Mile 597.5 - RBD 597.5 - 580 Big Island
RBD 597.5 - 580 Big Island
The Mississippi runs along the Eastern edge of Big Island all of the way from the mouth of the White RIver to the Arkansas River Confluence, so you might as well make friends, -- it will be your right bank shoreline companion for the next seventeen miles! 20,000 acre island privately owned hunting camps and frequently logged for its valuable timber. Historic homeland of the Quapaw Nation, once the largest and most powerful native population in this section of the Lower Mississippi. Visited by John James Audubon, Mark Twain, and once a thriving den of river pirates and moonshiners. As a healthy vibrant no-man's land Big Island has been the getaway of choice for anyone avoiding the law -- as well as dreamers seeking to escape the confines of civilization. Its northern boundary is defined by the White, its Western by the Arkansas, its Eastern by the Mississippi. The Southern end narrows down to a large sandbar island at the confluence of the Mississippi and Arkansas rivers called the Arkansas Bar. It is the natural exit for the White River National Wildlife Refuge. Taken together they provide a rich forested corridor for migrating birds and mammals alike, broken only by bayous and the big rivers.
Big Island is truly a spectacular natural phenomena, a landscape cut by, flooded by and defined by three big rivers. If river rats have a heaven (and this is debatable) Big Island is it. If the Louisiana Black Bear needed to find a hollow log for hibernation, it would be found on Big Island. If wild pigs could choose their ideal range, Big Island would be it. If the Ivory Billed Woodpecker has returned to life (as many would maintain), it would be found deep in the woods of Big Island. If any one place deserves attention as a place that needs future attention for conservation along the Lower Mississippi, this is it.
Paddlers have many choices in getting around Big Island. Downstreamers can stay main channel all of the way around its Eastern perimeter. But there are two sporty choices that will definitely add to the dynamics of your journey: 1) Cut up the White River 5 miles, portage over to the Arkansas River and paddle 28 miles down the Arkansas back to the Mississippi; and 2) Follow the Old Channel of the White in between Big Island and Montgomery Island. The first is for hardened voyageurs only, paddlers capable of a grueling portage and capable of orientation through swamps & woods. The second is a delightful nine-mile long side channel through the Old White River that is a stand-out opportunity and requires no special ability. If long distance paddlers had to choose just one back channel to explore and get the feel of the Mississippi as it used to be before channelization, rip-rap, dikes & revetment, the Old Channel of the White would be it. Keep reading below.