The St. Francis River, or Saint, as it is popularly known among paddlers, originates in St. Francois County Missouri, flows down through the Mark Twain National Forest through Iron, Madison, Wayne, Stoddard, New Madrid and Dunklin Counties before leaving Missouri to form the partial borders between Arkansas and Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee and Arkansas and Mississippi. The river ends at its mouth on the Mississippi River in Lee County, Arkansas in the St. Francis National Forest. The Saint is almost like two different rivers separated by Lake Wappapello, which divides the high-relief Ozark Plateau above the lake from the low-relief Mississippi Alluvial Plain below it. The headwaters are characterized by igneous rock in the Ozark uplift of the St. Francois Mountains, followed downstream by sandstone and dolomites. Impervious rock formations on the Upper St. Francis prevent ground seepage and contribute to heavy runoff during rains, making the river run fast and furious. Frequent flooding is an issue of concern, and paddlers need to check the weather before going to and watch it while on the Saint.

Click the links below for information regarding the section of the St. Francis River and its tributaries where you want to paddle.

[ Highway H Bridge to Silver Mines Campground ] [ Silver Mines Campground to US Highway 67 ] [ Big Creek ]