River Log section: St. Louis to Caruthersville
St. Louis to Caruthersville
37.7 - 35.7 LBD Jacket Pattern Chute At flood stage the water starts flowing through the woods of Burnham Island and concentrates into Jacket Pattern Chute, recreating the old islands Goose Island (and Little Island above it.
St. Louis to Caruthersville
39 - 35 LBD Burnham Island Four mile tall island Burnham Island is a conglomerate of three older islands, being joined by Little Island and Goose Island at its southern end. These two islands combined with the bigger Burnham Island to create one long skinny paradise for paddlers, birders and
St. Louis to Caruthersville
39 - 35 LBD Santa Fe Chute The Santa Fe Chute is another name for the Back Channel of Burnham Island, and opens up top end around 12 CGG with slow flow, but increases steadily with each foot of rise. By 25 CGG the half mile wide opening will be
St. Louis to Caruthersville
39.7 RBD Commerce, Mo Commerce is located at the base of Thebe’s Gap, which is where the Mississippi River burst through the Pawnee Hills into the Missouri Bootheel after the melting of the last ice age, some 10 to 15 thousand years ago. This charming floodplain town is
St. Louis to Caruthersville
40.3 - 39.3 LBD Betsy’s Bar One-mile long island named by modern day voyageurs in honor of the river angel Betsy Tribble of St. Louis (who was introduced to canoeing the river by Big Muddy Mike Clark). Sandy camping top end in low and medium water levels,
St. Louis to Caruthersville
42 - 39 LBD Orchard Springs Islands Archipelago of Islands strung along the Illinois shoreline with possible camping throughout, the best being found on the last and biggest (see below for more about Betsy’s Bar).
St. Louis to Caruthersville
42.0 RBD Uncle Joe Light There is a tall bluff of sand thrown against RBD below the Uncle Joe Light. This narrow perch stays dry up to high water levels.
St. Louis to Caruthersville
43.7 Thebes Railroad Bridge The graceful arches of the Thebes Railroad bridge are reminiscent of a Roman aqueduct viewed from the distance, but the river crossing is a typical steel truss construction. This bridge stretches nearly 4,000 feet from bluff to bluff and has been in continuous use
St. Louis to Caruthersville
43.8 Thebes Boat Ramp The double wide boat ramp at Thebes is smartly situated at a point on the river’s edge with easy access into the hamlet of Thebes. Good to low water levels with a gravel parking lot above and nearby campground. Next to the campground an
St. Louis to Caruthersville
44 LBD Thebes, Il Once a thriving river town, Thebes is now a sleepy landing after having gone through several transfusions of life, including the steamboat era, the railroad era, and the modern highway era. Thebes got the steamboats and the highway, but it was the railroad that killed Thebes,
St. Louis to Caruthersville
46 - 40 Pawnee Hills/Thebes Dome 2011 was a flood year. 12 months later the Mississippi River experienced extreme low waters that threatened to shut down shipping at Thebes due to the Thebes Domes. The Thebes domes rise from the bottom of the river here where the dolomite rock
St. Louis to Caruthersville
45.5 LBD Clear Creek Clear Creek enters the Mississippi River around Rock Island, after having been diverted from its original channel for dozens of miles upstream.