Expeditions - Multi Day (3-5 days)
Floating & paddling down the main channel and back channels of the Lower Mississippi River can be one of the most sublime outdoor experiences available anywhere. On some days the river is calm & serene, you feel connected to the basic patterns governing the creation of the universe, everything seems connected and in harmony. On other days the waters erupt into writhing fields of haystacking waves and pulsating eddies, severe thunderstorms shake the forests, and gusting wind raises plumes of sand off the towheads. Never before have you felt so exposed and alone. You want to get on your knees and pray but you have to keep paddling to stay afloat and get to shore.
Regardless of the day, there is an incomparable thrill when you are cradled in the bosom of the biggest river in North America as she swirls around enormous bends and cuts her way in all directions of the compass through deep floodplain forests, rich corn & cotton fields, always down the route less taken. You see more deer than fisherman, more herons than other paddlers. More tugboats than houseboats. Wild. Remote. Inaccessible. Muddy. Huge sandbars to swim from. Deserted islands to camp on.
Water conditions depend entirely upon the prevailing wind, rainfall, and snowmelt upstream. The river’s vertical fluctuation varies 50 feet, from spring high to late summer low. As such, itinerary is subject to change. We call it “river time.” Leave your alarm clocks and watches behind. The only thing that matters out here is your next paddle stroke and any approaching obstacles.
Guided multi-Day Adventures: wilderness camping and paddling in remote pieces of the free-flowing Lower Mississippi River. We carry all our water, food & gear. Meet place to be arranged. We provide canoes or kayaks, river gear & shuttle.
- Missouri Boothill & the Rolling Hills of Western Kentucky: Cairo, Illinois to New Madrid, Missouri, passing by Reelfoot Lake, old river town Hickman, Ky, Big Oak Tree State Park, Bald Eagle habitats, all within the epicenter of the greatest earthquake in recorded history! (5 days)
- The Great Bend at New Madrid:25 miles of paddling to end up one mile from where you started! Great fun! Perpetual motion in a canoe! (1-2 days)
- Chickasaw Bluffs of Western Tennessee – wild backwaters to explore, the bluffs as you’ve never seen them before. (1-5 days)
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- Delta Blues: Beale Street to Helena Arkansas to Clarksdale, Mississippi: Why does the blues come from the Delta? Why do so many musicians come from one small region? A unique insight into both can be had from the perspective of the river. Prepare for the adventure with a night of live blues on famed Beale Street. Depart Memphis & paddle into Helena (1-2 days) and choose a campsite with walking access to town for the annual Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival (2nd full weekend of October). Continue on to Quapaw Landing and shuttle back to Clarksdale for a night of live blues at one of the many down-home juke joints. (2-5 days)
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- Rivers & Museums: Four river-related museums (1) Mud Island Park (Memphis), (2) Tunica River Park Museum, (3) Delta Cultural Center in Helena and (4) the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale all provide interpretive exhibits, maps, photos, artwork and artifacts that “signify” the river, helping paddlers better understand the unique nature & scale of the Lower Mississippi. Amazingly all three are located near good river landings approximately within a days’ paddle of each other. This is truly an opportunity for a mixture of “real” & “interpretive” river experience – applicable to anyone on the river who wants to understand it better. (2-5 days)
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- “Muddy Water Wilderness:” the Arkansas/White River confluence: big forests, big islands, and long winding back channels to explore. High concentration of Louisiana Black Bear, White Pelicans and Wild Boar. The largest contiguous forests of the Lower Mississippi, including White River Wildlife Refuge. (1-5 days)
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- The Lower Delta: Greenville to Vicksburg, some of the best birding in the nation, long remote sections of river to get lost in -- and then found! Great camping. (2-5 days)
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- Mississippi Loess Bluffs: Vicksburg to Natchez-Under-the-Hill via Grand Gulf -- big islands and big backwaters suffused with wildlife and history. (1-5 days)
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- Old River: Natchez to St. Francisville passing by Angola State Penitentiary and the distributary of the Ouchita/Red/Atchaflaya Rivers water system (Old River Control Structure) (1-5 days)
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