Magic on the Mississippi

An annual week-long paddle & camp organized by British Adventurer Dave Cornthwaite

Icons with text indicating 5-7 hours, a moon, blue crosses, the word easy, a sleep mask, 2-6 miles, a fish, and all ages.

Get ready for one of our famed week-long Mississippi Adventures, with a fleet of canoes and paddleboards, campfire stories and discovering a new riverbank home on sandy shores and islands each night.

Run by British Adventurer, Author and Filmmaker Dave Cornthwaite, this week-long camp + paddle has been an annual treat in our calendar for over a decade.

If you’re seeking a unique break from daily life, and the headspace to explore new possibilities alongside a like-minded, thoughtful group, this adventure has been designed for you.

A group of people sitting on small chairs on a sandy beach near a body of water, with some standing and looking at their phones, under a clear blue sky.

Incredible memories are waiting for you…

A group of people on a river, some in kayaks and some standing on paddleboards, with a forested shoreline in the background.

Five days on the river are sandwiched between nights strolling the music-filled streets of Memphis, Tennessee and Clarksdale, Mississippi, two towns which have played an enormous part in the birth of the Blues, Rock n’Roll and the Civil Rights Movement.

This is a chance to escape and reassess life’s goals, but also to dip your feet in a pot full of potential. Learn how to canoe and paddleboard soak up the starry nights around a driftwood fire.

Pricing

From $1850/person

  • Memphis - the Home of the Blues!

  • Day 1 (Sunday): Arrive in Memphis at 4pm, check into local hotel, meet the team and head out for a walk around town, a first glimpse of the Mississippi and dinner on Beale St.

    Day 2 (Monday): Head down to the river after breakfast, set off for the first day on the river (excess gear not needed on the trip travels by vehicle to Clarksdale [our end point])

    Days 3 to 6 (Tuesday -Friday): Life on the river - paddling & discussions by day, camping and star gazing by night

    Day 7 (Saturday): Final day on the river, arrive into Helena, pack up kit and head to Clarksdale

    Day 8 (Sunday): Final team breakfast, a wander around the Quapaw Canoe Centre and shop, before departing Clarksdale for a 1h30 shuttle back to Memphis Airport, o your onward journey

    • All river craft and equipment, incl. canoes and SUPs, lifejackets and paddles

    • Professional guides

    • Hotel accommodation for 2 nights, either side of our time on the river

    • All food provisions while on the river

    • Shuttle from Clarksdale back to Memphis on the final Sunday

    • Travel to/from Memphis either side of trip

    • Evening meals on Night 1 (Memphis) and Night 7 (Clarksdale)

    • Personal travel insurance

    • Optional camping gear rental for river trip - tent, mat and sleeping bag for the week is £100 extra. If you just need one or two of these items the fee comes down.

  • We’ll pack a plenty of drinking water to refill your personal water bottles.

  • Dress appropriately for weather. Wear shoes that can get muddy and wet (or go barefoot).

    You’ll need camping gear including something comfy to paddle in, swim in and to cover up when the evenings roll in.

    Once you sign up, we’ll send you a detailed pack list!

  • Quapaw Canoe Company will provide lunches, dinners, and breakfasts for each day of the journey, this is included in the price for the trip. Meals are cooked fresh on an open fire.

    Dietary requirements are not a problem - we do our best to make sure everyone has plenty of food!

Five gold stars

So many memories...sunrises and sunsets like I’ve never seen before, an awesome group of people and friendships forged, stunning scenery, wildlife, the whole thing from start to finish was a massive adventure that just kept growing by the day.

Nick B from England
after a Magix trip in Oct 219

The Mighty Mississippi flows 99 miles out of Memphis down to Clarksdale in giant meandering loops into the verdant and fantastically fertile Mississippi Delta, the former cotton kingdom that gave birth to the Delta Blues.

The river leaves the city behind, carving elegant S-curves through deep woods as it meanders through Commerce Bend, Mhoon Bend and Walnut Bend, and then wanders down through a floodplain fifteen miles wide to the mouth of the St. Francis River, one of several tributaries that adds to the feeling of wildness.

Hundreds of thousands of acres of protected bottomland hardwood forest rest alongside the Mississippi in an incredible labyrinth of islands, forests, bayous, blue holes and back channels. Its the largest roadless area in the mid-south and where the road ends, the trail begins for paddlers. Giant islands in the river adds to the experience and we will enjoy wild open places, deep forests, hidden back channels, rich wildlife, and spectacular camping throughout.

A little film from a September 2024 Mississippi adventure, with a crew of paddlers from Europe and the USA coming together as strangers and leaving as friends.

Close-up of an elderly hand writing on paper outdoors with a pencil, wearing a blue fleece jacket, with a blurred green background.
Aerial view of a river with a barge traveling on the water, with forested land on the left and open land on the right.
Group of people preparing for a kayaking trip on a river with lush green trees in the background, holding paddles and wearing life jackets.
A group of people in a red boat on a river near a sandy bank with greenery and trees under a partly cloudy sky.
Group of people on a canoe and a paddleboard on a calm river during daytime, with a forested shoreline in the background.
A campfire on the sandy shore of a lake with a teapot on top, surrounded by sticks, with a picnic table and people in the background at sunset.
Group of people dressed in casual outdoor clothing standing on a beach, participating in a cleanup activity with trash bags, kayaks, and paddles, under a partly cloudy sky.
An aerial view of a wide river with trees along the banks, partially dried riverbed, and a few boats in the water at sunset.
Group of children paddling a canoe on a waterway with trees and a crane in the background.
People paddleboarding and kayaking on a body of water under a partly cloudy sky with the sun shining.
Two girls standing in a river, smiling at the camera, with a forested shoreline and cloudy sky in the background.

Let’s go!

Interested in this trip or would like some more information? Fill out this short form and we’ll be in touch shortly…