partlowr

I live only about 30 miles from the Illinois river which dumps off into the Mississippi, there are at least 3 locks on the Illinois river alone that I would have to navigate and a few more between where I would get on the Mississippi and St. Louis, there is nothing fun about locks, nasty steel and concrete walls to worry about rubbing on, lots of barge traffic and barges get priority so sometime you can be sitting and waiting for an hour or more just to get into a lock and sometimes you can be sitting another 30 minutes once you enter the lock depending on how long it take to commercial vessels to get in and tied off. Putting in on the Illinois would add at least an entire day to the trip when I can just trailer down to Alton, IL which is just north of St. Louis and be there in just over 3 hours. From a time and fuel perspective putting in near St. Louis makes the most sense for my situation. Now if I had unlimited time and funds I would put in on Lake Michigan and go from there to the Chicago River to the Cal Sag Channel to the Des Plaines River to the Illinois River to the Mississippi to the Tenn-Tom to the Gulf, that trip would take me on close to 50% of famous "The Great Loop" boat trip.

Sidney64

You can see one of the locks off I-474 and last week you could have blown right through it as the river was up and both gates/locks were open!

Sounds like you're getting a plan together. Definitely post a report.

Sidney

Wasted Income

Yea, when the water is high, they put the wickets down, and you don't need to lock thru. The first time I went thru there when the wickets were down....I cringed hard. lol.

partlowr

We are planning this for a late summer trip so I am sure the water level will be down some after the drier summer months arrive, but I guess you never know.

4mulafastech

Alton, IL is lock #26 and there is one more south in Granite City, IL, #27.

We boat on the pool between Alton and Winfield (#25). This is the pool with the confluence of the Illinois river. We have locked down to the St. Louis riverfront a couple times. Cool experience.

http://www.mvs.usace.army.mil/Portal...05Dam%2027.pdf

Cajun 2 Stepp

You won't be in saltwater unless you cross over into Lake Pontchartrain or continue to the mouth of the Mississippi.
I would cut across to Lake Pontchartrain and head east to the barrier islands in Biloxi or Gulf Shores.
Beautiful beaches and water.
Google Ship Island beaches.

hogie roll

There are 7 locks to get to alton from Chicago. You can wait up to 8hrs for a barge so you better be flexible on time.

I ran from peoria to grafton in 3.5hrs last year when the water was high enough for them to let the wickets down on the two locks between here and there. The downside is that when the water is up you're dodging and hitting logs like crazy.

hogie roll

My bad. I never went south of alton. I used to boat on the alton pool all the time and still do frequently with friends.

partlowr

Yes, that is why our plan is to put in Just north of St. Louis. I can drive from my home in Naperville to St. Louis in under 3.5 hours. Driving that portion will save a day maybe more.

hogie roll

I haven't made the peoria-chicago trip yet. I've heard stories and they say to take 2 days to do it. You can only do it in one day if the lock gods are with you.