The Story of the Elusive Ghost River

A Google search of “Ghost River Midsouth” will yield about 25 pages of hits - none of which can identify a Ghost River in this area. The most viable reference is on the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation website where a section of the Wolf River watershed is identified as the Ghost River Class 1 Scenic-Recreational State Natural Area. Talk about a long and confusing name! Let’s see if I can make things a little more clear.  

What is commonly known as the Ghost River is actually an 8.4 mile section of the Wolf River located within the Ghost River State Natural Area. The upstream end of this section is the TWRA boat ramp off Yager Road, south of LaGrange, TN. The downstream end is the TWRA ramp at Bateman Road. It is not “poetic license” to say that this is the most popular paddling section in all of West Tennessee.  

About midway through the paddle downstream, a paddler will observe that the banks of the river are much lower than at the beginning and that portions of that water is moving off to your left. Of course, you remember the dire warnings of others to not miss the small entrance to the swamp on river left (now indicated with Marker 4). As the story was related, people have often paddled past the sign, become disoriented and had to spend the night on the river. For those who choose the wrong route, the conditions will become too difficult to proceed after a short distance, so they must paddle back to the main river channel and continue the quest. As paddlers travel downstream, you can often take a number of these wrong turns, getting stuck at the end of each, which causes them to exclaim “shoot” or something more colorful as they paddle back to the main channel to resume the adventure. Because of this reaction, these water pathways into the cypress swamp that is beginning to appear off to the left are known commonly as “river chutes”.  

Finally, paddlers arrive at the correct marker and take a 90 degree turn to the left to enter the cypress swamp known as the Ghost River section of the Wolf River. Here in the swamp, the river channel will seem to disappear, becoming a “ghost” of a river, much like the apparition which provides the name for this section. Though is the most common explanation of the name, there’s no denying that an unplanned overnight stay in the swamp could be spooky for some.  And, who knows, maybe there’s a real ghost out there somewhere!

So, how did we end up with the 2400 acre Ghost River State Natural Area here in West Tennessee? That is a story best related to you as you paddle with the Wolf River Conservancy on the Ghost River section. Come on out on one of our First Saturday Paddles and hear the story as you enjoy the natural beauty of the river.

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