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Great River Road staff highlight interpretive centers, ambassador program and summer water exhibit
Summary
MRPC staff and technical advisors reviewed heritage tourism assets (13 Minnesota interpretive centers), promoted the ambassador program and materials, celebrated a USA Today scenic‑drive award, and heard that Itasca State Park will host the 'We Are Water' traveling exhibit in summer 2026.
Staff and technical advisors for the Minnesota Mississippi River Parkway Commission reviewed programs to promote the Great River Road and highlighted an upcoming summer exhibit focused on water.
Chris Miller, who served as the regional director for the meeting, walked attendees through the MRPC mission—to preserve, promote and enhance the corridor’s scenic, historic and recreational resources—and announced that USA Today readers selected the Great River Road as the nation’s best scenic drive for 2025. Miller encouraged partners to use the promotion to boost visitation to their sites.
Peter Mcdana, senior landscape architect with the Minnesota Department of Transportation and MRPC technical advisor, described the ten‑state network of interpretive centers. He said Minnesota’s Great River Road runs roughly 565 miles through 43 communities and 20 counties and currently includes 13 interpretive centers. “One of the unique things about the Great River Road is that it is not one road. It is many roads that become one road,” Peter said.
Presenters also outlined the MRPC ambassador program and outreach materials—maps, reflective vinyl stickers, lapel pins and event bandanas—and offered Zoom orientation sessions for partners who want training and promotional items.
Heather Funk of Itasca State Park said the park will host the Minnesota Humanities Center/Minnesota Pollution Control Agency “We Are Water” traveling exhibit for eight weeks from mid‑June to mid‑August 2026, timed to mark a centennial of water‑quality efforts on the Mississippi. The exhibit will include traveling panels and site‑specific programming and is intended to gather voices from diverse cultures and agencies to discuss what the river means to them.
Sally Find asked that water quality be added to the commission’s next annual meeting agenda, stressing freshwater preservation as a priority for communities along the corridor.
What happens next: MRPC staff will continue outreach and make ambassador resources available to partners; the Itasca exhibit opens summer 2026 and partners were encouraged to share local programming ideas with commission staff.
