As soon as I got into the introduction of Canoeing Mississippi by Ernest Herndon I realized that this was not just a book for canoeing enthusiasts. Anyone interested in our natural state, our abundance and variety of rivers will find the armchair travel delightful.
You might not immediately associate Mississippi with canoeing but Herndon describes over 2,000 miles of waterways. Yes, some of these are muddy and mosquito filled! However, Herndon does us a great service describing the great variety of rivers we have: the 150-mile long Chunky River which makes it way through rocky cliffs into the Buckatunna; the heavily wooded Leaf River; the whitewater Okatoma; the Tangipahoa which flows into Lake Ponchartrain; the 400-mile long Pearl River running from Northeast Mississippi all the way to the Honey Island Swamp, including the beautiful Bogue Chitto River as its tributary; and finally our Gulf Coast terrain includes the complex, ever-changing Wolf River.
Okatoma River
If you decide to leave your armchair for the canoe, you’ll benefit from Herndon’s 30-plus years of experience of canoeing in Mississippi. River by river you’ll learn about boats and gear, paddle strokes, camping and navigation. To enrich your float, you’ll find Canoeing Mississippi to also be an abundant source on history and adventure stories, geology, wildlife, ecology and fishing techniques.
Bogue Chitto River in Pike MS by Greg Gibson
Canoes on the Wolf River
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