Mile 79.0 - 79 - 76.5 LBD Grand Tower Island

John Ruskey

20 Apr 2026 � 1 min read

79 - 76.5 LBD Grand Tower Island

The State of Missouri crosses the river at mile 79 to the Illinois side and continues downstream until the bottom of Grand Tower Island 76.5. At least that’s how it looks on the map. The river, in its one of it’s creative capricious moods jumped the old channel at Big Muddy Island and cut off the bend, isolating it as an oxbow lake (here in the shape of a half moon). This effect is seen in many places on the lower half of the Middle Mississippi, and even more so on the Lower Mississippi, where the hundred mile floodplain is a thick layered tapestry of old channels and oxbow lakes in various states of decay.

The levee has separated Tower Island for the main channel of the big river, hence losing all of the regenerative qualities of the seasonal rises and falls of the big river. That said, it is some of the best fishing around, and its clearish green waters a favorite place for picnickers. A small chunk of the original bend is found through the woods near the river below the dike at mile LBD 76.6. For a fascinating walk through floodplain woods and great wildlife viewing, pull over into the eddy here, and walk due east through the woods. Eventually you will come to the opening. Walk quietly and carry a pair of binoculars and have your camera ready for a surprise visit to unsuspecting cranes, storks, and other waders, amphibians, and possibly river otters or beaver. There is an egret rookery on the island, and terns frequent it during their nesting season (May, June, July). There is public boat ramp on the SW end of the lake, off the levee. Good concrete but no access to the river.

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