Riverboats of the Fifty States

We list paddlewheel boats, steamboats, Mark Twain-like excursion boats, and excursion boats that take you to see paddlewheel boats. We also list museums that house special boat exhibits.

Webmaster's disclaimer: The links on this page were updated 3/29/2009. Boats move; typos happen. If you plan a visit, please confirm the boat's location, hours of operation, and whether reservations are required. The green and blue buttons are as accurate as possible, but not guaranteed. If you find the boat of your dreams, please tell them Steamboats.com sent you!

Alabama

Bama Belle sternwheeler offers cruises out of Tuscaloosa.

Wilma K sternwheeler out of Creola (forty miles north of Mobile).

Alaska

Alaska Queen sternwheeler offers history cruises in Ketchikan.

Riverboat Discovery * Riverboat Discovery II * Riverboat Discovery III three sternwheelers offers cruises on the Chena and Tanana Rivers, out of Fairbanks.

Arizona

Dixie Belle sternwheeler offers cruises on Lake Havasu (northwest Arizona), including the London Bridge. Official site to book tours: click here.

Colorado King sternwheeler offers cruises on the Colorado River, out of Yuma.

Desert Belle sternwheeler offers public cruises on Saguaro Lake (northeast of Phoenix).

Dolly Steamboat sternwheeler offers cruises on Canyon Lake (northeast of Phoenix, a thirty-five mile drive from the Desert Belle - see two boats in one trip).

Arkansas

Arkansas Queen sternwheeler offers cruises on the Arkansas River, out of North Little Rock. Docked at the Inland Maritime Center, next to the USS Razorback submarine.

Mary Woods No. 2 restored sternwheeler that once worked the White River, now a museum in Jacksonport State Park (ninety-five miles northeast of Little Rock).

California

Arrowhead Queen sternwheeler offers cruises on Lake Arrowhead (east of Los Angeles). See also Lake Arrowhead Village. Also, see Nori's photos, click here.

Bahai Belle * William D. Evans sternwheelers offer cruises on Mission Bay (north San Diego).

Delta King sternwheeler, sister ship of the Delta Queen, is lovingly restored as a hotel, restaurant, convention and events center, and mystery theater in Old Town Sacramento (no engines).

Spirit of Sacramento * Island Girl two sternwheelers offer cruises on the Sacramento River, out of Old Town Sacramento. They dock next to the Delta King. The Spirit of Sacramento was formerly the Becky Thatcher, based in Cincinnati, but traveled under its own power through the Panama Canal to California in 1997. See photos by Nori, click here.

Clear Lake Queen - near Lucerne, unknown website, see photo: click here

The Grand Romance sternwheeler offers cruises and Mystery Theater in Rainbow Harbor, Long Beach.

Delta Queen Car Wash this is not a boat, but a car wash that looks like a sternwheeler! Watch for it in Campbell, California, up there by San Jose.

M.S. Dixie II * Tahoe Queen sternwheelers offer cruises on Lake Tahoe (near the boarder of Nevada and California).

Mark Twain Riverboat Frontierland sternwheeler, Disneyland (Anaheim).

Colorado

New Liberty Belle - no website - associated with Water Valley Resort Residential Community, Windsor.

Prairie Princess II - no website - may have moved to Oregon.

Connecticut

Jubilee sternwheeler, home port Bantam Lake, Morris (thirty-three miles west of Hartford).

Delaware

Lady Anne steam launch, home port Assawoman Bay in Fenwick Island (no wheel).

Florida

Betsy Ann Riverboat sternwheeler offers cruises and mystery theater; moved from Wetumpka, Alabama in 2005, now based at the foot of the Hathaway Bridge in Panama City.

Beresford Lady sidewheeler offers cruises on the historic St. Johns River, out of Deland (twenty miles southwest of Daytona Beach).

Sara Grace * Jean Mary sternwheelers offer cruises on the San Sebastian River, out of St. Augustine.

