Mile 646.0 - to 642 Old Town Bend
646 to 642 Old Town Bend
Continue on downstream around Old Town (site of an ancient Indian village) and spin around Miller Point where the entire river makes a 180 degree and turns back on itself, often with powerful expressions of giant boils & whirlpools at the edge of a giant & very strong eddy that forms near mile 644. The water is so strong here that sometimes you can hear the hissing of sand as it is pushed along the bottom of the river. You will hear this hissing sound reverberate through the bottom of your canoe or kayak, even though the river is 150 deep in places! At Modoc Crevasse mile 644 the levee broke here on the Arkansas side of the channel in 1913. Not far downstream the wreckage of a Mississippi Limestone dredge that sunk in in 1983 becomes visible below 4HG, and is almost completely exposed at -6HG.
Old Town Bend is one of the few remaining classic Mississippi meandering loops which spins you around in a half circle and leaves you paddling in the completely opposite direction you started in! On a full moon night you can paddle into sunset, wrap around the bend and continue paddling on into moonrise. The towboat pilots call this section of river the wiggles for its meandering nature. Everyone thinks that the Mississippi River runs south out of the North Woods straight down to the Gulf of Mexico, when in fact it is almost never running due south, but seems to try every direction but due south, something like a wild horse that doesn't like the intentions of its rider!
As you leave Island 61 and paddle through Horseshoe Bend a powerful tongue of water will thrust you outwards into the the middle of the river past Miller Point (647.7) towards the McAlister Grain Dock at 644.6. Maintain the red buoy line if there are any upstream or downstream tows in view. If not you can stay with the fastest water in the middle of the channel and make your crossing towards the Arkansas shore. During low water the current all goes to the middle of Old Town Bend and then seems to dissipate in the middle, and then later reorganizes and two miles downstream becomes concentrated around the bottom end of the bend near the second green Channel Crossing sign at mile 643.4. During high water there is strong current everywhere around this bend, and for the most interesting inspection of Miller Point, stay tight LBD and keep your eyes peeled for wild boar, white tailed deer and other inhabitants of this rich forested area. Above 40 HG you can maneuver in and out of lines of willows & cottonwoods for variety of paddling, but always watch for snags and sawyers. Turning sideways as water flows through trees might mean capsize. Regardless of water level there is always a large & powerful eddy found downstream and below Miller Point (647.7) and a high bluff of sand against the Mississippi bank.