We're a group of dads that want to take their sons on a paddle camping trip in Mississippi in late April, early May

We're hoping to arrive to a put out site on Friday, paddle a bit before dark, camp on the river bank Friday night, paddle Saturday and camp Saturday night, then take out Sunday.

Any recommendations on rivers, areas, or outfitters would be great. We'll be coming from the Lafayette area so preferably something we could get to in a few hours.

Thanks in Advance

This post was edited on 3/4/21 at 10:44 am

3 ...

Report Post

Posted by nicholastiger

Member since Jan 2004

42521 posts

Posted on 3/4/21 at 11:23 am to Ash Williams

Okatoma right outside Hattiesburg
They have some small rapids
It was a fun trip
Depending on age you can do canoe or kayak and they have camping areas

We did another one in southern Mississippi not too far from LA border as well and camped on a sandbar but I forgot the name of the place

0 ...

Report Post

Posted by iwantacooler

Member since Aug 2017

2170 posts

Posted on 3/4/21 at 12:02 pm to Ash Williams

Are you bringing you ur own canoes/kayaks or will you be renting them?
Black creek is the premier canoeing/camping stream in MS. You can bring your own or rent canoes there. Can also get an outfitter to shuttle your vehicle if needed.

Okatoma is okay, but I wouldn’t consider it a multi day trip and there will be a lot of people on the river.

Other options if you don’t require a rental would be big black river (depending on water level), bayou Pierre (my personal favorite), and too many others to list. If you’ve got questions about a specific one, let me know and I’ll be glad to help out with distances, put ins, water levels, etc... another great resource is the book Canoeing Mississippi:

Canoeing Mississippi

1 ...

Report Post

Posted by BRich

Old Metairie

Member since Aug 2017

2210 posts

Posted on 3/4/21 at 4:41 pm to Ash Williams

Wolf River Canoe and Kayak is a great service we use regularly. Their facility is just south of I-10 at the Long Beach exit, where you will leave your car. They bring you and your gear; as well as their canoes, paddles and life vests to a drop off point via shuttle.

Wolf River Canoe and Kayak

Good video of how it looks
Another video example
One more (with camping and drone footage!)

We've only done one-nighters from Cemetery Landing (their own private access point), but their info says they can work with you and set you up with a 2 night trip. Plenty more put-in points above Cemetery Landing.

There are several clay shoals and chutes with rapids between Cemetery and Cable Bridge Road (put in point for the day trip) similar to the few on the Okatoma. And there are PLENTY of sandy beaches to camp on in that lower stretch. The Okatoma is nice, but does NOT have as many sandy camping spots. Black Creek and Red Creek do.

Three tips:

1. Check out possible sand bars/beaches on Google Earth/Google Maps before going, maybe even print a copy, so you have a good idea for a camping spot especially on that first night.

2. Generally camp on the downstream portion of a sand bar or beach; the rocky gravel drops first and the finer softer sand drops last on a sand bar/beach. The sand is much easier on the gear, your feet, and your body when sleeping.

3. Be aware of water levels. Lots of recent rain upstream means it flows faster, it's less pretty (muddy) and less places to camp (many banks may be underwater). Recent drought means you may drag bottom here and there and have to even get out and pull the canoe once or twice.

HAVE FUN! WE ALWAYS DO!