Grafton Ferry

Grafton (Illinois) is a popular location for Eagle spotting &, since October 2002, it also provides a crossing of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. After driving the Great River Road & seeing the totally (un)spectacular Fall colours we thought that we would take the ferry across the river(s). We initially missed the turning for the ferry as it wasn't actually a road but more of a gravel track. We were looking for something like the Woolwich Ferry in London with big a big gantry to drive on & off the ferry (especially considering that the river is approximately a mile wide at this location), so we were even more surprised when the ferry turned out to be a small looking tugboat connected to a flat barge with vehicles on (maximum capacity 12 cars). To get the vehicles on & off the ferry, it literally 'drove' into the riverbank & access ramps were then unfolded directly onto the bank. We got a great view of Grafton from the ferry & it only took about 10 minutes to get from Illinois to Missouri.