This table shows my progress down the Mississippi River during my canoe trip. Distances are approximate as are area descriptions. The purpose of this chart is to give people a general idea of how long it took me to get from point to point. Your results may vary dramatically depending on how long you paddle each day, the weather, how high the river is (higher water is faster water) how hard you work, the type of craft you are paddling, etc. I was paddling long days. Most people will want to paddle less. I found the slowest going to be above Lake Winnibigoshish and the fastest from St. Louis to Baton Rouge. Here’s a description of the columns: Date: Self explanatory Area: The GENERAL area of where I camped that evening. River Mile: The river is broken into two sections and each have their own mile marker designations; from Lake Itasca to Cairo, and from Cairo to the Gulf. River miles are usually well marked below Minneapolis St. Paul. River miles are shown on the Minnesota DNR river maps and the Corp of Engineer maps which cover the river from Minneapolis St. Paul on down. Mile “0” is at Head of Passes near the river mouth. That’s why I’ve labeled the miles below that point with – (minus.) To Go: A running tally of the remaining miles. The river is about 2311 miles long. Done: Miles completed per date. Today: Miles completed that day. Day: Days completed to date. Ave: Average miles per day covered during designated segments shown in next column. Segment: River segments referenced in Ave. column. Corps of Engineer Maps showing mile markers can be found by Googling the following: Upper Mississippi Navigational Maps Lower Mississippi Navigational Maps |
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Date | Area | River Mile | To Go | Done | Today | Day | Ave | |
15-Aug | Lake Itasca (Start) | 1347 | 2311 | – | – | – | – | – |
15-Aug | Coffee Pot Landing | 1330 | 2294 | 17 | 17 | 1 | – | – |
16-Aug | Rice Lake | 1307 | 2271 | 40 | 23 | 2 | – | – |
17-Aug | Bemidji | 1285 | 2249 | 62 | 22 | 3 | – | – |
18-Aug | High Banks Camp | 1270 | 2234 | 77 | 15 | 4 | – | – |
19-Aug | Lake Winnibigoshish | 1238 | 2202 | 109 | 32 | 5 | 21.8 | to Lake Winni. |
20-Aug | Schoolcraft S.P. | 1202 | 2166 | 145 | 36 | 6 | – | – |
21-Aug | Near Blackberry | 1175 | 2139 | 172 | 27 | 7 | – | – |
22-Aug | Willow Wood Camp | 1132 | 2096 | 215 | 43 | 8 | – | – |
23-Aug | Palisade | 1090 | 2054 | 257 | 42 | 9 | – | – |
24-Aug | Pine Knoll (Aitkin) | 1053 | 2017 | 294 | 37 | 10 | – | – |
25-Aug | Green’s Point (Riverton) | 1012 | 1976 | 335 | 41 | 11 | – | – |
26-Aug | Baxter Canoe Campsite | 998 | 1962 | 349 | 14 | 12 | – | – |
27-Aug | Near Blanchard Dam | 959 | 1923 | 388 | 39 | 13 | – | – |
28-Aug | St. Cloud | 925 | 1889 | 422 | 34 | 14 | 33.0 | Winni.- |
29-Aug | Oak Island (Becker) | 906 | 1870 | 441 | 19 | 15 | – | – |
30-Aug | Coon Rapids Dam | 865 | 1829 | 482 | 41 | 16 | – | – |
31-Aug | South St. Paul | 833 | 1797 | 514 | 32 | 17 | 33.0 | St. Paul |
1-Sep | Diamond Bluff, Wisc. | 802 | 1766 | 545 | 31 | 18 | – | – |
2-Sep | Stockholm, Wisconsin | 773 | 1737 | 574 | 29 | 19 | – | – |
3-Sep | Minneiska, Minnesota | 742 | 1706 | 605 | 31 | 20 | – | – |
4-Sep | 13 Miles S. of Winona | 712 | 1676 | 635 | 30 | 21 | – | – |
5-Sep | Brownsville, Minnesota | 687 | 1651 | 660 | 25 | 22 | – | – |
6-Sep | Crooked Slough | 654 | 1618 | 693 | 33 | 23 | – | – |
7-Sep | Ambro Slough | 642 | 1606 | 705 | 12 | 24 | – | – |
8-Sep | Bunker Chute | 602 | 1566 | 745 | 40 | 25 | – | – |
