Five national park sites that showcase the natural and historic importance of the Mississippi River

When you picture America's national parks and historic places, you might be thinking of the impressive Teton mountain range, the rock formations of Bryce Canyon or the geysers at Yellowstone.

But you can make your way through several sites of national importance just by following one of the nation's great rivers: the Mississippi.

Here, we've rounded up National Park Service sites and other federally protected places along the river. Visitors can hike, camp and fish in some, taking in the sweeping beauty of the river valley. Others offer a chance to get educated on the history of the Indigenous communities who lived near the river and, further south, a hard look at America's history of slavery.

What national parks, monuments and other spots are on the Mississippi River?

In Minnesota, the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area is a 72-mile park full of opportunities for hiking, kayaking, bird-watching and learning about the river. According to its website, it's also home to the steepest descent of the river — more than 110 feet — through a narrow gorge.

Although it's not a National Park Service site, the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge is not to be missed. The refuge stretches more than 260 river miles from Wabasha, Minnesota to Rock Island, Illinois, protecting more than 240,000 acres of river floodplain. During the right seasons, you can hunt, fish, hike, bird-watch and more.

Effigy Mounds National Monument, near Harpers Ferry, Iowa, is a sacred space for the Indigenous peoples who lived in the Mississippi River valley. More than 200 mounds are in the park, formed thousands of years ago by people of the Late Woodland period in the shapes of bears, birds and other animals. By taking the Fire Point loop on foot, visitors can see more than 25 mounds — including two effigy mounds, Little Bear and Great Bear — as well as expansive views of the river.

In St. Louis, Gateway Arch National Park is an iconic feature along the Mississippi River. The 630-foot stainless steel arch, which was completed in 1965, is built to withstand earthquakes and high winds. You can ride a tram to the top, which provides wide-ranging views of the river and the city.

In Natchez, Mississippi, Natchez National Historical Park is a place of hard truths about America's history of slavery. The wealth and charm of the river city "was built on a horrific international system of human trafficking of people of African descent," Park Superintendent Kathleen Bond wrote in a column. In 2021, the park marked the acknowledgment of Forks of the Road, once one of the largest places where people were sold into slavery across the south.

Could the Midwest get a national park on the Mississippi River?

There have been efforts to establish a national park in the Driftless region of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois, but they've faltered.

This past year, a proposal to create a Driftless National Park and Preserve in southeastern Minnesota was pulled after residents raised concerns about private land being made public and too many visitors harming the landscape, the Rochester Post-Bulletin reported in June.

In a Facebook post announcing the idea was being rescinded, the author of the proposal wrote, "The core tenets of this idea of mine were efforts for the conservation of the Driftless ecosystem - an incredibly rich environment unlike anywhere else - and the preservation of this landscape for future generations."

In Alton, Illinois, about a half-hour drive north of St. Louis, AltonWorks — a company that aims to revitalize the city's downtown — has proposed the creation of Great Rivers National Park, which would stretch 144 miles of riverfront.

This story is a product of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri in partnership with Report for America, with major funding from the Walton Family Foundation. Sign up to republish stories like this one for free.