River Log section: Vicksburg to Baton Rouge
Vicksburg to Baton Rouge
395 LBD Bayou Pierre As you paddle around Coffee Point, the channel of Bayou Pierre is found only a mile over the trees and running parallel to the main channel of the Mississippi, even though the confluence is still another ten miles downstream. Like most Mississippi River tributaries Bayou Pierre
Vicksburg to Baton Rouge
395 LBD -- Mouth of Bayou Pierre Downstream Paddlers can easily eddy out into the mouth of Bayou Pierre and paddle upstream a ways for fantastic wildlife viewing including birds, mammals, amphibians and alligators. Bayou Pierre runs along the loess bluffs into central Mississippi. Mouth of Bayou Pierre is located
Vicksburg to Baton Rouge
399 LBD High Bluffs High gravel/sand bluffs. One of the few places that didn’t go underwater in the 2011 flood. You could count the others on your fingers, and one of them is not far downstream, at Spithead.
Vicksburg to Baton Rouge
404.2 RBD Yucatan Ditch For an other-worldly glimpse into the ragged and primeval Delta jungle, stay right bank descending below Middle Ground Island (through Yucatan Cut-Off of 1929) and look for a narrow opening through the scruffy woods. This skinny channel closes off around 10VG, but for paddlers this
Vicksburg to Baton Rouge
404.8 LBD Port of Claiborne County The Claiborne County Harbor is found right bank descending just below the 404.9 channel marker opposite Coffee Point and the Yucatan Run-Out Ditch. After passing a line of blocky white pump stations (Grand Gulf Nuke Plant) and a large hunting camp left
Vicksburg to Baton Rouge
410 RBD Middle Ground Island Middle Ground is one of the big mid-channel islands that splits the river cleanly in two (during high water). When you come upon it from above in high water it’s hard to tell which side is main channel and which side is back channel.
Vicksburg to Baton Rouge
418 - 413 RBD Big Black Island Due to the ever meandering nature of the big river, Big Black Island is now landlocked and connected to the east bank, although it is still legally considered Louisiana. Great all water level and all weather camping can be found around the entire
Vicksburg to Baton Rouge
416.5 LBD “Big Momma” Dike As you get propelled westward past Karnac, Island No. 110, Canon Point, Togo Landing, and on around Big Black Island canoeists and kayakers will paddle past a series of three dikes known appropriately as the Togo Island Dikes. The topmost of these (LBD near
Vicksburg to Baton Rouge
417-414 Togo Island Bend & Dikes The Mississippi makes a tight bend at Togo, a one hundred and eighty degree about face. The waters running northwesterly past Big Black Island find themselves turned around at Togo Island and made to exit this bend running southeasterly! That’s some wrangling of
Vicksburg to Baton Rouge
417-414 RBD Togo Island About a mile below the last bump of sand (during high water) on Newtown, RBD near mile 416, you will find an opening in the wall of willows. This is the entrance to the back channel of Togo Island. Always an interesting place to make a
Vicksburg to Baton Rouge
419.6 LBD Lake Karnac The main current swishes around Newtown Bend Sandbar and is propelled outward past several intriguing openings and cuts in the bank, some filled with powerful eddies that you could eddy out into. But there are also several openings along the left bank descending, one at
Vicksburg to Baton Rouge
421-419 RBD Newtown Bend Sandbar Long beautiful sandbar at low and medium water levels, possible picnic and campsites found along entire length. Newtown sizzles in the summer sun like a slice of fatback in the griddle, and shimmers like an alaskan snowfield by the winter moonlight. In any season it