Mark Twain Riverboat Frontierland sternwheeler, Disney World (Orlando).

Georgia

Savannah Queen * Georgia Queen sternwheelers offer cruises of Savannah Harbor, out of Savannah.

Hawaii

Idaho
Steamboat Jean historic steam towboat (no wheel), listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is moored on the Snake River in Hells Gate State Park, Lewiston (a hundred miles south of Spokane, Washington).

Illinois

Spirit of Peoria sternwheeler offers cruises on the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, including overnight trips. Home port Peoria; departures from the Saint Louis riverfront at the Gateway Arch, Missouri.

Anastasia sternwheeler offers cruises on the upper Mississippi River; formerly known as the Dottie G., out of Alton (thirty miles north of St. Louis).

Tennessee Belle sternwheeler located in Savanna (for now). Was known as the Delta Dawn from 1975 until 2003.

M.V. Picket Hastings sternwheeler out of Savanna, Illinois or Dubuque, Iowa, depending on the mood of the Captain. Captain further points out: "Boat incorporates very large (21x40) foredeck to accommodate companion seaplane, making this the ASA's only aircraft carrier."

Indiana

Barbara H. fully operational historic sternwheel towboat offers dockside tours. A National Historic Landmark. Travels between Cincinnati and Louisville, based in Vevay, a project of the Historic Sternwheeler Preservation Society.

Dixieboat sternwheeler offers cruises Webster Lake, North Webster (a hundred and thirty-four miles southeast of Chicago).

Iowa

Riverboat Twilight sternwheeler offers overnight cruises on the Mississippi River, traveling from Dubuque to Le Claire. Company is based in Scales Mound, Illinois (twenty-five miles east of Dubuque).

Lonestar historic, restored sternwheeler steamboat, a project of the Buffalo Bill Museum, is open to the public, located on the Mississippi River at Le Claire (fourteen miles east of Davenport).

Mississippi Belle, aka Quad City Queen permanently docked in Bettendorf (five miles east of Davenport).

William M. Black restored sidewheeler now serves as a bed and breakfast in Dubuque. A project of the Mississippi River National Museum. See exhibit at this site: click here.

Lilly Belle historic sternwheeler docked at the Mississippi River National Musuem, Dubuque.

Spirit of Dubuque sternwheeler offers cruises on the Mississippi River out of Dubuque.

Casino Boats - this map shows a number of sternwheel casino boats in Iowa. [This page does not necessarily list all casino boats.]
Bertrand this ship sank in 1865, excavation began in 1968, and the artifact collection is housed in a museum located at the DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge, north of Council Bluffs, and just west of Missouri Valley.

Kansas

Kentucky

Belle of Cincinnati * River Queen * Mark Twain three sternwheelers offer cruises on the Ohio River out of Waterfront Park in downtown Louisville. BB Riverboats is based in Newport, across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. Check the BB Riverboats website for specifics on each boat: Belle of Cincinnati * River Queen * Mark Twain

Belle of Louisville * Riverboat Spirit of Jefferson two sternwheelers offer cruises on the Ohio River, out of Louisville.

USS Nightmare.com America's premier Haunted Steamboat, open mid-September through November 1. The sidewheeler was formerly known as the William S. Mitchell, and had a distinguised career dredging rivers for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1934 to 1986. Located in Newport, across the river from Cincinnati.

Dixie Belle sternwheeler offers cruises along the Kentucky River palisades, a stretch of river with limestone cliffs. Associated with Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Harrodsburg (twenty-five miles southwest of Lexington).

Mike Fink historic sternwheeler offers cruises on the Ohio River, out of Covington. This boat is on the National Historic Register of Buildings and Places. Temporarily closed for renovations.

Louisiana

Magnolia Belle sternwheeler offers cruises on Lake Pontchartrain, out of New Orleans. Recently moved from Cape Canaveral; featured in the 1993 film, "The Adventures of Huck Finn."

