The Lower Mississippi River Water Trail

Important Note to Paddlers:

The Lower Mississippi is not for beginners, although there a couple of side channel places that beginners can get a taste of the big waters (such as Mud Island Memphis Harbor, Tunica Lake, the mouth of the St. Francis and the Helena Harbor — and other protected flat water places connected to the big river — see page “Beginner Paddlers on the Lower Mississippi River”).  Advance paddlers only in the main channel.  You should be capable of self-rescue, and you should have previous big river experience, in specific: large volume waters with long crossings and industrial traffic (towboats).  Your skills should include self-rescue, long ferry-crossings, paddling in the wind, paddling in the vicinity of towboats, paddling through violent boils, violent eddies, and large whirlpools.  Ultimately you must decide whether you are capable of safely paddling the big river, and whether you are capable of leading your family or friends on the same.  Be cautious.  Take your time.  Swallow your ambition and pride.  Impatience has been the root cause of most problems encountered by Lower Mississippi River paddlers.  Enjoy the moment, not the destination. Turn around if you aren’t sure or aren’t prepared.  Use the Rivergator Safety section to assess specific skills and recommendations.  Check the river levels and weather forecast with special attention to wind speed and direction.  Carry extra food, water, and all-weather protection.  Wear wetsuit or drysuit in cold water seasons (generally November through April, but could begin in October and could extend into May).  Carry cell phone and VHF Marine radio.  Carry an extra paddle and leave a route plan with someone on shore.  Large groups can notify the Coast Guard who will keep the towboat pilots informed of your progress.

 

Your route: Main Channel vs. Back Channel

The Rivergator will detail Main Channel which is almost always the fastest route on the water, but full or traffic, and Back Channel, which is slower but is full of wildlife and big trees.  Main channel is always open regardless of river level, but back channel is dependent upon river levels.  Most back channels are closed in low water, open with slow flow in medium water, and full of strong flowing currents in high water.  Main channel hazards are buoys and towboats.  (Avoid both!).  Dikes found on the edges of the main channel can cause violent turbulence, strong boils, eddies, and radical changes of current, and oftentimes whirlpools.  Be especially cautious around the ends of any dikes.  In the back channel your main hazards are waterfalls over dikes (dependent on river level), snags, strainers and channel blockages (driftwood piling against trees or low bridges).   Rivergator will detail all known waterfalls and blockages.  But on the river things are in constant flux.  What one year is an uninterrupted flowing back channel might next year be blocked by a pile of logs and tree removal dropped by some logging operation.  Two things: 1) be a smart paddler and use you own best judgment about what’s safe to paddle and what isn’t.  And 2) let us know if you discover something of importance not listed in the Rivergator, like a dangerous waterfall or a blocked channel.  That way we can update Rivergator descriptions and keep other paddlers informed about these difficulties and possible hazards!  Dikes present special challenges to the back channel paddler.  At low water they are exposed, and you can paddle around any dike, but you will often discover strong eddies with ripping cross currents and whirlpools.   At medium water you can paddle over most dikes, but that is when the waters are at their most turbulent.  You may not see any solid evidence, but you will know they are there by the exploding boils, whipping currents, whirlpools and agitated turbulence.  In high water most dikes get swamped over by smooth flow and you hardly notice their influence.  In medium water back channels waterfalls sometimes form over a dike, with significant drops (2-3 feet), strong v-line tongues, standing waves, and turbulent side waters.  If you hear the sound of rushing water and see the plane of the back channel disappear and drop a level, and see leaping whitewater beyond — Be especially cautious!   Remember the paddler’s mantra: when in doubt, stop and scout!

