When we started traveling together, the stories of grand adventures inspired us. We read and watched about the journey’s that others set off on. There’s one that we’ve been captivated by for years — America’s Great Loop. It truly felt like the adventure of a lifetime. Disillusioned by the fact that we didn’t have enough boating experience and all of the other reasons we “couldn’t” do it, we shelved that dream. Until now. We can no longer ignore the call of the Loop.

What Is America’s Great Loop?

America’s Great Loop is a 6,000 mile continuous water route that circles the eastern United States and part of Canada.

Most people go on the journey in a counter clockwise direction to best align with both the seasons and natural flow of water.

The Great Loop includes:

The Intracoastal Waterway

This makes up a primary portion of America’s Great Loop. It is a 3,000 mile protected inland waterway. It stretches across the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

The Intracoastal Waterway is a mix of rivers, human made waterways, bays, and more. It’s not a continuous waterway, it’s a series of connected waterways that allows you to navigate without venturing into the ocean. Which you will come to learn in this post, is one of the reasons they call America’s Great Loop high adventure, low risk. The Intracoastal was originally created for commercial use, but now is a popular route for pleasure boaters and commercial traffic alike. Loopers (aka: those participating in America’s Great Loop) get to know the Intracoastal quite intimately on their journey.

We have lived on the Intracoastal for over a decade now, maybe the waterway itself has been calling us to the Loop longer than we realized.

The Atlantic coast

The 14 states that have a shoreline on the Atlantic Ocean are (from north to south): Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. The most popular route of The Great Loop will touch 9 of those 14 states. However, you can also include side trips depending on your timeline and boat specs. Everyone says, the Loop is whatever you make it!

The Hudson River

A 315 mile river stretch that not only was incredibly important to America’s industrial history but also offers iconic views of both the New York City skyline and the lesser highlighted stunning nature of upstate New York. The Hudson River runs through the Munsee, Lenape, Mohican, Mohawk, and Haudenosaunee homelands. Something that magnetizes us into The Great Loop adventure is the experiential access it gives you to America’s history. We’re not just reading about it, we’re seeing in from a vantage point not many get.

The Erie Canal

Speaking of history, created in 1825, The Erie Canal is the next segment America’s Great Loop takes you through. 1825, constructed largely by HAND.

It’s giving British Canal vibes, one of our personal trip inspirations for this journey…

The Erie Canal creates your first seasonal consideration for America’s Great Loop, as it is only open certain months of the year. Generally those months are May – October, you can find exact seasonal dates on the official NYS Canal Website.

You’ll also find an extensive locking system – 35 locks to be exact. But if that number has you mind blown, just know you will go through over 100 locks total on your Great Loop journey. That’s making me sweat a little because our British Canal journey had about 21 locks. Though most of those were user operated, manual locks, while all of the Erie Canal Locks are operated for you by a New York State Canal operator, and for that matter all locks on America’s Great Loop have a lock master (aka: someone who operates the lock) and you are generally in control of your own lines. So maybe it balances out? A little? We’ll come back and let you know once it’s complete.

The Great Lakes

I remember learning the HOMES acronym in school being dazzled by these northern bodies of water, wondering if I would ever see one.

Huron
Ontario
Michigan
Erie
Superior

These are the largest group of freshwater bodies on earth, containing 21% of earth’s fresh water.

Most Loopers touch 3 out of 5 of these — Ontario, Huron, and Michigan.

Lake Erie has size restrictions that many Loop boats exceed and Lake Superior would require a very large side trip, but technically could be possible.

You start by entering Lake Ontario via either the Erie Canal or Oswego Canal. From there you make your way to Lake Huron via the Trent-Severn Waterway or Georgian Bay. And finally, the beast that is Lake Michigan to start your journey south.

The Illinois and Mississippi Rivers (+ the Tenn-Tom Waterway)

These waterways usher you passed some of the inner states of the journey like Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi. There are a couple of options on this segment, you can continue down the Mississippi River and have a great time in New Orleans (always a great time) or you can take the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway aka the Tenn-Tom to avoid some challenging commercial traffic conditions on the Mississippi.

The Gulf Coast

Often considered one of the most challenging segments of the Loop because it contains one of the few open ocean stretches of the journey. For the majority of Loopers it is the final stretch if they are starting on the standard counter clockwise journey on the East Coast. You can avoid the open water stretch on a longer coast hugging journey called the Rim Route.

The Great Loop is not a race. It’s not a cruise ship itinerary. It’s a choose-your-own-adventure loop that takes most people 12-18 months (or more). We’ve barely scratched the surface on Great Loop stops, side trips, and highlights.

And somehow… we can’t stop thinking about it.

Why We’re Personally Intrigued by the Great Loop

We’ve done flights. We’ve done oversized backpacks. We’ve done long-haul travel. We’ve done housesitting, travel hacking, long term stays… You name the travel, we’ve tried it and (mostly) loved it.

We were craving a little bit of a challenge this year. But not blow your nervous system out kind of challenge, more like a learn something new and stretch your own limits kind of challenge.