Steamboat Natchez steam powered sternwheeler launched in 1975 offers cruises out of New Orleans.

Creole Queen sternwheeler offers cruises on the Mississippi River out of New Orleans.

American Queen - steam powered sternwheeler, currenly in corporate limbo, docked in New Orleans.

Mississippi Queen - steam powered sternwheeler, currently in corporate limbo, being dismantled in New Orleans, RIP (see recent photo 3/11/2009 click here).

Maine

Songo River Queen sternwheeler offers cruises on the Songo River, out of Naples (thirty miles northwest of Portland).

Maryland

Lantern Queen sternwheeler offers cruises on the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay, out of Havre de Grace (thirty-five miles northeast of Baltimore). More photos, click here.

The Black-Eyed Susan sternwheeler offers cruises of Northwest Harbor, departing from the Broadway Pier, Fells Point, Baltimore. Formerly known as Henrietta II in Wilmington, North Carolina.

S.T. Baltimore restoration in progress of a historic steam powered tug boat built in 1906. It was sunken from 1979 to 1981, and is currently being restored.

The Dorothy & Megan * Choptank River Queen two split wheel sternwheelers offer cruises on the Choptank River, based at the Suicide Bridge Restaurant & Choptank Riverboat Company, in Hurlock (fourteen miles northeast of Cambridge).

Massachusetts

Michigan

Michigan Princess Riverboat sternwheeler offers cruises on the Grand River, based in Lansing.

Detroit Princess Riverboat sternwheeler offers cruises on the Detroit River, including skyline views of Detroit and Windsor.

Bavarian Belle sternwheeler offers cruises, based in Frankenmuth (thirty miles north of Flint).

Genesee Belle sternwheeler offers cruises on Mott Lake, a project of the Genesee County Parks.

Minnesota

Mississippi

Tunica Queen sternwheeler offers cruises on the Mississippi River, in the Tunica Resorts area (thirty miles southwest of Memphis).

Missouri

Steamboat Arabia museum showing the excavation of a sidewheeler that sunk on the Missouri River in 1856. Parts of the boat and its cargo are on display; full-sized replica of main deck and twenty-eight-foot sidewheel. Located in Kansas City.

Showboat Branson Belle split sternwheeler offers cruises on Table Rock Lake, out of Branson.

Mark Twain Riverboat sternwheeler offers cruises on the Mississippi River, out of Hannibal.

Montana

Nebraska

River City Star Mark Twain-like excursion boat offers cruises out of Omaha, a feature of the city's riverfront development (no wheel). See Nori's photos of this boat - click here.

Captain Meriwether Lewis historic sidewheeler, which operated as a dustpan dredge for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers until 1969. Now in a museum at Brownsville.

Nevada

Edgewater Belle 608-foot replica of a Mississippi Riverboat offers cruises out of the Edgewater and Colorado Belle Hotels (702) 298-4000 1-800-47-RIVER.

Fiesta Queen * Celebration - two mock sidewheelers offer cruises, based at the riverfront in Laughlin.

Colorado Belle a building that looks like a boat in Laughlin. Home of the Edgewater Belle.

Desert Princess sternwheeler offers cruises on Lake Mead (forty miles east of Las Vegas).

M.S. Dixie II * Tahoe Queen two sternwheelers offer cruises on Lake Tahoe, on the boarder of Nevada and California. Also listed under California.

New Hampshire

The Winnipesaukee Belle sternwheeler offers cruises, based at the Wolfeboro Inn, Wolfeboro (sixty-five miles west of Portland, Maine).

New Jersey

River Lady sternwheeler offers cruises on the Toms River and Barnegat Bay (sixty-five miles south of Newark on the Jersey Coast).

New York

The Canandaigua Lady sternwheeler offers cruises on Canandaigua Lake, based in Canandaigua (twenty-eight miles south of Rochester).

Chautauqua Belle steam powered sternwheeler offers cruises on Chautauqua Lake, based in Mayville (seventy-three miles southwest of Buffalo).

