Fort Defiance State Park — Attraction in Cairo

This was a must-stop for my son and I as he's reading "Huckleberry Finn" and we wanted to view the all-important spot.

The view was great, and the park wasn't badly dirty - nothing like the 30-year-old article from the Chicago Tribune which is inexplicably easily found on a Google search for "Fort Defiance park,", but overall atmosphere was one of poor maintenance and abandonment. A concrete foundation was near the parking lot and observation tower, but it was impossible to tell what it had been. Very little signage other than the monument to the Lewis & Clark expedition which does admit that the actual confluence was some miles north two centuries ago.

Overall it seems a sad testament to our country's nearly forgotten river days. I found our visit to Paducah and the confluence of the Tennessee and the Cumberland into the Ohio (although we couldn't view the exact spot) to be much more uplifting and informative. I left Fort Defiance feeling oddly let...

Oddly nice park that stands where the Mississippi meets the Ohio. You can see the division of the currents, or what most of the reviewers called by definition The confluence of both bodies of water. I think the term maybe a bit too formal for the worn down spooky atmosphere here tho it is worth a stop. The New Madrid quake of 1811 is said to be the reason they flow as such now. Idk if the realization that standing here is basically standing on top of the New Madrid Fault line, but it had me overwhelmed, feeling like I was standing on top of an overdue disaster. Watching the current split I had very unsettling feeling. Nice place to observe nature if you don't find yourself to...

First time here and it’s very impressive to say the least. I’m sure the feelings experienced from those arriving in the early to mid-1800s were much different then what I felt today, hoping I could feel just a small percentage of it. My Great Great Great Grandfather James Gittings landed here, with his family, when they barged down the Ohio River in 1837. They boarded a steamboat up the Mississippi to Quincy, where they purchased horses and wagons and proceeded up to their new home located 3 miles north of LaHarpe, IL, a.k.a, my childhood home, where it still resides today, 185 years later. And after a 36 year journey, I’ll...