Okatoma Creek, Mississippi

[ezwater]

A lot of Old Sparkeys may have run Okatoma. Just want to provide some pics for those who haven't run it. Also posted on SOTP.

We often travel from Atlanta to New Orleans and back, to visit our daughter and family. The trip takes about 9 hours on interstate, and I often take a canoe along and try to run a river or two while down there.

Okatoma Creek, in south central Mississippi, is the most bodacious whitewater stream in Mississippi, having a lot of small shoals and a few ledge systems. The ledges aren't rock hard, but are made of mudstone that can be crumbled in the hands. Okatoma is very popular in summer, if there's enough water. I ran it in late November, on our way back from New Orleans. I'm going to just let the pictures speak for themselves.


oka by ezwater, on Flickr



oka3 by ezwater, on Flickr



oka5 by ezwater, on Flickr



oka6 by ezwater, on Flickr



oka7 by ezwater, on Flickr


There's that boat again.... The ledge is all mudstone.


oka8 by ezwater, on Flickr


At this low water level, there wasn't a clean route through.


oka10 by ezwater, on Flickr



oka11 by ezwater, on Flickr



oka12 by ezwater, on Flickr



oka13 by ezwater, on Flickr



oka14 by ezwater, on Flickr



oka15 by ezwater, on Flickr


The Big One, Okatoma Falls!


oka17 by ezwater, on Flickr



oka21 by ezwater, on Flickr


A side stream enters from the west.


oka22 by ezwater, on Flickr



oka23 by ezwater, on Flickr


A narrows.


oka24 by ezwater, on Flickr



oka25 by ezwater, on Flickr


Soon after, I came to a take out maintained by an outfitter. Okatoma keeps cabins away by periodic flooding. When the mudstone breaks down, it provides material for white sandbars. I covered only about 7 miles, out of a total of almost 20 in similar conditions. Eventually, Okatoma waters join the Bowie river, and then the Leaf, followed by the Pascagoula, and finally the Gulf of Mexico.

 

[beekeeper]

Nice pictures. Thanks for posting. Looks like a fun trip.
Tell me about the boat. Did you fish?

beekeeper

 

[ezwater]

The boat is a Mad River Synergy. "Synergy" is also what Mad River called their series of sit-on-top fishing kayaks. But the original Synergy was a Tom Foster design, a tandem whitewater canoe kind of like the older MR "ME" but asymmetrical and swedeform. It makes a nice solo cruiser on easier whitewater and on a variety of moving water, or for swamps where a lot of maneuvering is required. It was produced from about 1996 to roughly 2001, or whenever MR moved from New England to North Carolina. Rather than reviving the Synergy, they have "bought" the Dagger Caption and offered it for sale. That's OK with me, the Caption is probably a little better tandem ww boat, but the Synergy makes a better solo cruiser, and mine has the best Royalex ever to come from Mad River.

I have seldom fished, mostly because when I get on the water, I'm on the move. We travel, carrying the canoe in case a paddling opportunity comes up. Once I'm on the water, my wife is providing shuttle and waiting for me, and I won't have purchased a fishing license anyway. Fishing, like paddling, is something one has to do on a regular basis for better results.

 

[oldsparkey]

The Okatoma Creek appears to be one really nice river to paddle except for one thing...The Rapids. It would be a nice , relaxing , river for me if those nightmares were not in it but they are there due to the location and make it a more challenging paddling river. Just not one that I would want to paddle my wood boat down.
It's just me , I do not like rapids of any kind since they tend to increase the pucker factor when a person is in a boat made with 1/8th inch wood and glass. Did it twice on two different rivers and that was plenty of times for this person , actually one to many times.
You had the ideal canoe for rivers like that which would make it a lot of fun. Matching the boat to the water to be paddled is perfect.

 

[shikeswithcanoe]

Thanks for that interesting report. I've havent been over there yet but I recognize some of the spots from old West Florida Canoe and Kayak club videos. If you are driving between Atlanta and New Orleans on a regular basis you oughta swing by southern Alabama or the Panhandle of Florida for some paddling. We have some great paddles in our neck of the woods.

