St. Louis to Caruthersville
195 LBD Camp River Dubois Also accessible from the landing at the mouth of the Wood River is Camp River Dubois, with a 2-mile walk. Secure your vessel by pulling it out of the water and hiding it, or better yet, paddle a short ways up the Wood River until
St. Louis to Caruthersville
195 - 184 Big Muddy Wild & Scenic Section Big Muddy Mike Clark unofficially designated the stretch of free-flowing river between Duck island and the bottom of Gabaret Island as the “Big Muddy Wild & Scenic Section” (i.e.: the river channel not going through the Chain of Rocks Canal)
St. Louis to Caruthersville
195 LBD Mouth of Wood River (Cahokia Diversion Canal) The once sylvan glade and crystal clear waters of the River Dubois (Wood River) have been placed in a straight jacket and made to cough out the foul discharge of the nearby farms, refineries, feedlots and storm-water overflow, and would not
St. Louis to Caruthersville
195 - 194 RBD Duck Island Duck Island is a one mile tall forested island with sandy ledge on south (bottom) end good for low, medium and even high water camps. Giant sandbar top end at low water gradually disappears as the river rises and is nowhere to be seen
St. Louis to Caruthersville
195.6 RBD The Great Confluence! Now you can enjoy the incomparable feeling of bliss floating into the meeting of big rivers, here at the confluence of two of the biggest and longest rivers in North America, the Upper Mississippi and the Missouri River. There is an elegance in the
St. Louis to Caruthersville
195.6 RBD Columbia Bottoms State Park (RBD Mile 0.5 of the Missouri River) The Confluence Overlook right bank descending at Columbia Bottoms State Conservation Area looks like the ramparts of a concrete castle. There is no reason for paddlers to stop here unless you just want a different
St. Louis to Caruthersville
200 - 195 LBD Alton/Wood River Industrial Reach This five mile stretch of river is an ungrateful way to say goodbye to the Upper Mississippi. But it’s an accurate precursor of what’s to come downstream in and around the St. Louis Harbor, and then recapitulated big time
St. Louis to Caruthersville
200.5-197.5 RBD Maple Island Three Mile archipelago of forested Islands along the right bank (Missouri side) of the main channel. Possible forest camping throughout, but the only sand is found along the bottom end below RBD199, and then only at low water. Fleeting area: barges are often tied
St. Louis to Caruthersville
200.7 LBD National Great Rivers Museum The National Great Rivers Museum is a must-see for all river travelers, if nothing else than a warm bathroom and a place to purchase those hard-to-find Army Corps river charts! The National Great Rivers Museum is located on the Illinois (LBD) bank of
St. Louis to Caruthersville
200.7 LBD National Great Rivers Research and Education Center A half mile downstream of the Mel Price Dam paddlers might discern a mound of grass and limestone laid out with intriguing intersecting lines. This low-lying earth structure is the home of the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center.
St. Louis to Caruthersville
200.6 RBD Maple Island Access Ramp (below the Melvin Price Lock and Dam) Last public launch on the Upper Mississippi, and good place to begin your Middle Mississippi Expedition. This narrow concrete ramp descends into a hollowed-out back channel between the topmost of the Maple Island archipelago and the
St. Louis to Caruthersville
St. Louis to Caruthersville Introduction: Welcome to the 2014 update to the Rivergator: Paddlers Guide to the Lower Mississippi River! This section of the Rivergator starts at the wild confluence of the Upper Mississippi and Missouri Rivers above St. Louis, and continues down the Middle Miss to Cairo Illinois, and