Welcome to the Kentucky Great River Road!

Welcome to the website of Kentucky Great River Road. Here you will find all the exciting events and happenings in the four KY counties bordering the Mississippi River (counties of Ballard, Carlisle, Hickman and Fulton) and so much more.

Please feel free to browse around and make sure to check our social news profiles to keep updated about the wonderful new ways to visit and enjoy our KY Great River Road National Scenic Byway. We encourage you to explore the natural beauty and historic land marks of our four great counties.

A Big River and don't know what to do?

Relax! We got your rudder! Discover the Western KY Mississippi Region here!

Civil War Days at Columbus Belmont State Park in Hickman County.

Annual Corvette Ride

Wickliffe, KY, USABardwell, KY, USAFulton, KY, USAClinton, KY, USA

The Mississippi River is one of the world’s premier natural attractions. It is the largest river in North America and with it’s major tributaries – the Missouri and the Ohio rivers – it boasts an immense watershed spreading south of the Great Lakes from the Rocky Mountains in the west to the Appalachians in the east, covering nearly one-third of the continent and most of the interior of the United States.

This is the land that the Founding Fathers thought would become a great inland empire with the Mississippi River as its supporting spine. This is the land that determines the boundaries of our nation. This is the critical confluence that had to be held if the Northwest Territories were to become part of the United States. The National Route of the Great River Road provides a continuous roadway parallel to the river from the river’s headwaters in Minnesota’s Lake Itasca to the delta in the Gulf of Mexico.

The road follows the river through ten states: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. National designation allowed the Commonwealth of Kentucky to join the other nine Mississippi River states in developing a single continuous route with a common strategy for marketing and management.

By jointly developing the corridor’s intrinsic resources and coordinating the experiences of tourists, Kentucky can leverage the federal government’s investment in the Great River Road to the advantage of a region in need of economic growth, community development, and environmental conservation.