The Route - Segment #1 - Minneapolis to St Louis

Segment #1 St Paul/Minneapolis to St Louis

So do you know there are two commonly used water routes to get from MN to the Gulf?  The obvious one is to follow down the Mississippi to New Orleans. It’s a route that can be easily traced out on a map by most school kids.  It’s a wide river with a huge volume of water. The northern portion, from St Paul to St Louis is controlled with 27 dams each with locks to allow boat passage. In normal conditions the river in this region is like a long string of lakes, one for each dam.  South of St Louis the river runs free and becomes turbulent and less friendly river.  It is because of this that many choose instead to take the Tennessee Tombigbee route, which is the other way to get to the Gulf.  You may not know much about this route or have even heard of it and that’s probably due to the fact that it hasn't been around very long. Unlike the Mississippi that was here since before the last ice age, the Tenn-Tom route has only been around since 1985.

So now you should ask, why choose the Tenn-Tom route over the more obvious Mississippi river route?   Well, the answer for me has to do with the practical matters of comfort and safety.  Stating it again, the Mississippi is not very accommodating to recreational boaters once you pass St Louis.  To continue on a trip down the Mississippi from this point to New Orleans would require more planning, better equipment, and/or a rugged personality.  That’s not what I want to do nor does it fit my character.  Many others have traveled the full length of the Ol’ Miss in all sorts of boats and made it just fine, and I wouldn't be afraid to try it either if I had a compelling reason. I’m just not motivated nor that much of Huck Finn purest to take it on.   I choose instead to make my trip a little easier and, in my opinion, more interesting.

But even by choosing the Tenn-Tom route, I’m still exposed to a small part of the Mississippi River south of St Louis. I'll need to get to the entry point of Tennessee River near Paducah, KY in order to continue my travels on down the Tenn-Tom. There is not other way to get there. Because of this I’ll have to deal with these less hospitable conditions for about 250 miles and that will be enough to give me the feel of a part of the river that’s more challenge than fun. 

I think I need to back up to the beginning of the trip now that I've explained the basic route I'm planning. I see the trip as being subdivided into 4 distinct segments.   See my map above.

The Segments:

#1 St Paul-Minneapolis to St Louis

#2 St Louis to the Tennessee River at Paducah, KY

#3 Tennessee River thru the Tenn-Tom to Mobile, AL

#4 Mobile Bay into the Inter-coastal Waterway and on to Pensacola

Mississippi River's St Anthony Falls in Minneapolis.
I'll pass to the right of the yellow mooring pylons at the 
trip's beginning and enter the first lock chamber on the river

The first segment from St Paul-Minneapolis to St Louis has the character of the Mississippi that I’m most familiar with. The Twin Cities has been my home for the past 33 years and I have boated on the Mississippi many times in the area. A nice summer weekend run from St Paul downstream to Lake Pepin was enjoyed more than one time. The river is rather nice here and probably under appreciated by many folks. I believe because it's in competition with the state's theme of 10,000 lakes.

Mississippi River at Dubuque

Having grown up in Dubuque and having had a boat in our family I spent quite a bit of time on the river.  I had always enjoyed the adventure of a simple boat ride on the river.  And yes, we’d swim and water ski and lay on the sandy beaches and we had a lot of fun.  There’s a set of people who’ll understand this and then another that’ll say, Oh Yuk! You put your body into the Mississippi river?  Well I did and so do a lot of other folks.  The river in this segment is for the sportsman and accordingly has many accommodations. There are plenty of marinas for fuel and a quick snack.  There are towns enough to find stores, restaurants, and motels and many of the towns are tucked up close to the riverbank making access relatively easy.  You can add to that the many boat launch and park areas. I’d feel safe in my claim that you’re never more than a few miles from some sort of shoreline feature that’ll fill a need that might arise. I’ll enjoy this part of the trip because it will feel like I’m reliving some of my youth. The flavor of the river repeats over and over as I continue downstream. Towns, dams, bluffs, islands etc all repeat dozens of times offering up nice scenery and interesting places. 


Everything changes as I approach St Louis.  The last comfortable place on the river is about 30 miles upstream at Alton, IL and I'll certainly have this on my list of stops. It will be my last taste of the relative comfort of the upper Mississippi.  After departing from Alton I’ll pass through the Mel Price dam and in a few miles I'll see the confluence of the Missouri River and immediately I'll have a quick decision to make. The river takes two paths here, one is through a canal and the other is over a submerged dam aptly named the Chain of Rocks.  The canal bypasses the submerged dam and allows safe passage down the river while the other path leads over the dam to disaster.

Notice on this aerial view the wide main channel of the river to the left and the narrow straight strip of water to the right. One must pass through the Chain of Rocks canal or face a rocky waterfall in the main channel.

View Larger Map

Chain of Rocks Submerged Dam
This is not the way to go.

Once through the canal I'll notice a stark change in the water. The influence of the Missouri will now be on full display as it contributes much to the river's girth and adds too to the muddiness of the water.  I believe it is due to the Missouri's extra flow that there is no need for additional dams the rest of the way to New Orleans. Now instead of a string of lakes the river has become a real river and moves along with a 3-5 MPH current that requires more attention and foresight while underway.

Chain of Rocks Canal
This is the way to go!

For the next 250 miles the river will have changed dramatically and I'l be dealing with it's new character.  I'll have to adapt to the change but for now St Louis is just a half dozen miles downstream and I plan to attempt a stop there.

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Photo St Anthony Falls
Photo Chain of Rocks Submerged Dam
Photo Chain of Rocks Lock and Dam