Mile 141.0 - RBD - 139 LBD Willow Bend Crossing

John Ruskey

20 Apr 2026

141 RBD - 139 LBD Willow Bend Crossing

Coming into the very busy industrial reach of Reserve, paddlers should listen to VHF 67 and watch very carefully as you paddle around Forty Eight Mile Point. Follow your intuition as to best line of travel. Too wide might bring you face to face with freighters. Too tight might result in fleeted barges and big waves from service tows, workboats and tugs. This is one of those places there is no obvious line of travel, and no predictable patterns of commercial traffic flow. Willow Bend Crossing resolves into miles of docks worked by the colossal Marathon Ashland Refinery, which is then followed by Cargill Grain and Archer Daniel Midland (ADM) Docks.

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