Mile 80.7 - LBD Grand Tower, Illinois

John Ruskey

20 Apr 2026 � 1 min read

80.7 LBD Grand Tower, Illinois

Grand Tower is a small river town that has managed to hold on to its river roots. At the sandy landing between Devil's Bake Oven and Devil's Backbone lies a state park with camping available from Spring until late Fall. With the weather deteriorating, Mark and I needed to make this stop quickly. I walked to the park looking for water, but everything was shutdown for the season. Several vehicles passed by, however, they didn't stop or wave. A red pickup truck with ladder racks was stopped near the river. I approached the truck, explained my situation, and lucky for me the driver was willing to help me out on my water supply run. His nickname was Shorty and he had spent his whole life in Grand Tower except for the time he worked on the barges that ply the river. He took me to the nearest gas station for my supplies. En route he pointed out the town's River Museum and the old river Pilot House that has been maintained throughout the years. After purchasing a couple of gallons of water, we made our way back. I asked him about the ghost of Tower Rock. His story was told to him when he was young by his grandfather. Prior to telling Shorty's ghost story, I think a brief description of the town is in order. Grand Tower was once a bustling river town complete with two iron work foundries, a lime kiln, a box factory, and a shipyard. The superintendent of the iron works had his house perched atop of Devil's Bake Oven. All that remains today of the house is part of the foundation. By all accounts he had a beautiful daughter and that's where the ghost stories agree. Shorty's version started with a wedding of the daughter and ended with her haunting the area especially the old home site. It was a beautiful day and the wedding party crossed the river to visit Tower Rock. At nightfall, the party attempted to cross the river, but were caught up in the violent water created by Tower Rock. Everyone in the party survived except for the bride. The moral of the story that Shorty's grandfather emphasized was stay away from the river and especially Tower Rock. (Braxton Barden)

More from this section

Preamble:

Preamble: I first explored this stretch of river on a 5-month raft trip that began after my high school graduation in 1982. My best friend and I decided that we had enough of traditional schooling, and much to the dismay of our guidance counselors we scuttled all college plans and

Table of Contents Appendix I - The Lower Missouri River Water Trail Appendix II - Upper Mississippi River Water Trails Appendix III - Mike Clark: Chain of Rocks Appendix IV - Mike Clark: Alton to Arch Appendix V - Over the Chain of Rocks with the Lewis & Clark Appendix

Mile 57.0 - Interstate 57 Bridge

7.5 Interstate 57 Bridge Vertical Clearance: 107.3 feet minus Cairo Gage. As with all bridges, avoid getting too close to pylons supporting the bridge structure. Water pushes strongly against pylons on top end, and turbulent waters swirl below. 5 - 1.8 LBD Angelo Towhead Angelo Towhead is

Mile 10.2 - 10.2 - 7.7 LBD Boston Bar

10.2 - 7.7 LBD Boston Bar Boston Bar hugs the left bank descending and creates a moody scene, partly due to the massive piles of driftwood that get mashed deep into its woods. Good low and medium campsites are found at the top end of Boston Bar on

Mile 10.2 - 10.2 - 7.7 LBD Boston Chute

10.2 - 7.7 LBD Boston Chute You can enjoy a three mile passage through the bottomland forests lining Boston Chute, but be wary of a cross channel dike at bottom end which causes 3 foot whitewater waves in medium water levels.

Mile 13.0 - LBD Cache River Diversion Canal

13 LBD Cache River Diversion Canal The Cache River used to enter the Ohio River in between Mounds City and Urbandale, both upstream of Cairo, but now it enters the Mississippi 13 miles above Cairo, and about 20 miles from its old mouth. Go figure. Such is the nature of