Alton Great River Road

Approaching the bridge from Missouri side.

Often called the "Super Bridge," the Clark Bridge crosses the Mississippi River at Alton, Illinois. The bridge, which has four traffic lanes and two bike lanes, spans 4,260 feet across the river. The Clark Bridge was named after William Clark who, with Meriwether Lewis in 1804, commanded the two year 4,000 mile exploration of the Louisiana Purchase territory up the Missouri River into the Pacific Northwest. The Lewis and Clark Expedition set off just a few miles south of the bridge near Hartford, Illinois.

On their exploratory trip down the Mississippi River in 1673, Pere Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet recorded seeing a Native American petroglyph (a prehistoric carving, usually pictorial, gouged into a rock surface). Legend has it that the Piasa (pronounced Pie-a-saw) was a bird-like creature of such great size that it could easily carry off humans and was killed by Ouatoga and his warriors. The modern rendition is a 48-by-22 foot painting situated on a 100-by-75 section of the Mississippi bluffs just north of Alton.

Northwest of Alton, the Scenic Byway travels to the river towns of Elsah and Grafton. The entire town of Elsah has been designated a historic district and is home to a number of Bed and Breakfasts. Grafton is situated at the confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers and is known as "The Winter Home of The Bald Eagle" due to the number of good eagle watching sites in its proximity. Just west of Grafton is Pere Marquette State Park