Meandering Along the Tombigbee Waterway

Officially, the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway is only 234 miles between the Tennessee River and Demopolis, AL. The 217 miles between Demopolis and Mobile, AL is the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway. However, most boaters refer to the entire 450 miles as the Tenn-Tom or the Waterway. However it is referred to, this waterway was originally conceived as early as 1792 by a French explorer, Marquis De Montcalm, as a means of reaching the Gulf of Mexico from the Tennessee River without having to go the longer route down the lower Mississippi River. Because of politics and lack of money, nothing was ever done until 1971. The Army Corps of Engineers started construction of the waterway and finally completed it in 1985. In the process, it became the largest engineering project in the world. More earth was moved to create the waterway than was moved to create the Panama Canal. NASA reports that the only two man made objects visible from space are the Great Wall of China and the Tombigbee Waterway.

One of the interesting features along the way are the White Cliffs of Epes, near Tuscaloosa, AL.

Located near Mile Marker (MM) 250, the changing colors of fall create a beautiful contrast against the white cliffs.

Many areas along the waterway are congested with the non-native, invasive Water Hyacinth.

The Water Hyacinth is the water equivalent of the Kudzo vine that is so prevalent throughout the south.

We stopped at Pirates Cove Marina one night and within walking distance down the road was the National Historic Landmark, the Snagboat Montgomery.

This 108' steam powered paddle wheeler is the last of its kind in existence. Designed to pull stumps out of the river and clear it of trees and other debris, this boat operated on numerous rivers throughout the south, until it was retired in 1982.

This boat and many like her were responsible for keeping all of the rivers in the U.S. navigable.

Located next to the Montgomery, is the Tom Bevill Resource Management and Visitor Center.

Designed and built with government funds to resemble a southern antebellum mansion of the 1850's, complete with spiraling staircases and chandeliers, it is considered by many locals to be just another "pork project" to memorialize one of the local Congressmen that was instrumental in developing the Waterway.