Paddler's Guide to the Upper Mississippi River
A Compliment to RiverGator.org
To download a PDF of the Guide, click below:
When I paddled the Mississippi River in 2022, I didn’t realize that recording my daily observations in a ‘River Log’ section would bring me such joy. Nor did I realize it would add up to be quite a lot of information. I’ve compiled all of my notes about campsites, water sources, and more into a mile-by-mile guide to paddling the Upper Mississippi River from Lake Itasca to St. Louis, MO. This guide is also available in print form in The Canoe Rambler book, but I wanted to make an online version free and accessible as well.
Similar to RiverGator.org (the Paddler’s Guide to the Lower Mississippi), this is a mile-by-mile, paddler-centric guide. In this guide, I focus mainly on natural characteristics of the river, points of interest, and public land for camping. I don’t list private businesses, phone numbers, etc.
Whether you are paddling on a day trip or exploring the entire river, this guide should always be accompanied by a good map. Please share it with anyone planning a trip!
Author’s Note: Substack does not support tables or grids, so I had to capture images of the guide. As a result, there is no copy/pasting. If you’d like to access a more interactive guide you can do so with the PDF file above.
Wow-you're doing it brother! Thanks for your heard work putting together... will be a valuable resource for many paddlers in the years to come! Big River Love from the Lower Miss!
Canot -- what a labor of love!!