Here is something I wrote up recently and posted on the Green Wave Forum about our local creeks. And this isnt all, its just the best of em:

http://clubkayak.com/greenwave/default.asp?message=9215

A couple of must do's:

Boiling Creek on Eglin AFB, south of Milton. Turkey Creek on Eglin AFB, north of Niceville. No "whitewater", but very unique and scenic and fun.

Chipola River or Dry Creek over in Marianna. Very pretty and some neat springs.

Upper Section of Econfina between Marianna and Panama City. Very scenic, with some "whitewater". Also pretty unique.


Here are a bunch of trip reports (with lots of good info) for Northwest Florida for many paddles in our region on Green Wave Forum:

http://www.clubkayak.com/greenwave/trips.asp?region=1

Now if you are interested in "whitewater", we some minor but fun stuff. We call it "happy water".

Uppermost Section of the Sepulga (not too far from Evergreen, Ala and the interstate so its not even that much out of your way) has some decent "whitewater". Also, the lowest section of the Sepulga has no whitewater but is VERY scenic and rather unique for our area.

The Pigeon, which flows into the Sepulga, also has a fair bit of happy water.

Whitewater Creek, over near Elba, Alabama also has good bit of happy water.

Double Bridges, over near Geneva, Alabama has a few shoals and one you can kill yourself or break your boat rapid. Its also a must do because of its unique scenery.

Big Escambia Creek over near Atmore, Ala has some Okatoma like stuff in the middle section. The lowest section has a neat maze through the trees as it flows into the Escambia River. And the water is fast moving, so its like a combination of maze and minor whitewater through the woods. Also, Big Escambia runs alongside the Magnolia Branch Indian reservation which has a pretty nice campground.

Here is the info for Southern Alabama:

Southern Alabama:

http://www.clubkayak.com/greenwave/trips.asp?region=10

Feel free to contact me and I can set you up with some great paddles and folks to paddle with. Many are retired or have flexible schedules and love to paddle so weekdays or short notice are no problem. And we paddle year round.

 

[ezwater]

Thanks, shikeswithcanoe. I actually have greenwave on my favorites list.

Last spring we met the New Orleans contingent of my family on Dauphin Island. I had hoped to go over and try Blackwater, Coldwater, or something, but the water levels were so low with the drought. So I ended up paddling the lower Escatawpa instead, which was very nice. Once the streams are back up to a decent level, I want to take the wife down to Econfina State Park and do as much of the Econfina as we can.

When we drive to New Orleans, we more often take the southern route, turning west at Mobile, so cutting to the Panhandle is easy enough. When we take the northern route, through Tuscaloosa and Hattiesburg, we pass close to Okatoma, the Leaf, Chunky, etc.

 

[catfish]

nice trip report thanks for the pics.

 

[BEARS BUDDY]

Nice trip. Thanks.

 

[rpecot]

I have paddled the Okatoma many times in a canoe and sit-on-top kayak. I've only done day trips, using the outfitter to shuttle my boat upstream and paddle to thier take out. There's no where to camp on the section they shuttle. Maybe further downstream, but I wouldn't know. Summer is crowded, but fun. It's fun to pull out after the first big drop on river-left and watch the carnage as boat after boat after drunken boat flips into the water. One time a local pulled up through the woods on a 4 wheeler with a SCUBA tank and mask. Seems there are all kinds of treasure to be had after a busy weekend. A note about the clay shoals... When the bottom of your aluminum canoe comes into contact with them, you learn the true braking ability of your boat. I had bruses on my shins for weeks when I slid off my seat and slammed into the thwarts the first time that happened. :evil: It was a miricle we didn't flip that time (notice I said that time ), we were stopped dead in our tracks and the full force of the river was pounding on our side trying to push us over. Come to think of it, I don't think we ever flipped in the canoe. Now, the kayak... that's a different story.