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
Mississippi River Canoe Trip Mileage
Miles
Date Area River Mile To Go Done Today Day Ave
 Segment
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
Lake Itasca
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
Lake
Winni.-
St. Cloud
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. Cloud –
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. Paul –
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
St. Louis-
Baton Rouge
(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
Baton Rouge
-Port Eads
(Minus a
Storm Day)
21-Oct Gulf of Mexico -10 0 2311 2 68 34.0
Ave. of
entire trip,
including
rest time

 


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