Mile 672.0 - RBD Mouth of the St. Francis River
672 RBD Mouth of the St. Francis River
Two miles below Stumpy Island right bank descending the mouth of the St. Francis opens up momentarily and affords a striking view westward through overhanging trees and jumping fish to the Crowley’s Ridge. If you aren’t looking for it, you might float by this opening without realizing it (paddling down the main channel you might have the space of 45 seconds in which to get the view!). On the other hand, if you are searching for this place it is unmistakable. The tall trees of the mature forest open up across a 300 yard wide mouth before closing up again into the next piece of deep forest. The St. Francis is the first major right bank tributary on the Mississippi River below the Meramec River near St. Louis, which is about 450 miles upstream. In fact, the St. Francis shares highlands with the Meramec and parallels the Mississippi for hundreds of miles before joining the mother river here in her Arkansas floodplain. Curious paddlers should eddy out into the St. Francis and make at least one quick turnaround in her chalky waters before continuing on downstream. If you have more time and want to explore a little, paddle several hundred yards up the normally gentle currents of the St. Francis, at least up to the last series of squiggles above its mouth, for close-up encounters with gar, red-eared sliders, Asian carp and possibly a gator. There has been a family of gators inhabiting the St. Francis bottoms, although not much has been seen of them since the 2011 flood. If you are so inclined, make a long side trip from here into the lofty forests of St. Francis National Forest for the feeling of what the used to the big woods Faulkner wrote about and Teddy Roosevelt boasted about. Paddle as several miles up the St. Francis and hide your vessel by pulling it completely out of sight up the shore towards the ridge (which will be the left shore looking upstream the St. Franny). Walk directly into woods watching for snakes and thorny vines as you do.
There is a primitive Public Landing at the confluence of the Mississippi and St. Francis Rivers, accessible from Helena via the “low road” County Road 239. Put in at your own risk using a sandy turnaround and steep river bank that is sometimes sandy, sometimes muddy. Vehicles often get stuck here, so inspect first and then drive in. Layers of sand often disguise underlying layers of thick gooey mud, much to the chagrin of unaware paddlers and fishermen. Popular fish spot, camping spot, party spot. Never leave a vehicle unattended overnight. Probably safe day parking if you’re making a daytrip up the St. Francis or down the Mississippi to Helena. You could also camp here but you might have company.
Primitive landing at the mouth of the St. Francis River - Conditions:
Low Water 0-20HG: steep muddy bank
Med Water 20-30HG: easiest access
High Water 30-40HG: landing disappears around 35HG
Flood Water above 44HG: entire access road goes under around 40 HG
From Helena you can drive to the mouth of the St. Francis by going north out of town on Franklin Street, cut over one block east and continue north on Holly Street which becomes the Sterling Road or the “Low Road” County Road 239. The Low Road is closed above 45HG due to flood water.
Three Mile Ramp
RBD 3 miles up St. Francis River
There is a good concrete three miles above the confluence on the St. Francis that paddlers have named the Three Mile Ramp. Access is further up the Low Road. Situated between two ravines cascading down Crowley’s Ridge with a shady turnaround, the Three Mile Ramp becomes dangerously steep below 10HG, and bottoms out completely into muddy ooze of unplumbed depth around 5HG. Best used between 10 and 40 HG. This landing goes completely under at flood stage 44HG.
Possible primitive campsite at the confluence in a pretty location, but you might be sharing it with fishermen, hunters, and/or midnight revelers. Particularly on weekends. Not a safe place to leave your vehicle overnight unattended.
Daytrip: St. Francis to Helena
You can make a simple daytrip from the Mouth of the St. Francis to the Helena Harbor. This 9 mile section of river is appropriate for any Intermediate Paddlers with the usual Big River precautions because you don’t have to make any open channel crossings or get in the middle of towboat traffic. You can hug the Arkansas Bank all the way Helena -- with Arkansas Game & Fish Buck Island halfway down for stopping, stretching, hiking, birding, beach combing, picnicking and camping. Take-out: Helena Harbor RBD 663. Water Time: 2-3 hours depending on river speed, wind speed, and your paddling ambitions. Put in at the St. Francis confluence and canoe downstream alongside the variegated woods that parallel Crowley’s Ridge into Helena. Side-channels and secret waterways to explore depending on river level. Great fossil hunting and bird watching from the gravel bars at the top end of Buck Island. Becoming a habitat for Bald Eagle.
St. Francis to Helena:
Points of Interest along the Way
Mile 0 Mouth of the St. Francis River 672 RBD
Mile 1 St. Francis Towhead Island Bar 671 LBD
Mile 2 Helena Islands 671-669 LBD
Mile 3 The Fawns (Prairie Point Dikes) 669-668 RBD
Mile 4 Flower Lake Dikes 669-667 LBD
Mile 4 Entrance to Buck Island Chute 668 RBD
Mile 5 Buck Island 669-664 RBD
Mile 6 Doe Island 666 RBD
Mile 7 Trotter’s Pass 665.5 LBD
Mile 8 Bottom of Buck Island 664 RBD
Mile 9 Helena Harbor 663
St. Francis to Helena: Paddler’s Descriptions:
A) For Intermediate Paddlers: Right Bank Route
Intro:
The easiest (and safest) daytrip is to enter the main channel and keep a line downstream following the Arkansas shoreline all the way down into Helena. This is a fairly safe and predictable route because you don’t have to cross the main channel and therefore are not subjected to the dangers of paddling with towboats. It’s as simple as 1-2-3 “right, right, right!” i.e.: 1) take a right at the Mississippi and 2) stay right behind the big island, and 3) take a right into the harbor. However it gets a little more complicated as the river levels change. For one thing you won’t want to go behind the island if the river is below 25HG. Stay main channel at low water. You will have to negotiate a few buoys along the way.
