St. Louis to Caruthersville
79 - 77.5 RBD Cottonwood Bar This small island makes a great campsite at all but the highest of water levels. A giant gravel bar forms top end in low water, presumably flushed out of the Ozarkan bluffs which cross the river close by above at Fountain Bluff and
St. Louis to Caruthersville
79 - 76.5 LBD Grand Tower Island The State of Missouri crosses the river at mile 79 to the Illinois side and continues downstream until the bottom of Grand Tower Island 76.5. At least that’s how it looks on the map. The river, in its one of
St. Louis to Caruthersville
80.7 LBD Grand Tower, Illinois Grand Tower is a small river town that has managed to hold on to its river roots. At the sandy landing between Devil's Bake Oven and Devil's Backbone lies a state park with camping available from Spring until late Fall.
St. Louis to Caruthersville
79.7 LBD Grand Tower Boat Ramp/Seawall Grand Tower is a true levee town, only the tops of the buildings rise above the green grassy sides of the levee and gravel road on top. In the middle of the Grand Tower levee a boat ramp is conveniently located opposite
St. Louis to Caruthersville
RBD 80 Tower Rock As you come around Fountain Bluff, and then past Wittenburg, a hulking fang of Tower Rocks juts out of the right hand side of the channel big and dark and brooding, not far off the right bank, rising alarmingly like the biggest snag you have ever
St. Louis to Caruthersville
80.5 LBD Devil's Backbone Park & Campground One of the most beautiful parks on the Middle Mississippi straddles the Devil’s Backbone, a ridge of limestone leftover from the glacial days when torrents of water 20-30 times the Mississippi is today scoured everything movable out of the
St. Louis to Caruthersville
80.8 LBD Grand Tower - Devil’s Bake Oven (Rock Cliff) After bouncing off Fountain Bluff the channel goes river center and paddlers looking downstream will become aware of an unusual feature seen left bank, a chunky shape rising right out of the water. At first it appears to
St. Louis to Caruthersville
81.3 RBD Wittenburg Boat Ramp Private boat ramp, no services. Picnic pavilion and small parking lot. Long walk to the nearest stores (5 miles -- Altenburg) but well worth the hike if you want to see the very unique Lutheran Church and Museum. Picture-perfect small farms of all shapes
St. Louis to Caruthersville
82.8 LBD Fountain Bluff You can locates some interesting sandy shelves in low and medium water levels here, that could make isolated 1 or 2-person camps, amongst some huge smooth boulders laying in various angles along river’s edge.
St. Louis to Caruthersville
84 - 83 LBD Fountain Bluff Fountain Bluff is a remarkable bluff, a jumble of jagged boulders tumbling down the steep angle plateau into the river. This free-standing plateau is a leftover from glacier meltdown, the river used to plow over the land behind and to the east of Fountain
St. Louis to Caruthersville
85 - 83 RBD Gill’s Point Bar An open sandbar emerges downstream of Gill’s Point in low and medium waters, good for picnicking, wading, swimming, but no protection, no firewood. Not recommending for camping, especially in threat of wind, storms or rising river.
St. Louis to Caruthersville
87.2 RBD Cumberland Rock At Cumberland Rock you will find a pile of angular grey boulders fallen over the riverbank. Great place to stop, stretch your legs, picnic and go exploring.