Here are the key reasons America’s Great Loop intrigued us:

1. It’s Slow Travel in Its Purest Form

Of course, if you want it to be. There are those world record breaking kind of people out there. But as we said earlier, most people take 12-18 months+ to complete their Loop.

You don’t rush through towns.

You arrive slowly.
You learn rivers.

You respect weather.

It feels aligned with the kind of travel we love which is and has always been immersive and intentional.

2. It Connects So Many Worlds in One Journey

In one continuous route you experience:

• Southern marshlands
• Historic river towns
• The skyline of Chicago
• The open Great Lakes
• Quiet Canadian canals
• The Gulf’s turquoise waters
  

There’s something poetic about linking all of it together by water. If you’ve ever watched any of our ferry videos, you know we love arriving to a new place by boat. It gives such a unique perspective, to us it feels like we are explorers.

We’ve called Florida our home base for years now and we’ve become drawn to the water. It makes up so much of our planet and yet, we fly right passed it on most journeys (literally).

This is just the start of a whole new world of travel for us.

3. It’s A Season Of Life

The average age group of people completing America’s Great Loops is 50-60. We are… not there yet 🙂

We spent a lot of years telling ourselves all the reasons we can’t do this right now — work, aging parents, community… did we mention work? Finances are also a huge factor for the younger age group doing this adventure.

But when we actually got serious about this journey and crunched the numbers in comparison to our current monthly living expenses, it actually made more sense than we realized.

We’ve said yes to apartment leases for longer than this journey. What’s so different about a boat? Okay, yes, for the real logical ones in the peanut gallery — quite a bit of difference. But for us, it became more of a question of why not?

Everything in this life is temporary, a season of life. So why not start now instead of waiting for a time that may or may not come to life?

What You Need to Know Before You Leave

If you’re wondering whether to add America’s Great Loop to your bucket list, here are the foundational things most people research first:

⛵ What Kind of Boat Can Do the Great Loop?

We plan to do a very in depth post on this soon because it took us over a year to find our boat and we have a lot to say about that process.

At a foundational level the most common choices are:

Trawlers — traditional built vessels with heavier hulls that tend to prioritize fuel efficiency over speed, originally designed as fishing vessels, now modeled for long term living and long haul journeys.

Beneteau, American Tug, and Nordhaven — We love you all and if any of these brands are reading this we would LOVE to work with you. 😆❤️

Motor yachts — think speedier, lighter, typically a more modern look. No Motor Yacht people come at me for this, but they remind me a bit more of a floating condo. Motor Yachts were more for the weekender but they’re gaining popularity on the Loop.

Some sailboats — Yes, sailors! We love you too. Sailboats are able to do the Loop, they just have to remove their mast for the Chicago portion due to a fixed bridge.

This brings us to key considerations for a Great Loop Boat (ha, little pun there) –

• Draft – This is the vertical distance between the waterline and the lowest part of the hull. There are some shallow water considerations on America’s Great Loop that will make this matter. You need to have a draft of less than 5 feet.
• Air draft – Height matters too for bridge clearance, there is a fixed bridge in Chicago which means your boat must be no taller than 19 ft, 6 inches.
• Fuel efficiency – This is a little personal to you, your vessel, and your budget. The average fuel efficiency for the Loop is about 1-5 miles per gallon. You can expect to use about 1,200-2,000 gallons for the whole journey and your longest stretch with no fueling station is about 210 miles.
• Comfort for long term living – Look, you’re likely staying on this boat for 12 months, you need some form of comfort. Comfort is a little subjective, but you need to at least consider it.

💰 How Much Does America’s Great Loop Cost?

This varies wildly based on:

• Fuel prices
• Marina vs anchoring
• Boat size
• Maintenance needs
• How often you explore inland
  

It’s not a “cheap” adventure but compared to international long-term travel? It’s surprisingly comparable for some. Since we’re in the prep phase of our journey, we’re using our best crystal ball possible by considering what we already know about how we travel, the boat we want, and the current average prices. Along with matching this with the amazing navigators who have shared highlights (and lowlights) of their Great Loop journey.

🗓️ When Do People Start the Great Loop?

Most start in:

• Spring (heading north)
• Or Fall (heading south)

Remember, weather dictates a lot of this journey. You have to consider:

• Hurricane season for the Gulf/Florida Atlantic stretch.
• Ice on the Great Lakes for well… the Great Lake stretch. The Erie Canal is also only open seasonally because of this.
• River levels – Generally there are high waters and fast currents in the spring because of snow and ice melting creating a runoff, and low levels in summer and autumn. This is something you will constantly be keeping your eye on during the journey.

Should You Add the Great Loop to Your Bucket List?

Here’s what we keep coming back to:

If your heart lights up reading about it…
If the idea of moving slowly by water feels expansive…
If you’re craving something immersive instead of fast…

Then maybe it’s not about “someday.”

Maybe it’s about asking:

• What would have to shift to make this possible?
• What would we need to let go of?
• What kind of life would support this?

We don’t have all the answers yet.

But we do know this:

The Great Loop feels less like a vacation…
And more like a season of our life.

We’re documenting the journey, starting soon 👀 Will you join us?