Turning onto the Tenn-Tom at Yellow Creek

Tenn-Tom mile 450The junction, about Tennessee River mile 215

234 milesYellow Creek to Demopolis

39 milesJunction to the first lock

84 ftLift at Jamie Whitten Lock

Where the waterway starts

The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway leaves the Tennessee River at Pickwick Lake, right where Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama meet, and heads south up Yellow Creek. Tenn-Tom mileage counts down as you go south: Grand Harbor Marina sits at mile 449.7, Yellow Creek State Inland Port at 448.3, and Demopolis at 213.2. The port is an industrial barge terminal (steel, cement, petroleum) with nothing for pleasure boats; give the tows room.

Stage the night before

Two marinas sit at the junction, and both are good places to fuel up, provision and wait out weather before the long run south.

Grand Harbor Marina, Counce, TN, Tenn-Tom mile 449.7. 662-667-5551, VHF 16 (working 68). Gas and diesel, transient slips, courtesy vans, pool, laundry and a ship store with a deli. No restaurant on site; a grocery is about two miles away.
Safe Harbor Aqua Yacht, Iuka, MS, up Yellow Creek. 662-423-2222, VHF 16 (working 9). Gas and diesel, transients to 120 feet, courtesy vehicles, pump-out and Earl's Grille on site.

Two anchorages on Yellow Creek, Goat Island (mile 446.7) and Zippy Cove across from Grand Harbor, have good mud holding but are open to a north wind. See the layover guide.

The Divide Cut

South of Yellow Creek the waterway becomes a man-made canal dug through the ridge that separates the Tennessee and Tombigbee basins. The cut is roughly 25 to 29 miles of straight, narrow channel (280 feet wide, 9 feet deep, with banks up to 175 feet high), and it is 39 miles from the junction to the first lock. There is nowhere practical to stop or anchor until you reach Bay Springs Lake at the south end, so leave with fuel, daylight and a weather window. You will meet tows: call them on VHF 13 early, agree on which side to pass, and slow down.

Bay Springs Lake, about nine miles long between miles 412 and 421, opens up at the end of the cut. Bay Springs Marina (mile 412.2, 662-728-2449, VHF 16/68) has gas and diesel, a courtesy car and only three transient slips, so call ahead. The Corps' Piney Grove campground on the lake has a ramp and beach, and some cruisers anchor off it.

The first locks south

All three are 110 by 600 foot chambers with floating bollards. Call on channel 16 as you approach and the lockmaster will give you the working channel.

Jamie Whitten Lock, mile 411.9, 662-454-7977. An 84-foot drop, the biggest on the waterway and one of the highest single lifts in the country. Boaters report the east wall is the drier side.
G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery Lock, mile 406.7, 662-585-3915. About 30 feet.
John Rankin Lock, mile 398.4, 662-585-3080. About 30 feet.

Tenn-Tom locks run 24 hours a day and lock pleasure boats through on request, but commercial tows have priority and a lockage takes 30 to 40 minutes once you are in, so a tow ahead of you can cost an hour or more. Check the Corps' lock status and navigation notices before you leave; the Tenn-Tom Waterway Development Authority links to them from its navigation page.

Planning the day

Grand Harbor to Bay Springs Marina: about 38 miles, no locks. A comfortable day for most trawlers.
Grand Harbor to Midway Marina (Fulton, MS, about mile 394, 662-862-7306, VHF 68, gas, diesel and propane): about 56 miles with three locks. Doable in a long day if the locks are clear; plan on Bay Springs if they are not.

Conditions, hours and phone numbers change. This page is general information for planning, not for navigation. Use current charts and the Corps' notices.