Mohican * Minne-ha-ha two sternwheelers frun by Lake Georges Steamboats offer cruises out of Lake George (sixty miles north of Albany).

Paddlewheel Queen sternwheeler offers cruise out of New York Harbor, Manhattan.

New Mexico

North Carolina

Henrietta III sternwheeler offers cruises from Water & Dock Streets in Wilmington.

Jungle Princess excursion boat (no wheel) offers cruises on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and Waccamaw River, out of Myrtle Beach. (Also listed under South Carolina.)

North Dakota

Yellowstone a sixty-foot replica of the historic Steamship Yellowstone, is part of the Missouri River walking trail, Steamboat Park, Bismarck.

Ohio

Cherokee ninety foot sternwheeler, home port on the Ohio River near Minersville. Family excursion boat built over a 3-year period (1974-1977).

Gambler forty-five foot sternwheeler built entirely by the Morton family, travels widely; home port Rayland.

Nora Jean forty-six foot sternwheeler built in 1981, home port Devola, OH at Mile 5 on the Muskingum River; excursion boat for family and friends.

Belle of Cincinnati* River Queen * Mark Twain see listing in Kentucky for BB Riverboats.

Crystal Rose sternwheeler out of Eagleport (seventy-five miles east of Columbus); formerly known as the Mary Isabel.

Sally sternwheeler out of Sardis (forty miles north east of Marietta); currently undergoing renovation.

Valley Gem Riverboat sternwheeler offers cruises on the Ohio River, out of Marietta.

Oklahoma

Cherokee Queen sternwheeler offers cruises on the Grand Lake O the Cherokees, out of Grove (ninety miles northeast of Tulsa).

Oregon

Newport Belle fully operational sternwheeler is a bed & breakfast on the Oregon coast. (See Nori's photos, click here.)

Willamette Queen sternwheeler offers cruises of the Willamette River, out of Riverfront Park, Salem. Another link for this boat: http://oregonlink.com/riverboat/ See Nori's photos of this boat, click here.

Queen of the West - sternwheeler; operated on the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Currently in corporate limbo, docked in Portland. May move to Pendleton to work for Exploration Cruise Lines of Issaquah, Wash.
Columbia Queen excursion boat (no wheel); currently in corporate limbo, docked in Portland.

Pennsylvania

E.L. Thumper sternwheeler on the Allegheny River near Pittsburgh.

Fulton Steamboat Inn overnight accommodations on a retired sternwheeler in beautiful Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Lancaster.

Sternwheeler Barbara J no website found - sternwheeler offers cruises on Conneaut Lake (a hundred miles north of Pittsburgh). Call (814) 382-7433 for information.

Liberty Belle sternwheeler offers cruises on the Delaware River, out of Burlington.

The Majestic * The Empress * the Princess * The Duchess * The Countess three sternwheelers, a sidewheeler, and a showboat on a barge pushed by a towboat make up the Gateway Clipper Fleet. These boats offer cruises on the Monongahela, Allegheny, and Ohio Rivers, out of Pittsburgh. City skylines and natural beauty.

Donna Rae sternwheeler out of Pittsburgh.

Rhode Island

South Carolina

Jungle Princess excursion boat (no wheel) offers cruises on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and Waccamaw River, out of Myrtle Beach. (Also listed under North Carolina.)

South Dakota

Tennessee

Delta Queen steam powered sternwheeler, a National Historic Landmark, currently in corporate limbo, temporarily leased to the City of Chattanooga as a hotel.

Chattanooga Star educational field trips for students (operations temporarily suspended).

Island Queen * Memphis Queen II * Memphis Queen III * Memphis Showboat two sternwheelers, an excursion boat, and a showboat offer river cruises on the Mississippi River, out of Memphis. [Webmaster's Note: This website worked best with Firefox.]

The Star of Knoxville split sternwheeler offers cruises on the Tennessee River, out of downtown Knoxville.

