Memphis, Tennessee to Springdale, Arkansas

Very smooth driving today in 33 degree weather. Northeastern Arkansas was very flat, with evidence of flooding in the vicinity of the rivers. The White River has a very large relief basin and it was full of water. I spent the afternoon traveling through the Arkansas Ozarks, which is always a pleasant drive. This is the fourth time I have traveled in the Ozarks. While they are old mountains like the Appalachians, they are very different. The Appalachians are granite and metamorphic schist, while the Ozarks are limestone and sandstone. That's all the geology for today.


I checked out the Mississippi in Memphis. Like much of the Mississippi, the river at Memphis is at flood stage. The flood crest is not due to reach Memphis until the end of the week. The city has a nice riverview park outside of the levee, just south of downtown. Below is a picture showing the river up to the park. It also shows the levee that protects the downtown area of the city. It appears to be 30 ro 40 feet above the riverview park. I suspect the flood at its crest stage may inundate the park, but there is no possibility of the river exceeding the height of the levee. However, like a chain, a levee is only as strong as its weakest part, so there is always room for worry. This reminds me of the book I read about the flood of the Mississippi Delta (which is located in the State of Mississippi, and is not in fact the delta of the Mississippi River). The book, by John Barry, is Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America. It is a great popular history read. The levees broke that time and over ten feet of water inundated hundreds of square miles for several months.

Mississippi River at Memphis Riverview Park with Levee in Background

Day 2 Mileage: 355
Cumulative Mileage: 785