River Log section: Atchafalaya River
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
Atchafalaya River
311.7 - 310 LBD Tunica Hills below Clark Creek (Mississippi Loess Bluffs #6) There are places in this world where you feel like the creator paid special attention in the landscape and arrangement of plants. The Tunica Hills is one of the special places. Not many people know about
Atchafalaya River
311.7 LBD Clark Creek Clark Creek is the last significant drainage coming out of the State of Mississippi into the big river. As if wanting to gift paddlers with a landscape worth remembering, Clark Creek Creek creates one of the most colorful and creative settings, which can be best
Atchafalaya River
311.7 RBD Auxiliary Intake -- Old River Control Structure As you paddle past Knox Landing and around Point Breeze, with the Clark Creek/Tunica Hills on your left, you might notice a mournful “fog horn” like sounding echoing through the woods right bank descending. This is the warning horn
Atchafalaya River
313.7 RBD Knox Landing You could start your Atchafalaya Expedition from Knox Landing. Put in here, on the Mississippi River, paddle downstream ten miles to the Old River Channel. Pass through the Lock and Dam and paddle seven more miles total to reach mile -0- the start of the
Atchafalaya River
316.3 RBD Hydro Intake -- Old River Control Structure Maybe you’ve read about it, or heard frightening tales about it. It’s as legendary as the Chain of Rocks of St. Louis, and as little understood, and as many tall tales told about. No, you won’t be