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SECTION MILE ACCESS CITY
Middle Mississippi & Bluegrass Hills / Bootheel 195-0, 954-850 ST. LOUIS TO CARUTHERSVILLE
Chickasaw Bluffs 850 – 737 CARUTHERSVILLE TO MEMPHIS
Upper Delta 737 – 663 MEMPHIS TO HELENA
Introduction  
Memphis to Tunica
736 LBD Memphis, Tennessee, Mud Island Harbor
Buoys and Docks  
Floating Underneath a Bridge  
734.7 Lower Bridges/Engineer’s Bar
734.7 The Frisco Bridge
734.7 The Harahan Bridge
734.7 The Ghost Bunker
734.7 The Old Bridge (Memphis & Arkansas Bridge)
733 President’s Island
Fleeted Barges  
732 LBD Hole in the Wall ##2
727.3 TVA Transmission Lines
727.3 RBD The Wreck of the Raft
Tennessee Valley Authority  
725.5 LBD Entrance to McKellar Lake
7 Miles Up harbor Riverside Park Marina On McKellar Lake  
724 T.E. Maxon Wastewater Treatement Facility
Paddler’s Routes Below Memphis  
727 – 712 Dismal Point/Ensley Bar/Cow Island Bend Area
726 – 717 Armstrong/Dismal Point/Ensley Bar
720 Josie Harry Bar
718 – 713 Cow Island Bend
Goodbye Tennessee, Hullo Mississippi  
The Yazoo-Mississippi Delta and the Blues  
711 – 705 Cat Island No.50
710.8 LBD Starr Landing
712 – 695 Paddler’s Routes Around Cat Island and the Casinos
Pickett Dikes Back Channel  
639.8 RBD Tunica Riverpark Museum Boat Ramp
Tunica Riverpark Museum  
Basket Bar Dikes/Porter lake Dikes  
693.8 RBD Lost Lake Pass
703 Buck Island (No. 53)
701 Gold Strike Casino
700 Fitzgerald’s Casino
Tunica to Helena
700 Basket Bar
Paddler’s Routes Through Commerce and Mhoon Bends  
695 – 690 Commerce Bend
692.5 RBD Peter’s Boat Ramp
690 Rabbit Island
Switching to thhe Helena Gage  
Dikes and Water Levels  
687.5 Mhoon Landing
689 – 685 Mhoon Bar
690 – 683 Mhoon Bend
682 – 679 Whiskey Chute/Walnut Bend
680 Whitehall Crevasse
Paddler’s Routes Below Walnut Bend  
Stumpy Island, Shoo Fly Bar and Tunica Lake  
Main Channel  
677.4 LBD Tunica Runout
Behind Shoo Fly Bar  
Stumpy Island  
Walnut Bend Boat Ramp  
Tunica Lake Boat Ramp  
679 RBD Walnut Bend Boat Ramp
679 – 677 Hardin Cut-Off
677.4 LBD Pass Into Tunica Lake
677 – 676 Shoo Fly Bar
677 – 674 Stumpy Island
674.5 Harbert Point
672 RBD Mouth of the St. Francis River
Primitive Landing at the Mouth of the St. Francis Rive – Conditions  
RBD 3 Miles up St. Francis River Three Mile Ramp
Daytrip: St. Francis to Helena  
St. Francis to Helena: Paddler’s Descriptions  
For Intermedite Paddlers: Right Bank Route  
For Expert Paddlers: Left Bank Route  
St. Francis River  
671 – 673 LBD St. Francis Bar
669 LBD Flower Lake Dikes
668 RBD (A View of) Crowley’s Ridge D
668-663 RBD Buck Island (Prairie Point Towhead)
668-663 RBD Buck Island (Prairie Point Towhead)
665.5 LBD Trotter’s Pass
663 RBD Helena Harbor
Helena Boat Ramps  
663 RBD Helena-West Helena
Quapaw Canoe Company – Helena Outpost  
Helena’s “Low Road” Into St. Francis National Forest  
King Biscuit Blues Festival (2nd Week of October)  
Helena to Friars
661.6 Helena Bridge (Hernando De Soto Bridge – US HWY 49)
663 RBD Leaving Helena Harbor
Fleeted Barges  
Small Towns in Harbors  
Buoys and Other Stationary Objects  
Highlights of Civilization  
Pollution Within the Helena Industrial Reach  
661.6 Helena Bridge (Hernando De Soto Bridge – US HWY 49)
657 LBD  
How to Get Into the Old Entrance of the Yazoo Pass  
LBD: Alternate Route to Vicksburg: Yazoo Pass  
Yazoo Pass Milage  
Rivers & Robert Johnson  
656 LBD East Montezuma Bar
657 – 654 RBD Montezuma Towhead
654.7 LBD Montezuma Landing
Shuttle Route Montezuma to Clarksdale  
652 LBD Friars Point
652.2 LBD Friars Point Landing (Unimproved)
What’s to Come Further Downstream  
Appendix  
Middle Delta 663 – 537 HELENA TO GREENVILLE
Lower Delta 537 – 437 GREENVILLE TO VICKSBURG
Loess Bluffs 437 – 225 VICKSBURG TO BATON ROUGE
Atchafalaya River 159 – 0 SIMMESPORT TO MORGAN CITY
Louisiana Delta 229 – 10 BATON ROUGE TO VENICE
Birdsfoot Delta 10 – 0 VENICE TO GULF OF MEXICO