All of the information in this guide is based upon other contributors' or my experience and perceptions of a specific location at the time we were there. Things change. Trees fall. Beavers build dams. Use your judgment to access the situation if you decide to check out any of these destinations. Although the cypress swamps around the Mid-South are spectacular, they can be dangerous. As Arthur Bowie has so elequently stated on the Arkansas Canoe Club Forum:

"When the water is up, trails may or may not be obivous, all the trees look the same and trails seem to be everywhere until suddenly there isn't a path to anywhere. In other words, lot's of folks get lost in the high water, getting in is easier than getting back out. Carry a compass and GPS and mark your put-in and a few intersections."

Finally, most all of this is from memory so there might be occasional errors. If you find one, let me know.

Just to give you some perspective, I have included some basic information here. I am rather new to paddling, but I have limited experience with whitewater paddling in East Tennessee, flatwater and ocean paddling in sit-on-tops, and canoeing. After moving to Memphis in July of 2005, we purchased the Wilderness Systems Pungo recreational kayaks. We spent most of the fall driving around with the kayaks trying to find good places to paddle. In the process, we found that we loved paddling in the cypress swamps in this part of the country. All of the places covered in this guide are suitable for this type of kayak and experience level. Unless otherwise noted, these places were either still or lacked enough of a current that paddling out and back to the put-in is not an issue. In addition, all of the destinations can be reached in just about any type of car, as I drive a small, japanese car with little ground clearance. All of the WMA and NWR offices seem to be open 8-5 Monday through Friday, for some strange reason. So, getting information on the weekend will be difficult.

Besides a compass or GPS unit, the most important item I can think of for exploring the countryside is a DeLorme map. These are indispensible for driving back roads, finding most boat ramps, etc. Another aid that is a great help is the google maps or google earth satellite imaging. Google earth, in particular, is great when it comes to labeling geographic features and small county roads in rural areas. As mentioned in this site and others, you can exactly pinpoint locations with GPS and on mapping sites such as google maps. Although most latitude and longtitude I have encountered has been of the form "N37.652 W91.375", the mapping sites I have used require these coordinates to be entered as "37.652, -91.375".