helena-to-greenville

Mile 624.0 LBD — 627 Sunflower Dikes

John Ruskey

26 Apr 2026 � 1 min read

There is a series of sandbar islands that have grown up along the lower end of the Sunflower Dikes. When the river is below 20HG you can make an easy picnic stop on the last of these but beware any approaching storms for there is no protection of any sort. Not a good campsite, no vegetation, nothing but sand and mud. Island completely disappears when the river rises above 25HG.

Diving Duck

At the end of Sunflower Dike # 3

At medium and high water levels the outermost edge of the last dike forces a borad column of water laterally into the main channel of the river, at which junction a terrible commotion can be heard from far away as the two currents slam into each other and wrestle for dominance. The comment often heard is where is that waterfall coming from? The end of this dike is opposite the mouth of Mellwood Lake and is usually marked by red nun buoy, but the force of the water often discharges buoys and their one-ton anchor blocks from this locale. Or even worse the current forces the buoy under water to become a diving duck -- a buoy that charges along underwater pushed down by the unrelenting force of muddy waters -- and then suddenly launches into view like a breaching whale. The impact of a diving duck would surely cripple any canoe or kayak. Your best bet is to be ever watchful downstream. If you notice buoys that are there one minute and the next minute they disappear -- that is your sign. Mark the location mentally and keep away!

I've personally witnessed the most powerful whirlpools I've ever seen at this locale, in high water winter 2011 one of our big 30 foot long canoes almost took a nose-dive into the mouth of a whirlpool that opened up underneath our line of direction, and we got swirled around so quickly that it shook up everyone on board like rags, and we were thrust out of the area going backwards at 10 knots. This would have surely upset a smaller canoe. No one aboard wanted to see another whirlpool the rest of the trip, and we were out for a week!

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