Eastern portion of the United States and part of Canada
Length
6,000mi (9,700km) +/-
The Great Loop is a system of waterways that encompasses the eastern portion of the United States and part of Canada. It is made up of both natural and man-made waterways, including the Atlantic and Gulf Intracoastal Waterways, the Great Lakes, the Erie Canal, and the Mississippi and Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.[1] The entire loop stretches about 6,000 miles (9,700km).
Overview
There is no single route or itinerary to complete the loop. To avoid winter ice and summer hurricanes, boaters generally traverse the Great Lakes and Canadian waterways in summer, travel down the Mississippi or the Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway in fall, cross the Gulf of Mexico and Florida in the winter, and travel up the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway in the spring. Depending on speed of travel, the route can take as little as two months, but more typically it takes about a year to complete the trip.[2] The route may also be completed in segments.
The current overall record time for completing the great loop is 12 days, 18 hours, and 10 minutes. This run took place between July 9 and July 21, 2025, by a team of four on the Lady Lor, a 40-foot (12m) Contender Express.[3] The solo and single engine records are 19 days, 13 hours, and 1 minute. This run took place between July 12 and July 31, 2025, and was completed by Robert Youens, a 71-year-old adventurer from Austin, Texas. The run was completed in a 16-foot (4.9m)johnboat, the Ageless Wanderer.[4][5]
Travel south past St Louis and Cape Girardeau, Missouri.[7] At the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers at Cairo, Illinois, either continue down the Mississippi to New Orleans, Louisiana, or follow the more typical route of briefly going upstream on the Ohio River, then turn south down the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway to the Gulf of Mexico. Because of heavy barge traffic, lack of marinas and scarcity of fuel sources on the Lower Mississippi River, most Loopers opt for the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway passage.
Traversing the 184 mile length of Kentucky Lake, continue up the Tennessee River and turn off onto the Tenn-Tom Waterway, near Iuka, Mississippi. A series of locks will lower boats to the Lower Tombigbee River, which eventually reaches Mobile, a major port on the Gulf of Mexico. Some boaters choose to continue up the Tennessee River to Chattanooga, TN and Knoxville, TN as a side-trip.
Lake Huron is a destination for all Looper boats, regardless of route and any side-trips. All boats have to transit the Straits of Mackinac at the top of Michigan's Lower Peninsula and enter Lake Michigan. An optional side-trip is going through the Soo Locks and visiting Lake Superior.
Loopers have the option to follow either the Wisconsin or Michigan coasts as they make their way south on Lake Michigan and back to the starting point in Chicago.
Looper culture
Those boaters who are on the loop often fly a white burgee, and those who have completed the loop fly a gold one.[2]
The America's Great Loop Cruisers' Association (AGLCA) assists Great Loop cruisers by sharing safety and navigational and cruising information, while providing a networking platform for Loopers through its members-only discussion forum. Boaters can exchange information about topics such as marinas, locking through, water depth, hazards, repairs, fuel prices or dinner reservations and sight seeing.[8] The AGLCA also hosts twice-yearly gatherings for Loopers currently on the Loop and those planning a Great Loop trip.[citation needed]
