Quick recap of trip on the Missouri
Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2015 9:54 am
The Wife and I took a trip to South Dakota to do some cruising on the Missouri. The tour included Chamberlain, Gettysburg and Yankton. My impression of the trip overall was that the Missouri river has a lot to offer the transient boater. I liked the Chamberlain area the most overall because you could usually find someplace to get out of the wind which can get blowing at times and really kick up some chop. Chamberlain also has a nice resort (Cedar Shores) with a nice outside bar on the river and the resort also has a wide concrete and free launch that is protected from the river proper.
Gettysburg was a bit of a bust because of the three days there (plan was for a longer stay) we were only able to get on the water once. We found the other days just too windy to enjoy the water. We would go down to the area launches to see the green faces of the hardy souls who would venture out. I wish the wind would have worked in our favor because there did seem to be some interesting cruising to be had. I will point out that this is a remote area with few amenities or things to do when you can’t get on the water. One bright spot is Bob’s steakhouse where you get a huge steak and a great view of the river from the dining room for a fair price.
We found Yankton to be a nice town with, in my opinion, one of the best state parks I have seen. Lewis and Clark state park has roughly three miles of river front. It is very well maintained with sandy beaches you can pull your boat up on and relax. Here again though, the wind can be a factor and will kick up a good chop. For the time we were there we spent most of it on the Nebraska side of the river because the wind was coming out of the southeast. The run back across the river to the park made for one of the rougher rides of the whole trip. It was just a rough slog.
Now back to the river for a moment. I have to point out that as wide as it is there are areas that get real shallow because of silting. For example we wanted to run 30 or so miles downriver of Chamberlain and see if we could find a place that Lewis and Clark mention as the ‘red cliffs’. We had already ran into some shallows roughly 15 miles south where the White river meets the Missouri but we hadn’t tried to just motor though it and continue on. When we tried, this shallow area seemed to go on for miles and the depth sounder was constantly alerting me that I was finding my preset depth. My Garmin Lakevu maps showed where the main channel was supposed to be but because this silting is ever changing, we were just feeling our way through and it got tedious. We found our time better spent in deep water floating and swimming.
In closing the weather was hot and dry with little rain. Just the way I like my boating.
Silt in the river where the White meets the Missouri
Down river of Chamberlain
Pedestrian bridge in Yankton. Links South Dakota and Nebraska.
Bridge linking Chamberlain and Oacoma SD
Chamberlain area
Yankton area
Yankton area
Yankton area
Obligatory dog pic
Gettysburg was a bit of a bust because of the three days there (plan was for a longer stay) we were only able to get on the water once. We found the other days just too windy to enjoy the water. We would go down to the area launches to see the green faces of the hardy souls who would venture out. I wish the wind would have worked in our favor because there did seem to be some interesting cruising to be had. I will point out that this is a remote area with few amenities or things to do when you can’t get on the water. One bright spot is Bob’s steakhouse where you get a huge steak and a great view of the river from the dining room for a fair price.
We found Yankton to be a nice town with, in my opinion, one of the best state parks I have seen. Lewis and Clark state park has roughly three miles of river front. It is very well maintained with sandy beaches you can pull your boat up on and relax. Here again though, the wind can be a factor and will kick up a good chop. For the time we were there we spent most of it on the Nebraska side of the river because the wind was coming out of the southeast. The run back across the river to the park made for one of the rougher rides of the whole trip. It was just a rough slog.
Now back to the river for a moment. I have to point out that as wide as it is there are areas that get real shallow because of silting. For example we wanted to run 30 or so miles downriver of Chamberlain and see if we could find a place that Lewis and Clark mention as the ‘red cliffs’. We had already ran into some shallows roughly 15 miles south where the White river meets the Missouri but we hadn’t tried to just motor though it and continue on. When we tried, this shallow area seemed to go on for miles and the depth sounder was constantly alerting me that I was finding my preset depth. My Garmin Lakevu maps showed where the main channel was supposed to be but because this silting is ever changing, we were just feeling our way through and it got tedious. We found our time better spent in deep water floating and swimming.
In closing the weather was hot and dry with little rain. Just the way I like my boating.
Silt in the river where the White meets the Missouri
Down river of Chamberlain
Pedestrian bridge in Yankton. Links South Dakota and Nebraska.
Bridge linking Chamberlain and Oacoma SD
Chamberlain area
Yankton area
Yankton area
Yankton area
Obligatory dog pic