June 4

Biking on the Big River Crossing

Memphis, TN

Big River Crossing spanning 4,973 feet along the north side of the Harahan Bridge offers breathtaking views of the Mississippi River, wooden bluffs and the city skyline.

 

The Harahan Bridge, named after James Theodore Harahan, a former president of the Illinois Central Railroad, opened in 1916.  It carries two railroad lines.

 

 

Officially opened in October 2016, Big River Crossing, at nearly a mile in length, is the longest public pedestrian bridge across the Mississippi.  It is also the country’s longest active rail/bicycle/pedestrian bridge serving as the connection point of Main Street to Main Street, a 10-mile multi-modal corridor that also features the Delta Regional River Park and Big River Trail, creating ties to attractions between Memphis, TN and West Memphis, AR.

 

 

 

On each side of the bridge there are parks.   On the west bank is the developing Delta Regional River Park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the east side, Tom Lee Park is named in honor of a local African-American riverboat worker who saved the lives of 32 passengers on a sinking steamboat in 1925