Wild Goose Backwater Boat Tour – Fountain City

Join us on a backwater tour of the Mississippi River—especially through the quiet channels, sloughs, and chutes off the main navigation channel—visitors experience a side of the river that feels untouched and serene.

Here is a glimpse of what travelers can expect to see:

Wildlife & Birdlife

• Majestic Birds of Prey: Bald eagles soaring overhead or nesting high in cottonwood trees, along with osprey, red-tailed hawks, and peregrine falcons.
• Wading & Water Birds: Great blue herons, snowy egrets, and green herons hunting in the shallow waters, as well as migrating waterfowl like white pelicans, wood ducks, mallards, and tundra swans (in season).
• Reptiles & Amphibians: Painted turtles, map turtles, and snapping turtles basking on fallen logs in the sun, along with leopard frogs along the mudflats.
• Aquatic Mammals: North American river otters playing along the banks, beaver lodges and dams, muskrats swimming through the reeds, and white-tailed deer drinking at the water’s edge.

Flora & Natural Scenery

• Blooming Water Lilies & American Lotus: Sweeping fields of large green lotus pads and bright yellow blooms floating on still backwater bays (typically peak mid-to-late summer).
• Floodplain Forests & Canopy: Towering silver maples, river birches, green ashes, and giant cottonwoods hanging over the narrow channels, creating shaded aquatic tunnels.
• Submerged Vegetation: Underwater beds of eelgrass and coontail that serve as critical nurseries for young fish and feeding grounds for ducks.

River Features & History

• Wing Dams & Sandbars: Submerged stone structures (wing dams) built to direct currents, visible just under the surface, creating swirling eddies and shallow sand beaches perfect for stopping or viewing wildlife.
• Quiet Sloughs & Chutes: Calmer waters shielded from commercial barge traffic and large riverboats, offering mirror-like reflections of the surrounding bluffs and tree lines.
• Stunning Bluff Backdrops: High limestone and sandstone bluffs looming above the river valley, framing the backwater labyrinth.

Sunday August 16th 3pm – 4.30 Pm