Description:
Enter main channel and follow right bank downstream 2 miles. If the river is 25HG or higher you cut behind the two islands that stand along the Arkansas shoreline, the Fawns, or you can stay in main channel past the Fawns. Buck Island is the sprawling Island beyond the Fawns. Make a landing at the top end of Buck Island for a picnic or rest stop. If the river is 25HG or higher follow the Buck Island Chute right bank descending behind the island and enjoy the long float into town with the island on one side and the ridge on the other. Watch for upstream tows as you re-enter the main channel. You can also access a secret channel that opens up at about the same level right at the base of the trees at the tippy-top of Buck Island. This secret channel will bring you down between Buck and Doe Islands where you will re-enter the main channel with a 2-3 mile paddle into town. Don’t go to the bridge or you will miss the harbor! The harbor opens up at mile 663 below the red day marker and the end of the Helena Boardwalk, one-and-a-half miles above the bridge. Turn up harbor and make landing several hundred yards at harbor’s end, big new ramp on the river side of harbor, steep old ramp (bottoms out in mud) on the other (town side).
Note:
Dangerous falls in back channels between 15 and 20HG. Back Channel opens up at 15HG with turbulent waterfalls over dikes. Still cascading at 20HG. Smooth flow at 25HG. Fast flow at 35HG. Towboats sometimes go behind island at or above flood stage 44HG.
For Expert Paddlers: Left Bank Route
From the Mouth of the St. Francis River make a strong ferry crossing ½ mile over the main channel to the St. Francis Bar for swimming, picnicking or birding. Look both ways before crossing and avoid tows at all costs. (If any tows are approaching wait before crossing!) If the water’s above 30HG stay bank left and paddle behind the Helena Islands and Flower Lake Islands. Or make main channel landings and explore the same by foot. Full of birds, amphibians and insects. Lots of animal tracks to follow. Ferry back to Buck Island for exploration there, or continue on around the perimeter of the Island and stay left bank below red marker 666.6 for access into the deep-muddy walls, tall willows and mysterious meanderings of Trotter’s Pass (opens up LBD 665.5). From Trotter’s stay main channel two miles and cross over above RBD 663 for final approach into the harbor. The further you stay out in the main channel the faster the water, but also the more towboats you will have to paddle around. Don’t go to the bridge or you will miss the harbor! The harbor opens up at mile 663 below the red day marker and the end of the Helena Boardwalk, one-and-a-half miles above the bridge. Turn up harbor and make landing several hundred yards at harbor’s end, big new ramp on the river side of harbor, steep old ramp (bottoms out in mud) on the other (town side - behind gazebo and Delta Cultural Center).
The 426 mile-long St. Francis River drains 8,400 square miles of the Missouri Ozarks & Boot Heel Floodplain, and is the biggest Mississippi tributary (on its west bank) in between the Missouri River (St. Louis) and the White River. Like many Lower Miss tributaries, the St. Francis parallels the big river for hundreds of miles until finally joining waters. Indeed, the headwaters of the St. Francis spring forth from the hilly highlands above St. Louis, in numerous creeks & streams which combine and then follow the Mississippi behind St. Genevieve and Cape Girardeau, out of the Missouri Ozarkian Plateau and into the floodplain continuing still parallel in a meandering path behind New Madrid, Blytheville, and West Memphis. At long last Crowley’s Ridge seems to force the St. Francis to join the Mississippi after this impressive southern run. Its confluence creates one of the wildest bottomland floodplains in the region. A cross section viewed east to west would reveal almost 20 miles of forests broken only by river channels and lakes & bayous. Straddling Crowley’s Ridge is the dynamic St. Francis National Forest. Not far beyond to the East of the ridge are found the parallel drainages of the White River one of which is the “Big Swamp” of the Cache where the Ivory Billed Woodpecker was recently sighted after being considered extinct since the 1920s (unconfirmed sighting). One of the most interesting sections of the river extends some 30 miles along its course, east of Jonesboro. The massive New Madrid earthquake of 1812 created the St. Francis Sunken Lands. The river, and thousands of acres along it, dropped a few feet to create a wetlands region. A wildlife management area under the auspices of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission preserves almost 17,000 acres of the sunken lands but it remains interspersed with private land.
[add: Louisiana Purchase]
As you enter the waters in your canoe or kayak, the Mississippi is generally the stronger of the two rivers (unless the St. Francis is flooding) and creates a giant eddy at the confluence, oftentimes with boils & small whirlpools where the two meet. Watch for changes of water color in the meeting of the rivers. Sometimes it is only a subtle change, sometimes dramatic. If the St. Francis is flooding it flows a creamy white. In low water it is a clear greenish color. The Mississippi varies from muddy orange/yellow/green in high waters to a clearer orange/green in lower water levels. The two rivers tangle at their meeting, with pools of one river swirling into the other, the St. Francis hugging the Arkansas bank sometimes for hundreds of yards downstream as the mother Mississippi gulps swirl after swirl into her waters to which the St. Francis eventually succumbs and then is completely engulfed in the Mighty Mississippi.