River Log section: Atchafalaya River
Atchafalaya River
Author’s Preface: Welcome the the Rivergator: Paddler’s Guide to the Atchafalaya! This major section of the Rivergator is split into seven different parts: 1) Preamble, 2) Introduction, 3) Mississippi River Access to Atchafalaya, 4) Lower Old River Canal, 5) Atchafalaya River, 6) Atchafalaya Delta and 7) Appendix. On
Atchafalaya River
303.8 Old River Lock and Dam: Entrance to the Atchafalaya River Go main channel around Shreve’s Bar for access to the Atchafalaya River, your best route to the Gulf of Mexico. Also: direct access upstream to the Red River, Ouachita River, Bayou Bartolomew, and all other tributaries upstream.
Atchafalaya River
304.5 - 303 LBD Shreve’s Bar Leaving the Tunica Hills at Clark Creek behind and entering Louisiana the river expands to its maximum mile-and-a-half wide as if breathing in deep and opening up its broad chest, and enters a long straight stretch that can be a white water
Atchafalaya River
306 - 294 LBD Angola State Penitentiary The river circumscribes Angola State Penitentiary in an almost perfect semi-circle, with a radius of four miles, the center being the headquarters of the prison complex. Using simple geometry, C=2piR this would give a circumference of approximately 25 miles, divided by 2
Atchafalaya River
306 LBD Angola Ferry Private ferry for employees of Angola State Penitentiary. Watch for cross-channel crossings at shift changes. If you camp on Shreve’s Bar their lights burn brightly upstream. Note: the Angola Ferry is no longer located at 300.5 (above Hog Point Towhead).
Atchafalaya River
306 - 302 Back Channel of Shreve’s Bar The Back Channel of Shreve’s Bar is always flowing strong, and is the route of preference for paddlers, even at low water. And as much for aesthetics as for practicality. Aesthetically it is always more pleasing to paddle the back
Atchafalaya River
306 - 302 Main Channel of Shreve’s Bar Meanwhile, on the other side of the Shreve’s Island, the main channel is constricted, often crowded with towboats, and doesn’t seem to flow any faster. If you do take the main channel, watch carefully for tows unexpectedly appearing out
Atchafalaya River
306 LBD Welcome to Louisiana! At the lower end of the Fort Adams Reach, just above Shreve’s Cut-Off, around mile 306 the river leaves Mississippi for good along its east bank and is completely enveloped by Louisiana, the last state along the Mississippi River. While you have already entered
Atchafalaya River
310.2 LBD Wilkinson Creek Wilkinson Creek divides the Tunica Hills here from the Angola Floodplain below. Its cypress tree choked ravine makes for an educational walk off the big river into another world. Keep camera and sketch pad handy for animal sightings, but wear hunter’s orange in October,
Atchafalaya River
311 - 309 RBD Point Breeze Once safely below the Auxiliary Intake channel of the Old River Control Structure, you can find a very tall bluff of sand, the tallest in the area, which makes the best highwater camping available all the way up to flood stage (and beyond). At
Atchafalaya River
313 LBD Buffalo River Across the river from the Old River complex is the mouth of the Buffalo River, which meanders through the Mississippi bottomlands below Fort Adams, and is connected to Lake Mary during higher water levels. Paddlers can use the Buffalo for land access to Fort Adams if
Atchafalaya River
314.6 RBD Main Intake -- Old River Control Structure This is the original gate built in 1963 to “keep the Mississippi in its place,” and was almost washed a decade later, in 1973, by floods that scoured deep holes around its monumental concrete & steel footings. The auxiliary channel