How Far Up the Mississippi Can Ships Go

February 16, 2022 Post a Comment

*This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Acquaintance nosotros earn from qualifying purchases.

Canoeing anywhere that you have not gone before can always be an take a chance. That is even more true when boating a downwards a river or waterway that you have never been down earlier. In this commodity I will cover some common questions most boating the Mississippi river.

The Mississippi river is ii,320 miles long according to the Environmental Protection Agency.. It starts at Lake Itasca and ends at the Gulf of Mexico. It is 3 feet deep at its source and is 200 feet at its deepest point in New Orleans.

To see some of the best accessories for your gunkhole merely click here.

Can You Boat Downwardly the Mississippi River?

The short answer is: yeah, you absolutely can boat downward the Mississippi river. Yous cannot, notwithstanding take more than than a kayak or rowboat on the upper 482 miles of the Mississippi river.

The navigable section of the river begins at Coon Rapids Dam in Minneapolis. Yous can use a motor boat from that dam downwards the remaining ane,838 miles of the river until yous striking the Gulf of Mexico.

Traveling the Mississippi by gunkhole could be a peachy risk or it could exist a horrible failure depending on your planning. If you merely take hold of your gunkhole and hit the h2o you would be fine in many areas but as yous get closer to the mouth (bottom) of the river the places to stop and fuel upwards are few and far betwixt.

There is one section where information technology is over 400 miles in between places to fuel up on the lower Mississippi. If you lot don't plan ahead and make sure that you take everything into business relationship your dream journey could plow into a nightmare of floating powerless downward the Mississippi hoping to find a place to refuel.

Tin Yous Boat Up the Mississippi River?

Barges and other large arts and crafts gunkhole up the Mississippi all of the fourth dimension so it is certainly possible to go upward the river if you have a large enough boat/motor.

Boating up the Mississippi is a much taller order than boating down. If yous have to boat upwards the Mississippi it can be done but it is hard and would crave a big boat with very large motors.

Non but would you have to fight the current while traveling up the Mississippi but you would also accept to fight the debris flowing downstream as well as the other boats that would be going with the current at a much faster step.

The real question would exist, should you boat up the Mississippi not tin can you. Bold you are planning on using a recreational gunkhole, I would strongly propose against going up the Mississippi. Not simply will it take a much longer fourth dimension while fighting the current merely it also won't be a very pleasant trip as you accept to fight the other gunkhole traffic, debris, and fifty-fifty worry about barges and large boats that will be going upstream much faster than you.

If you need to get to the upper Mississippi a much amend route is taking the Great Loop rather than fighting the mighty Mississippi upstream.

Can You Kayak Down the Mississippi River?

Absolutely, you can definitely kayak downwards the Mississippi river. A kayak or similar sized boat is all you tin use for the height 482 miles of Mississippi. Once you hit Minnesota, you will have to navigate while avoiding many barges, towboats, and motor boats. Every bit you lot get further downward the river y'all volition have many areas where the electric current volition exist quite fast and it can be difficult to navigate simply it certainly can be done.

There have been multiple people who have kayaked down the Mississippi. In 2022 there were even ii teenagers who kayaked down the Mississippi in 51 days over the summer! You can see some of their videos and daily logs from their journey on Facebook.

How Long Does It Accept To Travel the Mississippi River By Boat?

The time it takes to go downwardly the Mississippi depends on where you are starting at, the speed you travel, and how many hours you travel per twenty-four hour period.

Assuming your boat goes 15mph y'all can travel 180 miles a 24-hour interval if you travel 12 hours a 24-hour interval. If you start at the Coon Rapids Dam in Minneapolis you would be able to reach the Gulf in a trivial over 10 days.

Obviously that wouldn't be a very enjoyable trip if y'all are traveling 12 hours a mean solar day for 10 days direct so if going down the Mississippi is more than of a pleasure trip for you and you lot are looking to take a more leisurely step it could hands accept a month or more than to become down the Mississippi by gunkhole.

