Donaldson Point

Points of Interest:

• See the mighty Mississippi River flow north for over three miles.
• Wander among extensive riverfront forests – some of the largest remaining tracts of this community type in the Mississippi Lowlands.
• Keep your eyes and ears alert for a wide variety of migratory and resident songbirds, raptors and wading birds.

Natural Features Description:

Donaldson Point is an enormous bend in the Mississippi River and although the terrain is pretty flat, low ridges, swales, oxbows and sloughs dot this large block of forest creating soil conditions that support a diverse mix of overstory trees – from pecan to cypress. Mature emergent cottonwood, sycamore, sweetgum and pecan trees are prime nesting locations for Mississippi kites which are known to nest here. In the winter and spring the area is often either flooded or water is ponded within low spots. However the soils here are primarily loamy and tend to drain more quickly than heavier-textured soils of bottomland forests farther away from the Mississippi. One can almost imagine Huckleberry Finn and his raft floating down the river in the antebellum period when you stand on the shores of the great river that forms the western boundary of the natural area. This forest provides habitat for a number of species of conservation concern more common to the southeastern U.S. such as the swamp rabbit, southeastern bat and Rafinesque’s big-eared bat.