For the first 20-odd miles south from Hannibal, the GRR ascends and descends the densely wooded tops of bluffs, pausing at scenic turnouts for views across the Mississippi Valley, here many miles wide. In October, the upland forests are blazing with fall color that compares with any outside New England, and if you roll down the windows or stop to stretch your legs during the summer, listen for the omnipresent buzz of cicadas in the tangled undergrowth.
Another icon of the lower Mississippi, one that has extended its range north, like the cicadas (and the fire ant), is the huge and pungent Hercules Chemical plant on the south side of the town of Louisiana (pop. 3,363). The town itself, like a Hannibal without Mark Twain, is full of 100-year-old brick cottages and warehouses, but looks like it has just about lost the battle against extinction—its Dairy Queen closed and up for sale, 15-year-old cars everywhere, and thrift stores lining up downtown—just the kind of place aching to attract a glittering riverboat casino.
A short ways farther south, Clarksville (pop. 480) is another GRR town with more of a past than a future, but some optimistic restorers of the riverfront historic block are counting on tourism to improve the town fortunes. Along 1st Street, down by the river and the railroad tracks, two blocks of ornate old buildings hold a doctor’s office, a VFW post, a dance studio, and the Dugout bar.
Claiming preeminence as the highest point along this stretch of the Mississippi River, 600-foot Pinnacle Peak is also noteworthy for the rusty remains of its old “Sky Ride” chair lift, which once carried riders over the GRR all the way to the top. Clarksville also boasts what may be the largest concentration of bald eagles in the lower 48 states; in winter months they feed by the hundreds below Lock and Dam No. 24, on the northern edge of town.
