A boating expedition that encompasses more than 5,000 miles and over 20 states, the Great Loop takes adventurers from the Canada in the north to the Gulf of Mexico in the south. Along the way, cruisers have the opportunity to see some of the great monuments of North America, from the Statue of Liberty and the Canadian Heritage Canals to the skyline of downtown Chicago.
The majority of boaters “cruise the Great Loop” in counter-clockwise fashion, starting with the Great Lakes and traveling down several rivers to the Gulf of Mexico. Cruising the Great Loop is typically best done starting in mid-May, when the snow and runoff in the Erie Canal begins to dissipate. Similarly, boats must leave Lake Michigan by early September due to high winds and low temperatures.