Check Internet before taking trip on Mississippi River's Great

The Mississippi isn't just a river, it's also a collection of scenic highways following the river's bends through 10 states across the nation's heartland, linking cities and hundreds of small towns.

Do a little exploring on the Web to get an idea of the places to go and things to see, and pick out a stretch of the Great River Road for your next road trip vacation.

You can do your exploring on land and at your own pace, following the state highways that have been grouped together as the Great River Road, coordinated by the Mississippi River Parkway Commission -- www.mississippiriverinfo.com/.

There's a page of river facts and trivia (2,552 miles long, carries 46 percent of the grain exported from the United States, 2.3 million cubic feet of water per second) but this Web site's biggest value is its maps of the states and the riverside towns, plus links to other sources of information including tourism offices in the states that share the river.

Another source of links to information is the National Scenic Byways Program -- www.byways.org/ -- from the Federal Highway Administration. You'll have to click on America's Byways to reach a list of all the official byways around the nation, organized by state rather than subject, and pick out the Great River Road sections.

Exploring a region a big and varied as the Mississippi might require long-range planning. You've got more than a year to make plans for Grand Excursion 2004 -- www.grandexcursion.com/ -- next year's celebration of river boats and towns on the river's upper reaches.