For the Huck of It: Paddling on the Mississippi
10 Oct
A recent story in Minnesota’s Rochester Post-Bulletin — THIS one, actually — highlighted a favorite local paddling destination of ours — the Upper Mississippi River. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area and some of the wilder rivers in the area get a lot of attention locally and nationally, but there’s much to like about paddling on the Upper Miss.
The Upper Mississippi’s backwater sloughs offer quiet paddling close to nature. The maze of islands and sandbars created by water impounded by the locks and dams along the river provide excellent camp spots and lunch stops.
Much of the river and shoreline between the Twin Cities and the Iowa border is part of the Upper Mississippi National Wildlife Refuge. (The river is part of an important migratory fly-way for waterfowl.) The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the refuge, has some helpful information about the area HERE.
They also have THIS great canoe trails brochure with suggested routes.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, HERE, has information and paddler-friendly river maps for the entirety of the Mississippi within and bordering the state.
For a day trip or weekend exploring the backwaters or a longer Huck Finn-inspired paddle down the river, the Mighty Mississippi is good water to push off into.
