Great River Road Northern Extension - By mchance

I've ridden this route a couple of times. It's definitely a change of pace from most of the more modern highways that are part of the official Great River Road network. And I'll second the comment about filling up before you go. There are no real gas stations between Pleasant Hill and Grafton (over 50 miles). Once off of IL-96 and onto the Mississippi River Road, it's rough chip-and-seal pavement, roughly a lane and a half wide. And the curves are not well marked, if at all. There are a few "chicanes" where the road appears to end into a large tree, only to have a 10-15 MPH lefthander blind apex/blind crest immediately into another tight righthander appear out of nowhere just before you hit the tree. With no warning signs or markings. More than once I negotiated the turns, only to be greeted by a large farm vehicle coming the other direction, taking up most of the road. But mostly it's rolling hills and curves, at the base of the bluffs at the edge of the river flats. Definitely worth a ride, and one of the more interesting roads in Illinois.