The Great Loop

What exactly is the Great Loop, you ask? In short, the Great Loop is a circumnavigation of the eastern half of the United States. My Loop will start in Pensacola, FL and then head east along the Gulf intracoastal waterway to Carrabelle, FL. Then it’s an overnight trip across the Gulf of Mexico to Tarpon Springs, just north of Tampa. I will head south along the west coast of Florida to Fort Myers and will then head east through central Florida and Lake Okeechobee to Stuart, Florida on Florida’s east coast. From there, I head north all the way to New York harbor along the Atlantic intracoastal waterway. Thereafter, it’s up the Hudson River to the Eire Canal and eventually to Lake Ontario and into Canada. The Trent-Severn waterway leads west across Canada to Lake Huron and then on to northern Michigan. I then start heading south on Lake Michigan to Chicago. I then transit through downtown Chicago on the way to The Illinois River and then down the Mississippi. I exit the Mississippi at the Ohio River and head upstream for a short way until heading south again on the Tennessee River and then the Tenn-Tom waterway all the way to Mobile, AL. From there, it’s a short hop east to finish the Loop at Pensacola. All told, the trip will cover more than 5,000 miles through 16 US states plus Ontario and transit about 150 locks.