Mile 175.5 - 175.5 - 173.5 LBD Arsenal Island

John Ruskey

20 Apr 2026 � 1 min read

175.5 - 173.5 LBD Arsenal Island

Best possible camping below Mosenthein Island, but only during low/medium water. Highest bluff of sand is located within protected bankside elbow at 173.6 (this location would be protected from south winds). Goes completely under around 25SLG, but you might find enough shelter for one tent up to flood stage 30 SLG.

During low water expansive sandbars open up along 2 mile stretch of river here below compound angle wing dam at 175 LBD. Camp only in calm weather with no threat of oncoming storms. Check the weather forecast, and put a moistened finger in the air for a second test. If you set up a tent here and a surprise storm hits you might be chasing it across the sandbar and into the river!

The view from Arsenal Island is one of the reasons we paddlers do what we do. No one besides us will ever enjoy this special perspective. Add on a roaring fire, supper in the making, and a fresh Budweiser. Not the best room in the best downtown hotel could ever equal this experience! Spectacular view upstream into the thickets of industry with long views of oil tanks, refinery plumbing, the Anheuser Brewery, surrounded by working-class neighborhoods, and the Great Arch barely rising above it all. (You are now about six miles downstream of the Arch.

More from this section

Preamble:

Preamble: I first explored this stretch of river on a 5-month raft trip that began after my high school graduation in 1982. My best friend and I decided that we had enough of traditional schooling, and much to the dismay of our guidance counselors we scuttled all college plans and

Table of Contents Appendix I - The Lower Missouri River Water Trail Appendix II - Upper Mississippi River Water Trails Appendix III - Mike Clark: Chain of Rocks Appendix IV - Mike Clark: Alton to Arch Appendix V - Over the Chain of Rocks with the Lewis & Clark Appendix

Mile 57.0 - Interstate 57 Bridge

7.5 Interstate 57 Bridge Vertical Clearance: 107.3 feet minus Cairo Gage. As with all bridges, avoid getting too close to pylons supporting the bridge structure. Water pushes strongly against pylons on top end, and turbulent waters swirl below. 5 - 1.8 LBD Angelo Towhead Angelo Towhead is

Mile 10.2 - 10.2 - 7.7 LBD Boston Bar

10.2 - 7.7 LBD Boston Bar Boston Bar hugs the left bank descending and creates a moody scene, partly due to the massive piles of driftwood that get mashed deep into its woods. Good low and medium campsites are found at the top end of Boston Bar on

Mile 10.2 - 10.2 - 7.7 LBD Boston Chute

10.2 - 7.7 LBD Boston Chute You can enjoy a three mile passage through the bottomland forests lining Boston Chute, but be wary of a cross channel dike at bottom end which causes 3 foot whitewater waves in medium water levels.

Mile 13.0 - LBD Cache River Diversion Canal

13 LBD Cache River Diversion Canal The Cache River used to enter the Ohio River in between Mounds City and Urbandale, both upstream of Cairo, but now it enters the Mississippi 13 miles above Cairo, and about 20 miles from its old mouth. Go figure. Such is the nature of