Why this ride
A one-way ride of 132 km, Galena to Savanna - roughly 2 h 32 in the saddle. The stops in between: Elizabeth and Hanover. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Great River Road: Galena
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 132 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 32
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Great River Road: Galena
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 53 km this is Great River Road: Galena, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 53 km
- Named road
- Great River Road: Galena
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Galena
Planning note
Galena is where the day begins. Next is Elizabeth.
2. Elizabeth
Elizabeth is a small village in the north-west corner of Illinois, and it sits in country that the last ice sheet missed. This is the Driftless Area, a patch of the Upper Midwest that the glaciers flowed around, which is why it is hilly, wooded and cut by steep valleys, while most of Illinois is as flat as a table. The roads here rise and fall like a ship in a swell, and the farms are laid out along ridges and valleys in contour-following strips, with red barns, limestone outcrops and woodland on every slope.
Read the complete Elizabeth write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Elizabeth comes up about 53 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hanover.
3. Hanover
Hanover is a village of a few hundred people where the Apple River slips past low limestone bluffs on its way to the Mississippi, and the whole setting has a slow, old-fashioned charm. The river was once harnessed to run a mill, and the old mill dam and the stone buildings that went with it are still a feature of the village, with the water tumbling over the weir in a pleasant, rushing sound. A few small shops, an old stone church and a handful of houses make up the centre.
Read the complete Hanover write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 76 km into the recorded legs you reach Hanover. Next is Savanna.
4. Savanna
Planning note
Savanna closes the day.
Leg by leg
Galena to Elizabeth
Galena → Elizabeth, 53 km. Part of Great River Road: Galena.
Elizabeth to Hanover
Elizabeth → Hanover, 23 km. Part of Great River Road: Galena.
Hanover to Savanna
Hanover → Savanna, 56 km. Part of Great River Road: Galena.