The discerning paddler might notice a forest of cypress stumps left bank descending poking up out of the steep collapsing banks along this four mile stretch of river, between the old mouth of St. Catherine Creek and Washout Bayou, all contained within St. Catherine’s NWR.
Vicksburg Vicksburg marks a significant change of geography for the Lower Mississippi River paddler. Vicksburg heralds the end of the Mississippi Delta and the beginning of the Mississippi Loess Bluffs. From here down to St. Francisville there are no continuous levees on the Mississippi side because of the high ground
363.5 LBD Natchez-Under-the-Hill Steep concrete ramp diving into the river at the base of the Natchez Bluffs, the best place to make a landing and a visit to the classy river town of Natchez. After you make landing and get your land legs, stroll up to the top of
365 RBD Opening to Old River -- Bottom End (Marengo Bend Lake) Only access to Marengo Lake/Old River. Public boat launch 8 miles around the outside bend of the lake (west side). The water never gets too low to paddle into the bottom end of Marengo Lake for a
367.5 RBD Opening to Old River -- Top End (Marengo Bend Lake) Previous to 1933 the Mississippi made a giant curve around Marengo Bend into the rich Louisiana bottomlands before curving back to slam into the bluffs at Natchez. The Giles Cutoff changed that, resulting in the 10-mile long
367 LBD Devil’s Punchbowl “Far in the past, a great cup-shaped hole, about five hundred feet wide, had formed in the soft earth of the river bluffs. Slowly it seemed to widen, as gullies formed along its sides and rows of trees hurtled into its depths. Thickly grown, it
367 - 365 LBD Remnants of Cypress Forest In low and medium water levels, the stumps of giant cypress trees can be seen at the base of the bluffs along the left bank descending and are the remnants of the forests found here that stalled the opening of the Giles