Mile 471.0 - Miles 471-465: Arcadia Point Bar/Cottonwood Bar
471-465 Arcadia Point Bar/Cottonwood Bar
The main channel runs southwestward several miles out of Fitler and then without turning one way or the other slides in between two big sandbar towheads Arcadia Point Bar and Cottonwood Bar so smoothly and perfectly you would think it had been drawn that way on a design pad. Well, it had been planned that way, and then carved that way. Much to the consternation of the natural impulses of the river, a canal was carved right through the center of Cottonwood Bar to remove a troubling bend eastward (right bank descending) around its backside that had always been a difficult navigation challenge for the 1/2 mile long towboats. Also it seemed like the river was trying to dig further and further into Louisiana in its tendency to eat away at the outsides of its bends and form new meanders. Something had to be done. Instead of letting the river have its way, the US Army Corps Engineers carved a slightly curved canyon through Cottonwood that begins southwesterly and then turns ever so gently to the south. It’s the most perfect low-angle curve on the Lower Mississippi. A protractor couldn’t draw a better circumference. And the river hates it! So much so that several million yards of large limestone boulders, rock and rip-rap have been required to maintain this beautiful channel through Cottonwood. During the 2011 flood the big waters did extensive damage to the backsides of Cottonwood and now the damage is being mitigated with several more millions of yards of rip-rap. Soon all of Cottonwood will be a monument to rip-rap having been completely encircled by it. Like any moving waters, the biggest river in North America is always looking for weak places to explore with insatiable appetite, and it requires the constant attention of the most ambitious plumbers in history, the US Army Corps Engineers, to maintain it!
1262 acre Cottonwood is for sale (at date of Rivergator website publication). I wish we could save it as a public place for paddlers, fishermen, and hunters. At present there are only four public islands on the approximately 1,000 miles of the Lower Mississippi River. That’s one public island per 250 miles. You can count them on one hand: Hickman Bar, Loosahatchie Bar, Buck Island and Choctaw Island. Two in Tennessee and two in Arkansas. While paddlers typically end up camping in remote sandy places far below the average highwater mark (hence beyond the legal reach of any landowners) it can get a little lonely having to always feel like you are shunned, unwanted, maybe even feared. Paddler and author Eddie Harris, a black man, reported being harassed and then shot at while camping in the woods one night somewhere below Greenville in his 1988 Mississippi Solo. It’s kind of like a backpacker walking through a gated community. We need more public places on the Lower Mississippi, not
less. Opportunities like Cottonwood are rare and should be favored upon by conservation agencies like Mississippi Game and Fish and protectors of our wild lands like the Nature Conservancy. At $2,000/acre we’re looking at $2.5 million dollars. But some people drop $100 million into a yacht. $2.5 million is nothing when you consider all the boy scouts, girl scouts, church groups, anglers and sports lovers who could be enjoy a lifetime of outdoor recreation on a Mississippi River Island!
At low water canoeists and kayakers must stay main channel through Arcadia Point Bar/Cottonwood Bar, but watch for upcoming tows which favor the slow water below Arcadia and might be out of sight until you are deep within the bend. Monitor VHF channel 13 and watch carefully downstream for any emerging tows. The channel is narrow here and its turbulent waters and hard edges can produce large waves with the passage of upstream tows. Of course, be equally vigilant for down-streamers which come plowing from above around Fitler and need the width of Cottonwood Chute to make their turn.
As the water rises the side channels and back channels open up behind Arcadia and Cottonwood. Be careful of violent waterfalls flowing over back channel dikes at medium water (around 25VG). There is a notorious whirlpool that forms behind Cottonwood at this water level as the water sluices through a notched dike. At high water you can go far right behind Cottonwood Bar for a foray into Transylvania, Louisiana, or you can stay left amongst the wild archipelago of Arcadia Bar. Arcadia splits into a dozen or more islands at high water. Paddlers can choose any number of routes to follow. You could easily spend a day or more paddling in around all of these islands and enjoying the prolific wildlife found there. In fact this could be a beautiful round trip from the Madison Parish Boat Ramp. This section is for experts only, with many challenging upstream paddling and aggressive ferry crossings.
Canoeists, kayakers and stand up paddle-boarders must stay main channel during low water, but in high water can follow any number of routes behind Arcadia Bar, or the back channel of Cottonwood. Cottonwood is always open with some water, but best run at medium water or above, say around 25 or above on the Vicksburg Gauge.
Main Channel
Coming out of Fitler stay mid channel and then slide right bank as you enter in between Cottonwood Island and Arcadia Bar. Exit into big channel below island following the strongest flow outwards RBD towards Goodrich, Dogtail and Willow Island further down.
Cottonwood Bar Back Channel
The top end of Cottonwood is protected by a long dike and weir with an opening on its north end (RBD). There is always some flow behind Cottonwood, although it's a slow channel at low water. Best run at 25 VG or above.
Arcadia Bar Back Channel
If the river is 30 Vicksburg Gauge or above stay left bank and follow the flow into the mile wide opening behind Arcadia, which narrows slightly and then opens up again towards bottom end. Watch for waterfalls over two dikes, one at top and one at bottom. Many routes to follow. Pick and choose.
Goodrich Public Boat Launch
Steep concrete ramp made from revetment falls steeply into back channel at base of Cottonwood Bar. Road access from US 65 over levee. Parking and ramp located south of Bunge grain elevator.