Last Updated 09.02.08

This canoe trail established by the Wolf River Conservancy (WRC) has to be the nicest canoe trail in the entire Mid-South. The variety of the landscape is refreshing and beautiful. If you live in the area and enjoy paddling, you should really go experience this stretch of river.

The entire trip is about 8.5 miles long. Paddling at a moderate pace (we weren't racing to the end) and stopping to have lunch, we arrived at the take-out in 4 hours and 15 minutes. However, it would probably be wise to plan for the trip to take 5-6 hours your first time. We have been multiple times when the LaGrange gage ranged from about 5.75 to 6.5 feet without any problems. According to the WRC site, the river is never too low to paddle. They also don't specify a gage height at which the river is "iffy" or a "no go." If any of you encounter this level or have seen it before, please let me know.

The actual "Ghost River" section of the river is probably the most difficult portion of the trip due to the combination of a current and narrow passages through the thick underbrush and trees in some places. However, anyone with mediocre maneuverability skills should not have any problems. The entire trail is well marked so navigation should not pose a problem as long as you pay attention.

Starting at Yager Road, the river varies from about 10-25 feet wide and slowly meanders between muddy banks through a mixed forest for the first half of the trip. Although there are many downed trees in the river, it is pretty easy to get around or under most of them. At about mile 4 (2 hours), the entrance to the "ghost river" section appears on river left marked with a large brown sign. It is at this point that the trail changes from a meandering river to a cypress and tupelo swamp. This part of the trail is very well marked with many signs to keep you from getting lost and lasts for approximately one mile before it begins to open up into Spirit Lake. The paddle through the more open lake must be about 2 miles before the lake begins to narrow and the current picks up again. At this point, you have a mile or less to go to the take-out at Bateman bridge. After the numerous trail markers for the last few miles, we did not see any in the last half mile of the trail and began to think we had gone the wrong direction. But, we kept going with the current down the main channel and found ourselves at the Bateman Road ramp.

Wolf River Conservancy Ghost River Page

Wolf River gage at LaGrange