Recreation on the Mississippi River

One of the projects we are working on here at the MRCT is a proposed Blueway on the Mississippi River between Meeman-Shelby Forest and downtown Memphis. We hope to encourage additional recreation on our mighty river and believe that the more we foster recreation on and access to our river, the more our community will grow to love and care for our river, because there is work to be done to make it cleaner and healthier. Please read the article run in today's Commercial Appeal about our proposed Blueway.

We had a trial run of regular folk kayaking down the Blueway back in 2007 for our Paddle & Float event, and great fun was had by all.



We even had a catered picnic lunch on Hickman Bar, which is a beautiful sandy beach along the river with excellent camping potential.



Joe Royer and Outdoors Inc. has been a pioneer and an incredible force in advocating a recreation river for us here in Memphis & west Tennessee. Every year Outdoors Inc. has a Canoe & Kayak Race on the downtown portion of the Mississippi River, and they celebrated their 27th year last May!



If water sports are not for you, there are also opportunities for walking and bicycling along our river.



Outdoors Inc. produces a Cyclocross race annually for those who enjoy a more challenging bicycle race.



And the Mississippi River Bicycle Trail extends along the entire western coast of the river in West Tennessee with beautiful bluff vistas available to enjoy along the way.

Chickasaw Bluff No. 2 - GPS Coordinates: N 35° 30.539’ W 089° 54.375’


Chickasaw Bluff No. 1 - GPS Coordinates: N 35° 37.047’ W 089° 52.961’


Researchers from Illinois and Wisconsin have paddled past our port in order to study the health of the river (see our blog post with the details of that expedition)...



...and photographers such as John Guider have paddled the river to document its mighty nature and unabashed romantic allure. Stay tuned for more information, as we are bringing his incredible photo exhibit to Mud Island this spring!

Now get out there and enjoy our Mississippi River!