Mile 174.0 - LBD Cahokia Chute

174 LBD Cahokia Chute

Cahokia Chute is the remains of a Mississippi River meander. At low water, it is made inaccessible to paddlers by the sandbars that form on Arsenal Island. A wrecked barge emerges from the sandy wasteland in low water conditions, towards the bottom end of the sandbar. However in high water paddlers could dive into the mouth of Cahokia Chute for quick escape from the wind, or a private place to make a landing. A small blue hole is found on the south shore of the Chute not 100 yards up from the Mississippi. Cahokia Chute cuts across the middle of Arsenal Island Sandbar at low water creating a series of sandy wetlands favored by minnows, some crustaceans, and waders like pelicans and herons. Bigger fish get trapped in muddy holes as the river drops. Eagles sometimes drop in for a visit and usually leave with a claw-full of thrashing fish! Follow Cahokia upstream to Prairie duPont Creek and then aptly named Dead Creek. It is all severely channelized.