The two sides of the Great River Road combine at the south end of the Hastings Bridge (US 61) in Hastings, Minnesota, with a single route (marked as the National Route) continuing to the headwaters at Lake Itasca. The route leaves Hastings to the west by following County 42, which begins along 2nd Street, west to the junction with MN 55. MN 55 turns north as it merges with US 52, and the Great River Road soon splits onto County 56 (former MN 56) into South St. Paul. There it follows I-494 east across the Mississippi on the Wakota Bridge and again turns north on US 10 / US 61, soon entering St. Paul. Shepard Road/Warner Road (mostly County 36 and 37) takes the route west along the St. Paul riverfront to I-35E, where it turns back south and recrosses the Mississippi on the Lexington Bridge. MN 13 takes it to Mendota, at which point it crosses the Minnesota River near its mouth on the Mendota Bridge (MN 55) and passes Fort Snelling. After MN 55 enters Minneapolis, the Great River Road turns east on 46th Street (County 46), south on Minnehaha Avenue, and east on Godfrey Parkway to reach the south end of the West River Parkway, a segment of the Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway. This scenic drive parallels the west bank of the Mississippi through downtown Minneapolis, becoming West River Road at the Plymouth Avenue Bridge and ending at the Broadway Avenue Bridge (County 66). After crossing the Mississippi again, the Great River Road turns north on Marshall Street (County 23) and East River Road (County 1), then turns back west to cross the Mississippi one last time in the Twin Cities area on the I-694 Bridge. From there to Champlin (opposite Anoka), it sticks to the old pre-freeway route of US 169 as much as possible, taking MN 252 north to Brookdale Drive and jogging east to West River Road, which leads to County 12 into Champlin.