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Great Loop Map, Route, and Destinations
The Great Loop is considered a “trip of a lifetime” as it travels through several waterways. Whether you just learned about America’s Great Loop or are in the planning stages and want to get about the exciting destinations you’re going to visit by boat, you’ve come to the right place. As Gold Loopers who completed this grand trip, we’re sharing our interactive Great Loop map, breaking down the route into four sections, sharing some of the incredible destinations, and some of the most frequently asked questions about the Great Loop!
Great Loop Map
This map is color-coded by season or region of the Great Loop. Yellow is spring on the East Coast, summer is green, blue is the Midwest rivers, and winter is the Gulf and Florida. We also included the four most popular side trips, including the Cumberland River, Tennessee River, St. John’s River, and Potomac River.
How to use this map: We have saved the locations from this guide on this map. You can save this map to your Google Maps by pressing the star icon. In your Google Maps, click the menu icon and then Saved Maps, where this map will appear.
What is the Great Loop?
The Great Loop is a 6,000 nautical mile boating journey around the United States and Canada. The boating trip is completed by 200-300 people a year and is considered the trip of a lifetime. Many boaters consider this trip to be one of the best boating experiences as it travels through various waterways and landscapes, requiring a variety of boating skills from navigating tides, locks, bridges, open water, and more. We started the Great Loop in March 2022 and completed the trip in February 2023.
How long does it take to do the Great Loop?
The Great Loop typically takes one year to complete; however, it’s up to the individual to determine the exact timeline. Therefore, the time it takes to complete the Great Loop varies from person to person. Typically, boaters travel the Great Loop by the seasons. Boaters spend the spring traveling north up the eastern seaboard on the Intracoastal Waterway. Summer is spent in the canals, Great Lakes, and, optionally, Canada. Fall takes boaters down the interconnecting midwest rivers to the Gulf of Mexico. Lastly, winter is spent in Florida with an optional trip to the Bahamas.
We completed the loop in one year, although we originally attempted our first loop in 2021, but due to a boating accident in May 2021, we had to postpone our Great Loop since the trip is closely tied to visiting certain sections during specific seasons. We’ve met several loopers who have done the loop several times because doing it once wasn’t enough and they felt rushed as they didn’t get to see all of the great destinations. Alternatively, we’ve also met people who have taken 10 years to complete the Great Loop – focusing on deep diving into each waterway that is connected on the main route. This just goes to show that there’s no one way to loop.
What makes a Great Loop Boat?
There are several different types of boats that complete the Great Loop. From trawlers to cruisers, sailboats to jetski’s, there’s not one style boat that completes this trip of a lifetime. There are a few Great Loop boat requirements that make this trip possible, including draft and height. We wrote a whole article on Great Loop boats and shared typical great loop boats, different things to look for in Great Loop boats, and how to find Great Loop boats.
We chose a 34 Marine Trader, which is a trawler, as our boat of choice to complete the loop because it was relatively safe, in our budget, it fit the dimensions needed for the Great Loop. You can read more about our boat here.
How much does it cost to do the Great Loop?
The Great Loop cost varies from person to person as each person or couple’s budget is different. We recorded our monthly expenses along the Great Loop and shared detailed expense reports breaking down the various costs. We spent just over $40,000 for our Great Loop and found that it was on the lower end of Great Loop budgets, but it certainly was not the cheapest loop ever completed. When discussing with Gold Loopers (the name given to boaters who have completed the Great Loop), the trip typically costs between $40-$100k, not including the cost of the boat. We created a Great Loop Budget Calculator in our shop to help you budget for your Great Loop.
What are the Great Loop Segments?
The Great Loop can be broken down into four main segments that correspond to the seasons. The spring is spent traveling north up the east coast of the United States on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, or ICW for short. Summer is spent cruising through the New York canals, Great Lakes, and Canada. Fall is spent cruising down the Midwest rivers and enjoying the scenery with the changing of colors. Winter is spent in Florida, and optionally the Bahamas, where it is warm and out of hurricane season.
What Destinations are on the Great Loop?
The Great Loop is what you make it. There is a general route that most boaters follow; however, there are countless destinations boaters miss to make the necessary miles to complete the trip in one year. We compiled a list of the most popular destinations Loopers travel to on the Great Loop and have linked our detailed travel guides full of things to do, restaurant recommendations, and a boater’s guide below!
Spring – Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and the Chesapeake Bay
The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway travels from Massachusetts to Texas over 3,000 miles of protected waterways. The official start of the waterway is in Portsmouth, Virginia, and ends in Brownsville, Texas. The waterway consists of natural inlets, saltwater rivers, bays, sounds, and manmade waterways like canals. The waterway provides a navigable way for boaters to travel without many of the hazards in the Ocean. It consists of three non-contiguous sections, including the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, which goes from Brownsville, Texas, to Carabelle, Florida, and Tarpon Springs, Florida, to Fort Myers, Florida. The last section is referred to as the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway as it travels from Key West to Portsmouth, Virginia, where the 0.0 ICW milepost is located.
