River Log section: Helena to Greenville
Helena to Greenville
RBD 615.5 Island 69 Old Back Channel Opens up around HG 18, strong flow at 25, forests flood out at 35. Just below Knowlton high ground is a secret back channel RBD that is well worth paddling through for excellent wildlife viewing and a vision into the big forests
Helena to Greenville
RBD 616-609 Island 69 [CLICK HERE: Map of Paddling Past Island 69] [CLICK HERE: Map of Island 69 Circumnavigation] Island 69 is an archipelago of Islands which inhabits the inside a long bend of the river, its pieces running seven river miles downstream of Knowlton, Cessions Towhead on one side,
Helena to Greenville
LBD 616-614 Cession’s Towhead For main channel visual relief you can enter the back channel behind Cession’s Towhead above the 616.1 light and follow it at first Easterly and then North-easterly one mile and then around the backside of the island for a southerly run back to
Helena to Greenville
RBD 616 Knowlton Crevasse The Mississippi River broke the levee here on the Arkansas side in 1912 and then again during the great flood of 1927 and a blue hole survives as reminder to the power of water overtopping an obstruction. A blue hole can be created anywhere flowing water
Helena to Greenville
RBD 620-617 Old Levee at Knowlton Not surprisingly the river is forever trying to break through its banks at Wood Cottage and below. In the twenty years of paddling this area I have seen countless bank stabilization projects and watched the river swallow up everything left by man, one season
Helena to Greenville
RBD 619.6 Wood Cottage Paddler's Note: One of the biggest and most powerful eddies on the Lower Mississippi RBD. Be especially wary of any tows in this area. Narrow river leaves little room for towboats to navigate. High volume turbulence at base of bend with powerful boils
Helena to Greenville
LBD 619-621 Island 67 Designated Left Bank only because the center line of the river crowds the Arkansas shore around Wood Cottage (619.6). This resplendent sun-drenched island sits middle river with big flowing channels on either side, a very deep main channel that gets crushed towards the shore and
Helena to Greenville
RBD 620.8 Mouth of the Chute of Island 68 Island 68 is completely enveloped by the forests surrounding Jug Harris, but its mouth can be accessed at all but low water levels. Adventurous paddlers will enjoy a glimpse into a primeval world through this narrow chute which opens up
Helena to Greenville
LBD 621-624 Jug Harris Towhead Following the main channel past Mellwood Lake the river is thrust outwards by a prominent point below the 624.8 light for a crossing back to the Mississippi side. If you maintain this channel you will enjoy a fast ride on a boiling tongue of
Helena to Greenville
LBD 624.5 Mouth of DeSoto Lake [CLICK HERE: Map of Island 64, Mellwood Lake, DeSoto Lake] Similar to the mouth of Mellwood Lake but longer, almost a mile from the river to the open lake. Any paddler intending to enter DeSoto Lake (possible take-out) will have to begin planning
Helena to Greenville
LBD 624-627 Sunflower Dikes There is a series of sandbar islands that have grown up along the lower end of the Sunflower Dikes. When the river is below 20HG you can make an easy picnic stop on the last of these but beware any approaching storms for there is no
Helena to Greenville
RBD 625.6 Mouth of Mellwood Lake [CLICK HERE: Map of Island 64, Mellwood Lake, DeSoto Lake] Deep muddy slot (at low water) surrounded by an enchanting scene of overhanging willows, higher up the muddy flats are covered in a delightful forest of sycamores, cottonwoods and silver maples, many draped