Upper Missouri Breaks planning
Upper Missouri Breaks trip packet
Print this. The checklist, the hazards, the emergency plan and the rules of the corridor in one place.
Packing checklist
River gear
- Extra-long bow and stern lines (for mud)
- Heavy-duty sand stakes
- Alum settling kit with buckets
Sun & mud
- High-SPF sunblock
- Wide-brimmed hat
- Long-sleeve sun shirts
- Slip-on 'gumbo' shoes
Required sanitation
- Portable toilet system or WAG bags
- Fire pan
- Mesh gear-drying bags
Known hazards
- Summer heat over 100°F with almost no shade
- 'Gumbo' bentonite mud after rain — impassable on foot and at landings
- Strong upstream wind that can stop a canoe dead
- No cell service for most of the 149-mile corridor
- Prairie rattlesnakes in tall grass and rock crevices
- Deadfalls and sweepers, especially below Judith Landing
Water notes
The Missouri runs heavily silted. Settle the sediment with alum before filtering, or carry all your drinking water from the launch. Check BLM flow advisories before committing.
Emergency plan
Carry a satellite communicator. The BLM Lewistown Field Office is the managing contact; leave a detailed itinerary with someone ashore. Rescue on the remote reaches is measured in days.
Leave No Trace
Fire pans and portable toilet systems are required for all overnight trips, and all human waste and trash pack out — the riverbank ecosystem is fragile desert.