Mile 106.5 - LBD Marys River

John Ruskey

20 Apr 2026

106.5 LBD Marys River

41 mile long Mary’s River enters the Mississippi left bank descending several miles below Chester, draining a small watershed between the Big Muddy River and the Kaskaskia River which includes Randolph County Conservation Area and Turkey Bluffs State Fish and Wildlife Area. You could make a quick exit off the main channel by jumping into Mary’s River, and paddle upstream a short ways to find beautiful forested bottomlands capped with tall trees and steep ridges running into the Illinois dolomite hills protected here by Turkey Bluffs State Fish and Wildlife Area. Paddle upstream and turn in wherever you see a neat-looking ravine tumbling off the bluff (or out of the forested floodplain) and go exploring!

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