atchafalaya-river
The Red River flows in from the north and together with water drawn off the Mississippi forms the beginning of the Atchafalaya River. The Red and the Mississippi meet four miles upstream. As you know, there is no flow through the Lower Old River Channel you just paddled. The Mississippi
atchafalaya-river
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 of the Lock Channel. Downstream pilots get very cranky,
atchafalaya-river
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 channel -- where the natural banks, big trees and
atchafalaya-river
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 for a half circle = 12.5 miles,
atchafalaya-river
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 low water, this giant sand dune