Mile 67.5 - RBD Trail of Tears Overlook

John Ruskey

20 Apr 2026 � 2 min read

67.5 RBD Trail of Tears Overlook

You’ll feel like you’re flying over the river like one of the many bald eagles that frequent the Middle Mississippi from the Trail of Tears Overlook. Upstream you can see all the way over what remains of Hanging Dog Bluff, past Dog Hollow, over the Apple River Valley, Patton Creek Bluffs, Tower Rock and Devil’s Bake Oven. You can see the pipeline crossing at Grand Tower and the power plant behind. Fountain Bluff shadows everything to the north, and the Shawnee National Forest. You can trace the curvy channel of Big Muddy River as it meanders northeasterly up along the floodplain and then into the shady recesses of the Pawnee Hills. Downstream the view is a little more limited, as it gets cutoff by the hulking bluffs below Moccasin Springs which obscures everything southward. But still you can trace the channel of the big river several miles as it rolls along the base of Trail of Tears State Park, and then curves behind it.

Looking northeastward you might notice a giant white cross on top of a distant ridge over the Illinois Pawnee Hills. This is the the Bald Knob Cross, and it’s a little under ten miles away, but you can still distinctly make out its shape. No wonder, it stands 111 feet tall and is 63 feet wide. You could take this as a gentle reminder that you are now entering the Bible Belt, the land of crosses and churches almost as big as people’s desire to share their religion with you. You are now entering the land of “yes Ma’m, no Ma’m,” “Yes Sir, No Sir,” and “Pass the Biscuits and Gravy.” What does this have to do with religion? I don’t know, but the two seem to come hand-in-hand. The next giant cross you will see is just past the mouth of the Ohio, in Wickliffe. But most mega churches are hidden behind the hills or over the levees, notably in Memphis and Baton Rouge. I don’t think there are any big churches right on the river, or even in view of the river, but there are beautiful places of worship visible from the river in St. Louis, Memphis, Vicksburg, and most of the river towns downstream. The St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square New Orleans is of course a stand-out. I am curious about the lesser known but intriguing Church of the River of Memphis.

Although you won’t see it from where you stand, the arms of the cross are dedicated with the chiseled words: “Peace, Hope, Faith, and Charity,” which are as good as any four words to aspire to.

See appendix for more about Bald Knob Cross and The Bald Knob Wilderness

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