Can You lot Travel the Whole Length of the Mississippi River?

Yes, you admittedly can travel the whole length of the Mississippi river just it will crave a kayak or rowboat for the superlative 482 miles. After those elevation 482 miles you can use pretty much any motor boat to travel the rest of the way down the river. As you go closer to the Gulf it can become a much less enjoyable ride so many people choose to take the Tennessee-Tombigdee.

You can stay on the Mississippi the entire manner but there aren't many places to stop for fuel on the lower department and yous will have a lot of clomp and tugboat traffic to deal with as well.

Tin can You Float Down the Mississippi River?

Floating downward the Mississippi every bit in the days of old sounds like a keen thought… in theory. However in real life floating the entire way downward is less than ideal and would most likely be impossible with the river's electric current state.

If there was a major catastrophe that caused all of the boat traffic on the river to stop and then floating down the river without a motor wouldn't exist a trouble. With as many barges, tugboats, etc. that currently use the Mississippi for travel, free floating down the entire river would not be the all-time idea.

Is information technology possible? Yes, you could float the river, but you would have to spend all of your time hugging the shore and trying to keep your boat from getting beached by the wake of the barges.

How Long Would Information technology Take to Float Downwardly the Mississippi River?

According to the National Park Service, information technology takes h2o 90 days to flow from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico. Source

That timeframe doesn't take any stops into account however then if yous are a normal person attempting to float down the entire river information technology would take y'all approximately twice that long (six months) to float down the Mississippi.

The thing with that 6 month time frame is that means you have to spend 12 hours EVERY DAY for 6 MONTHS floating down the river! No days off and no rest periods beyond your 12 hours of sleep/remainder at night.

In theory, floating downwardly the Mississippi sounds like an amazing idea and it might be cool for a few days… merely floating on the river for vi months straight? Non so much.

Houseboating Down the Mississippi

Houseboating down the Mississippi is an enjoyable way to spend the summer. Many boat owners prefer to avoid the lower Mississippi and employ the Tennessee-Tombigdee to become to the gulf.

The problem when houseboating down the Mississippi is the lowest section of the river is quite busy with barge traffic and other large boats. In that location are well-nigh no marinas or places to dock along the style every bit well and then you would exist required to anchor or push button your gunkhole ashore for overnight stays.

Since there aren't many places to dock y'all would too have to have enough provisions on board for the journeying in betwixt marinas which on a houseboat could be a month or more than depending on your houseboat'south max speed.

The other outcome with taking your houseboat down the Mississippi is what do you practise once you become to the Gulf. Turning around and boating support the river will be difficult if not incommunicable for nearly houseboats. The other option is to stay a while in a place along the river or in the Gulf or keep sailing and complete the entire "Great Loop".

The Slap-up Loop would be incredibly difficult to do in a houseboat as you spend a good deal of time on the Atlantic as you go up the east declension before heading inland again. Most houseboats would not do well in the ocean and losing your houseboat to a behemothic moving ridge would non be something I would want to worry about.

If you want to go down the Mississippi in your houseboat be sure to programme ahead on how to get it back to the top!

Whatever boat you use on the Mississippi information technology is e'er a good idea to plan ahead on don't "fly by the seat of your pants". Canoeing down the Mississippi can be done in a large variety of boats from small to large but planning is important no affair the boat size.

If yous just have a couple of months to boat the river make sure the boat y'all choose volition become you to the oral fissure before your time runs out.

You too need to consider the weather. Many times in the spring the Mississippi volition alluvion many towns forth the way then marinas may be closed and in that location tin can exist much more debris as well.

In 2022 there were places forth the Mississippi that crested above overflowing stage 6 times in the yr! Source

If y'all were trying to use those marinas in places that are flooded y'all don't want to be surprised by them existence closed then planning is the best way to ensure your trip down the mighty Mississippi is as enjoyable as possible.

Every bit always,

Happy Canoeing!

Ezoic