando De Soto, the Civil War, yellow fever, the blues and rock ‘n’ roll music.

A Display of Fine Art history-making Music and a Celebration of American Heritage and Culture

Mud Island River Park by day, take the monorail, which boasts some of the city’s best views, over to the Mississippi River Museum, where you can check out genuine Civil War garb and gunboat reproductions. By night, catch a live performance at the Amphitheater with the Memphis skyline as your backdrop and the rolling river at your back. The Mississippi River Museum traces the evolution of transportation on the river from the earliest canoes through the golden age of steamboats and modern diesel towboats efficient transportation and the economic impact of river transportation played a vital role in the development of trade routes and the growth of river cities.

Kansas City was founded in the 1830s as a Missouri River port at its confluence with the Kansas River. The City Market, bordering the Missouri River, contains one of the country's largest and longest lasting public farmers' markets in the nation with several unique shops and restaurants.

An Inland Port on the Missouri River KC is the 2^nd Largest Rail and 3^rd Trucking Hub in America

The Arabia Steamboat Museum is a time capsule of life on the American frontier in the mid-nineteenth century and an opportunity to experience the everyday objects that made life possible for pioneers in the 1800s.  It contains the largest single collection of pre-Civil War artifacts in the world.

The Arabia Steamboat Museum has been a popular Kansas City attraction for over 20 years

Alton Illinois and the National Great Rivers Museum Alton is located 25 Miles north of St. Louis amid the confluence of three navigable rivers, the Mississippi, the Illinois and the Missouri, as a river trading and industrial town. The Great Rivers Region is accessible from six interstates, an international airport and an Amtrak station.

River Trails where Great Rivers Converge with Great Moments in History at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center

Grafton’s riverfront was packed with manufacturing companies, mills, quarries, loading docks, and riverboat traffic in the 1800s. Today, it is a tourist destination with its specialty shops and wineries.

Architecture Trails many blocks of housing in Alton were built in the Victorian Queen Anne style during the prosperous period in the river city's history at the top of the hill in the commercial area, several stone churches and city hall.

The National Great Rivers Museum and Melvin Price Locks & Dam feature the importance of the river system to America’s economy from her grand history and cultural significance, to her ecological importance and role as a transportation corridor.

The Mississippi River, over 2,200 miles long, is the second longest river in the United States and the third largest river basin in the world, exceeded in size only by the Amazon and Congo basins. The central portion of the river is known as the Middle Mississippi, a 300-mile reach from Saverton, MO, to Cairo, IL. Further defining the Middle Mississippi are the confluences of three major tributaries, the Illinois, the Missouri and the Ohio Rivers.
The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 marked the opening of the West, and river settlements began to grow. In 1817, the first steamboat arrived in St. Louis and the population soared. Steamboat arrivals had increased more than a thousand-fold by 1858, turning the river into a superhighway.
The Corps of Engineers continually examines the biological impact of the navigational structures on the river’s ecosystem, balancing navigational needs with those of the environment.

The National Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque is located along the Mississippi River at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin. It serves as the main commercial, industrial, educational, and cultural center for the Tri-State Area. One of the few cities in Iowa with hills, it is also a tourist destination featuring unique architecture and river views.

A Center for Culture with Five Institutions of Higher Learning

Downtown Dubuque is the center of the city's transportation and commercial sectors, and functions as the hub to the various outlying districts and neighborhoods. An area of special note is the Port of Dubuque which has seen a massive amount of new investment and new construction.

Alexandria Minnesota and the Legacy of the Lakes Museum

The Village of Alexandria was settled in 1858. The form of the name alludes to Alexandria, Egypt, a center of learning and civilization. W.E. Hicks was pivotal to the early development of the town. He purchased the townsite in 1868 and established a mill, hotel, newspaper, and store. He donated property for a courthouse, jail, and two churches: Methodist and Congregational.

The Legacy of the Lakes Museum, originally known as the Minnesota Lakes Maritime Museum, promotes lake traditions and legacies as well as preserve Minnesota history.

Minnesota is home to skilled watercraft builders since Native Americans first fashioned birch bark canoes hundreds of years ago. The museum boasts the most complete collection of Minnesota-made boats from Larson to our own Alexandria Boat Works.