Mile 1.3 — Cairo Highway Bridge

John Ruskey

26 Apr 2026 � 1 min read

Last bridge on the Middle Mississippi River! Looking under this bridge you can see the confluence and the end of the Ohio River beyond. The excitement is building: the last mile of the Middle Mississippi River, and the thrill of the biggest river confluence in North America. Enjoy the feeling as you float under the bridge and paddle towards the river’s meeting point, Fort Defiance. Vertical Clearance: 114.2 feet minus Cairo Gage. The Cairo Bridge is anchored in the sand that was carried down by the melting ice cap. No rock here on downstream, unless you call the Loess formation “rock.”

Cairo, Illinois

Cairo, Illinois, is the logical place for paddlers to start or complete their journeys on the big river, but it’s not a particularly beautiful of friendly place to stop, and camping is not easy. Poor Cairo once bustled with the vibrant life of a thriving river town and a very productive economy. You can see it in the amazing architecture of the downtown buildings. The US Custom House for example. But history was not graceful to the metropolis, and much of it is now abandoned, and has the feel of a ghost town. Fortunately you can resupply groceries at the Wonder Market, and find mouth watering BBQ at Shemwell’s Bar-B-Que (both located along Washington Avenue, Hwy 51). The Cairo Public Library is one of the architectural gems of the town, and is located at 1609 Washington Avenue, (618) 734-1840).

Cairo Landings

Your choices for landing The Fort Defiance boat ramp up the Ohio several hundred yards is usable in high water, but at low or medium water it clogs up with mud. Or you could continue up the Ohio and paddle upstream another mile or so to the downtown Cairo ramp, located behind its seawall. But you would have to negotiate fleeted barges, towboats coming and going, barge maneuvering, and worker tows plowing in and out leaving crashing wakes.

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