Mile 820.0 RBD — 815 Wright’s Point - Tamm Bend

John Ruskey

26 Apr 2026 � 1 min read

The main channel of the Mississippi makes a classic 180 degree bend around Wright’s Point. In your canoe or kayak, you might not appreciate the shape of the channel. But on your map or from the air you will see two distinctively shaped bends called Tamm and further downstream Barfield, one seemingly flowing in the reflection of each other. Hence the beauty of the meandering river.

During low water you will need to follow the main channel almost eight miles to get around the deep forested Wright’s Point. At lowest of water levels (below 5 CuG) a striking flat bar is created at the base of the forest around the bottom of Wright’s Point which could make for beautiful sandbar camping.

During high water you have the option of cutting behind Wright’s Point through a mile-wide back channel that will slice 5 miles off your journey. As with all back channels the water flows slower behind Wright’s, but you will make up any lost speed with wildlife and peaceful flow, and of course less distance. Three canoeists recently jumped into this back channel after crossing paths with the 2-screw Daytona pushing 12 petroleum barges. After a half hour of paddling down the length of the back channel the three canoeists eagerly re-entered the main channel and found themselves again confronted amid-ships with the very same 2-screw Daytona! I would have liked to known the tow pilot’s thoughts as he noticed this same canoe 8 miles downstream!

Following the main channel paddlers will scoot past the nondescript mouth of the Obion River LBD 819.3 (which would make an interesting sidetrip for paddlers wanting to view turtles, waterfowl and other local wildlife) and not far downstream Tamm’s Landing LBD 817.8.

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