Mile 275.5 LBD — Collapsing Muddy Banks

John Ruskey

26 Apr 2026

As you come around Morgan’s Bend you will discern a golden yellow color that at first could be mistaken for a rough sandbar. It’s not sand. It’s a collapsing steep muddy bank that is composed of creamy yellow mud, and is a sign of the river eating the left bank descending. A gravel road and a power line runs above, and is collapsing also, or will in the near future, with the next flood. Maybe this natural erosion will add some temperance to the profusion of hunting camps sprouting around the entire length of this otherwise pristine bend of the river.

More from this section

Mile 366.0 LBD — Remnants of Cypress Forest

In low and medium water levels, the stumps of giant cypress trees can be seen at the base of the bluffs along the left bank descending and are the remnants of the forests found here that stalled the opening of the Giles Cut-Off (1933). Lake Concordia in Louisiana was an

Mile 367.0 LBD — Bluff Bars

(Note: We’re talking here about sandbars, not alcohol bars. Your thirst will soon be satiated at Natchez-Under-the-Hill Saloon, or other nearby establishments!) At medium and low water levels the adventurous paddler can pull into some highly unusual ledges of sand and mud and collapsing Loess Bluff left bank descending

Mile 372.0 LBD — Fairchild (Skull) Island

Like all Mississippi River islands Fairchild grows and diminishes with the water level. At high water it is a one-and-a-half mile long willow topped island with scrubby bottoms that are impenetrable in places with swamp privet and vines. At medium its back channel dries out (around 25NG) and a beautiful

Mile 377.5 RBD — Waterproof Island

Waterproof Island is two giant islands, each several thousand acres big, that have formed like twins, one hugging the other, parallel to the main channel of the river. Each Island is long and narrow, so long that you’ll think it’s just part of the right bank descending as

Mile 388.0 LBD — Cottage Bend Islands

Cottage Bend Islands are visible from upstream by the bluffs of sand on the tops of the islands in low and medium water) and are found left bank descending opposite Brown’s Field Islands a couple of miles below Bondurant. These two willow-topped babies are cradled by the enormous Rodney

Mile 415.5 — Togo Island Bend & Dikes

The Mississippi makes a tight bend at Togo, a one hundred and eighty degree about face. The waters running northwesterly past Big Black Island find themselves turned around at Togo Island and made to exit this bend running southeasterly! That’s some wrangling of forces, water and land, the land