9-Sep | Gordons Ferry, Iowa | 566 | 1530 | 781 | 36 | 26 | – | – |
10-Sep | Sabulia, Iowa | 535 | 1499 | 812 | 31 | 27 | – | – |
11-Sep | Cordova, Illinois | 504 | 1468 | 843 | 31 | 28 | – | – |
12-Sep | I-280 Bridge, Il (Moline) | 478 | 1442 | 869 | 26 | 29 | – | – |
13-Sep | New Boston, Illinois | 432 | 1396 | 915 | 46 | 30 | – | – |
14-Sep | Grape Island | 391 | 1355 | 956 | 41 | 31 | – | – |
15-Sep | Fox Island | 357 | 1321 | 990 | 34 | 32 | – | – |
16-Sep | Marion City, Missouri | 319 | 1283 | 1028 | 38 | 33 | – | – |
17-Sep | Blackbird Island | 291 | 1255 | 1056 | 28 | 34 | – | – |
18-Sep | Clarksville, Missouri | 270 | 1234 | 1077 | 21 | 35 | – | – |
19-Sep | Sunset Landing, Illinois | 237 | 1201 | 1110 | 33 | 36 | – | – |
20-Sep | Fairmont, Illinois | 206 | 1170 | 1141 | 31 | 37 | – | – |
21-Sep | 12 Miles S. of St. Louis | 155 | 1119 | 1192 | 51 | 38 | 32.8 | St. Louis |
22-Sep | Chester, Illinois | 108 | 1072 | 1239 | 47 | 39 | – | – |
23-Sep | Swiftsure Towhead | 59 | 1023 | 1288 | 49 | 40 | – | – |
24-Sep | Cairo, Illinois | 6 | 970 | 1341 | 53 | 41 | – | |
25-Sep | Cairo, Illinois (Day Off) | 6 | 970 | 1341 | 0 | 42 | – | – |
26-Sep | Cooper Landing, TN | 906 | 916 | 1395 | 54 | 43 | – | – |
27-Sep | Tiptonville, Tennessee | 872 | 882 | 1429 | 34 | 44 | – | – |
28-Sep | Ruckers Point, Tennessee | 810 | 820 | 1491 | 62 | 45 | – | – |
29-Sep | Bullerton, Arkansas | 779 | 789 | 1522 | 31 | 46 | – | – |
30-Sep | 16 Miles S. of Memphis | 719 | 729 | 1582 | 60 | 47 | – | – |
1-Oct | Prairie Point, Arkansas | 669 | 679 | 1632 | 50 | 48 | – | – |
2-Oct | Island 67 | 622 | 632 | 1679 | 47 | 49 | – | – |
3-Oct | Catfish Point, Mississippi | 572 | 582 | 1729 | 50 | 50 | – | – |
4-Oct | 9 Miles S. of Greenville | 528 | 538 | 1773 | 44 | 51 | – | – |
5-Oct | 2 Miles N. of Mayersville | 499 | 509 | 1802 | 29 | 52 | – | – |
6-Oct | 8 Miles N. of Vicksburg | 445 | 455 | 1856 | 54 | 53 | – | – |
7-Oct | 2 Miles N. Big Black River | 411 | 421 | 1890 | 34 | 54 | – | – |
8-Oct | 5 Miles N. of Natchez | 368 | 378 | 1933 | 43 | 55 | – | – |
9-Oct | 5 Miles N. Jackson Point | 337 | 347 | 1964 | 31 | 56 | – | – |
10-Oct | 9 Miles S. of Hog Point, LA | 289 | 299 | 2012 | 48 | 57 | – | – |
11-Oct | 12 Miles N. Baton Rouge | 240 | 250 | 2061 | 49 | 58 | 41.0 | (Minus a Rest Day) |
12-Oct | 5 Miles N. of Plaquemine | 205 | 215 | 2096 | 35 | 59 | – | – |
13-Oct | (Storm Day Off) | 205 | 215 | 2096 | 0 | 60 | – | – |
14-Oct | White Hall Plantation, LA | 164 | 174 | 2137 | 41 | 61 | – | – |
15-Oct | Grammercy, Louisiana | 145 | 155 | 2156 | 19 | 62 | – | – |
16-Oct | Davis Crevasse | 119 | 129 | 2182 | 26 | 63 | – | – |
17-Oct | 11 Miles S. New Orleans | 84 | 94 | 2217 | 35 | 64 | – | – |
18-Oct | St. Bernard Parish, LA | 47 | 57 | 2254 | 37 | 65 | – | – |
19-Oct | 3 Miles North of Venice | 14 | 24 | 2287 | 33 | 66 | – | – |
20-Oct | Port Eads | -8 | 2 | 2309 | 22 | 67 | 30.6 | (Minus a Storm Day) |
21-Oct | Gulf of Mexico | -10 | 0 | 2311 | 2 | 68 | 34.0 | entire trip, including rest time |
The army is still open during the Washington Closure.
http://www.agc.army.mil/Missions/Echarts/InlandElectronicNavigationalCharts.aspx
Hi Bruce — thanks for such helpful information. The Lower Mississippi link above is broken, here’s the (current) correct links
These are both rather large:
Upper Mississippi: http://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/Portals/48/docs/Nav/NavigationCharts/UMR/ALL_PAGES.pdf
Lower Mississippi: http://www.mvd.usace.army.mil/Portals/52/docs/2007_FINAL_MSRVNBK_WEB.pdf
Best regards