Texas

Graceful Ghost authentic wood-fired sternwheeler offers cruises on Caddo Lake, near the Texas-Arkansas-Louisiana border.

Spirit of Texas Paddlewheeler sternwheeler offers cruises out of Clear Lake and Galveston Bay (south of Houston).

Southern Empress sternwheeler offers cruises, docked at the Sunset Harbor Resort at Seven Coves, Willis (north of Houston).

Utah

Vermont

Str. Ticonderoga retired paddlewheeler historic 220 foot sidewheeler, lovingly restored and preserved at the Shelburne Museum (between Charlotte and Burlington), welcomes visitors. A National Historic Landmark built in Shelburne in 1906; operated on Lake Champlain until 1953.

Virginia

Potomac Pilothouse the Steamboat Era Museum is restoring the pilot house of a 1984 steamboat (no wheel). The Potomac pilothouse is the largest remaining relic of the once-grand fleet of Chesapeake Bay steamboats. See photos: click here. Museum is located in Irvington (driving distance from D.C., Richmond, and Norfolk).

Washington

Liberty Belle small steam launch (no wheel) offers cruises out of La Conner (sixty-five miles north of Seattle).

Christine W. sternwheeler offers cruises on Lake Union, out of Fisherman's Terminal, Seattle.
Stern Wheeler Banjo - no website, a paddlewheel boat docked in Seattle.

S.S. Virginia V historic steamboat built in 1922 is the last of the famous Mosquito Fleet. Lovingly restored, offers cruises in Puget Sound, based in Seattle (no wheel).

Empress of the North - sternwheel excursion boat, offering cruises to Alaska, currently in corporate limbo, docked in Seattle.

West Virginia

Roy C sternweeler travels the Ohio, Muskingum, and Kanawha rivers. Not open to the public, but owners Hoyt and Wink Fontalbert welcome visitors aboard for tours.

Rufus B II sternwheeler in St. Albans (twelve miles west of Charleston).

Juanita sternwheeler on the Kanawha River at Dunbar (seven miles west of Charleston).

Hobby III Cross Lanes (fourteen miles northwest of Charleston. See website: click here.

Spirit of South Charleston sternwheeler offers cruises on the Kanawha River, out of South Charleston (five miles west of Charleston).

Fancy Nancy sternwheeler out of Dunbar (seven miles west of Charleston).
Miss Lona sternwheeler home port Charleston.

P.A. Denny Sternwheeler - no website - Charleston.

Miss Sterling - no website

Wisconsin

The Clyde a private paddlewheeler Northport Marina, Alma. Owner E.C. Newcomb welcomes visitors. See more photos at this site.

Chief Waupaca Sternwheeler sternwheeler offers cruises on the Chain O' Lakes cruises, out of Clear Water Harbor, Waupaca (seventy-five miles west of Green Bay).

La Crosse Queen sternwheeler offers Mississippi River cruises out of La Crosse.

JuliaBelle.com steam powered sternwheeler offers cruises, including overnight charter trips, on the Mississippi River, June through mid-October. Home port is Riverside Park, La Crosse. See also: MississippiRiverAdventures.com.

Dells Boat Tours excursion boat (no wheel) offers cruises on the Wisconsin River, based in Wisconsin Dells (sixty miles north of Madison).

PrincessKay.com sternwheeler offers cruises in the Wisconsin Dells, Port of River Bay.

Apollo II an exact replica of the 1898 Steamship Apollo on the Wisconsin Dells.

Wyoming

Key

The boat is open to the public as of latest updates.

Licensed to offer public cruises. Some are charter only, so always make arrangements ahead of time.

Paddlwheel, either stern, sidewheel, or split wheel (two sternwheels work side-by-side to help steer the boat).

Onboard sleeping accommodations. Note that all boats have hotels nearby; some are associated with a hotel.

Corrections, additions, and broken link reports welcome! These links do not update themselves! If you know of any boats that should be listed here, please send us the URL: contact info.

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