America’s Great Loop

America’s Great Loop is a long-distance inland and coastal cruising route that links the Great Lakes, inland rivers, the Gulf Coast, the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, and the Canadian/US inland systems into one continuous circuit. Most Loopers complete it over many months to roughly a year (or longer), typically traveling counterclockwise to align with weather windows and seasonal water levels. It is not a race route—it’s usually done in practical daily legs with weather days, maintenance stops, marina nights, and anchorage stretches. Planning matters: bridge clearances, draft limits, lock schedules, fuel range, insurance requirements, border/customs steps, and regional storm seasons can all shape timing and route choices.

Use this hub to move from broad planning to practical decisions: compare candidate boats, study stop sequences, then build a route you can actually live with day after day.

Core Great Loop planning guides

Start here if you are planning the Loop seriously. These pages are written as practical decision guides, not quick summaries.

Practical skills and boat-choice guides

How to use these Great Loop pages together

1. Start with Loop Boats if you are still pressure-testing boat fit for draft, air draft, beam, layout, and guest comfort.
2. Use Gold Loop Route and Platinum Loop Route to understand common stop order and route rhythm.
3. Move into the Route Planner when you want to build a custom version around your start point, pace, and preferred stops.
4. Use marina links, conditions pages, and local tools when the route starts turning into real departure decisions.

Start with one of these paths

Featured planning reads

Common first-time Great Loop mistakes

• Buying the route story instead of the day-to-day lifestyle: a boat can look perfect on paper and still feel wrong once you factor in stairs, docking workload, heat, laundry, and guest privacy.
• Underestimating weather delays: a realistic Loop plan needs waiting days for wind, thunderstorms, shallow-water timing, open-water crossings, and plain old crew fatigue.
• Optimizing for the rare hard week instead of the normal month: many people overweight one dramatic crossing and underweight the hundreds of ordinary docking, provisioning, and sleeping decisions that define the trip.
• Assuming every leg should be efficient: some stops are worth extra mileage because they reduce stress, improve maintenance timing, or create better positioning for the next weather window.
• Treating charts, marina lists, and route pages as fixed truth: the Loop changes with dredging, shoaling, closures, repairs, storm damage, local policy shifts, and season-specific conditions, so verification is part of the lifestyle.

Seasonal timing in plain English

There is no single perfect calendar. The real question is whether your route order matches your comfort with heat, cold, storm risk, crowds, and how fast you actually like to travel.

Where to go next based on what you need

High-level route maps

These are editorial overview graphics, not navigation charts. They are meant to help readers compare route styles, start-point logic, and the basic shape of the trip at a glance.

Classic Loop map

The standard high-level loop shape for broad first-time orientation.

Gold Loop map

A simplified visual for the Gold route rhythm and how it differs at a glance.

Platinum Loop map

A broader route-comparison graphic for the Platinum version.

Start-point comparison map

Shows the common regions crews use to begin and what each start represents strategically.

Expanded planning library

Boat-shopping and daily-life reads

• Best Great Loop boats under 40 feet
• Best Great Loop trawlers
• Can a catamaran do the Great Loop?
• Best Great Loop boats by budget
• Great Loop pre-purchase checklist
• Solo vs couple Great Looping
• Pets on the Great Loop
• Marina nights vs anchoring nights

Route rhythm and trip logistics

• Draft and shoaling reality guide
• Route map and stop strategy
• Seasonal timing cheat sheet
• Provisioning and resupply strategy
• Great Loop packing list
• How to pace a Great Loop without burnout
• Licenses, permits, and compliance

Core association resource

• AGLCA — America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association

Hidden Gem Anchorages

Community-submitted anchorages with map links. Submit your own hidden gems below.

Boating Knots

See the full knot guide here: 20 Essential Boating Knots ↗

Important verification notice

Please verify all boat data, routes, bridge clearances, lock details, and waypoints before use. Mistakes can happen and information can become outdated. Always use current official charts, Notices to Mariners, and up-to-date navigation sources. If you find broken, outdated, or incorrect links/data, please report them so we can fix them.

Great Loop stop planning and boat decisions

These final planning guides answer the practical questions that come up once the route feels real: where to stop, how to refuel and resupply, when to use yards, and how to choose a boat that fits the trip.