Three Good Stops

Minneapolis to St. Louis: where to stop

560 miles, about 8 hr 28 min of driving. Here are the real towns worth stopping in between Minneapolis, MN and St. Louis, MO, and why each one earned it.

Your first stop

Clear Lake, IAStretch your legs in Clear Lake, IA · mile 135

The other 3 stops on this drive

Named for your own departure time and driving style when you plan the trip — your first full plan is free.

C•••••, IAstretch, meal · mile 267
C•••••, IAfuel · mile 320
B•••••, MOstretch · mile 452

Name every stop — first trip free

No card for the first trip. After that it's 99¢ for three trips, or $2.99 a month.

How we picked these

Every stop is a real town on your actual route — not a chain billboard. We score towns on what a driver needs at that point in the drive: fuel and food for a stretch break, parks and grass when a pet is along, hotels and restaurants when it's an overnight. Detour distance counts against a town, so nothing here costs you a long side trip.

This page is planned for a 9-hour driving day leaving at 8:00 AM. Change any of that — your hours, your MPG, pets, small children, an EV's charging range — and the stops change with it. Plan Minneapolis to St. Louis your way →

Questions

How far is Minneapolis, MN to St. Louis, MO?
About 560 miles, roughly 8 hr 28 min of driving before stops.

Can you drive Minneapolis to St. Louis in one day?
Yes — one long day at 9 hours of driving.

Where is a good place to stop between Minneapolis and St. Louis?
Clear Lake, IA is the first one on this route.