After traveling past the Albermarle Sound in North Carolina, boaters can have two options. They can travel through the Dismal Swamp Canal or take the Virginia Cut. Once boaters travel either route, they enter the Chesapeake Bay and cruise through Maryland and Delaware. We’ve taken both routes and broken them down here. Here are some of the popular destinations in each state, going north to south:
Summer – Canals, the Great Lakes, and Canada
Once boaters make their way around New Jersey, they are in New York Harbor! The journey in unprotected waters has temporarily ended, and boaters start making their way north up the Hudson River before they are forced to make the first big decision: how will they reach Chicago? There are several different routes from the Hudson River to Chicago through the Great Lakes. Some boaters will choose to boat through Canada, while others choose to stay completely in the United States, however, depending on your boat’s height, you might be inclined to take one canal over another. We’ve broken some of the routes out here:
Hudson River
Kingston
Athens
Hudson
Albany
Troy
Erie Canal
Waterford
Scotia
Amsterdam
Little Falls
Rome
Sylvan Beach
Brewerton
Rochester
Buffalo
Oswego Canal
Fulton
Minetto
Oswego
Champlain Canal
Fort Edward
Hudson Falls
Whitehall
Port Henry
Burlington
Rouses Point
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu
Chambly
Sorel-Tracy
St. Lawerence River
Kingston
Thousand Islands NP
Cape Vincent
Clayton
Alexandria Bay
Montreal
Rideau
Ottawa
Smith Falls
Trent-Severn Waterway
Severn
Frankford
Campbellford
Hastings
Peterborough
Buckhorn
Bobcaygeon
Fenelon Falls
Orillia
Swift Rapids
Big Chute
Trenton
Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay Islands NP
Sans Souci
Eco Bay
Parry Sound
Bustard Islands
Bad River
North Chanel
Killarney
Covered Portage Cove
Mary Ann Cove
The Pool
Little Current
Benjamin Islands
Turnbull Islands
Lake Ontario
Sackets Harbor
Lake Erie
Erie
Cleveland
Toledo
Detroit
Lake Huron
Lexington
Harbor Beach
Port Austin
Harrisville
Ossineke
Rogers City
Cheboygan
Lake Michigan – Michigan Side
Mackinac Island
Mackinaw City
Petoskey
Charlevoix
Traverse City
Leland
Frankfort
Manistee
Ludington
Muskegon
Grand Haven
Holland
Saugatuck
South Haven
St. Joseph
Lake Michigan – Upper Peninsula
De Tour Village
St. Ignace
Manistique
Lake Michigan – Wisconsin Side
Sturgeon Bay
Green Bay
Algoma
Manitowac
Sheboygan
Milwaukee
Chicago
Fall – Midwest Rivers
Boaters begin their trip down the Midwest rivers taking either the Chicago River or the Cal Sag to the Illinois River in the Chicago Metropolitan Area. The Illinois River is 273 miles (439 km) long and runs from the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to the Mississippi River near Grafton, Illinois. Boaters then travel down the Mississippi River until the Ohio River where they travel up stream to either the Tennessee River or the Cumberland River.
Winter – Florida
The winter months are spent cruising around Florida. Florida is the last section with an open water section, as boaters must choose between an overnight Gulf Crossing or Florida’s Big Bend. The Panhandle, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, and the Okeechobee Waterway through the center of Florida are all in protected waterways. Alternatively, boaters can skip the Okeechobee Waterway and cruise through the Gulf of Mexico to the Florida Keys.
Florida Panhandle
Pensacola
Fort Walton Beach
Destin
Panama City
Apalachiola
Carrabelle
Gulf Crossing or Big Bend
Steinhatchee
Cedar Key
Crystal River
Florida Gulf ICW
Tarpon Springs
Dunedin
Clearwater
St. Pete
Sarasota
Englewood
Fort Myers
Florida Keys
Key West
Bahia Honda State Park
Marathon
John Pennekamp State Park
Key Largo
Florida Gulf
Naples
Marco Island
Everglades City
Great Loop Side Trips
The Great Loop is all about how you want to travel. The overall route is made up os several smaller rivers and waterways that make excellent side trips. While we were traveling along the Great Loop, we met a couple who had been traveling for 10 years, exploring every waterway that connected along the Great Loop route. We embarked on taking three side trips while on the Great Loop. We’ve listed several of the popular Great Loop side trips:
- Cumberland River to Nashville, Tennessee, with a fun stop in Clarksville
- Tennessee River to Chattanooga, Tennessee
- St. John’s River from Jacksonville, Florida to Sanford, Florida
- Potomac River to the US Capital in Washington, DC
Check out more Great Loop articles:
- Great Loop Boats
- Marine Navigation Apps
- Marine Weather Apps
- How to Lock a Boat
- Great Loop Expenses
- Boat Life Essentials
- Dinghy Essentials
- Boat Anchor: What You Need to Know
- Boating with a Dog
- What to Wear on a Boat
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