PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

INTRODUCTION
In the early ‘80’s, the Escatawpa was evaluated by the National Park Service to determine its suitability for inclusion in the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. This Federal Law was designed to protect the nation’s remaining “free flowing” rivers possessing outstanding recreation, scenic and ecological characteristics. Though the river was ultimately not recommended for inclusion for political reasons, the National Park Service described the Escatawpa River as “probably the finest undeveloped black water stream in the nation.” (NPS – Wild and Scenic River Study) 

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Though portions of the Escatawpa are considered to be “remote and free from man-made intrusions,” (NPS) the watershed is also less than an hours drive from the City of Mobile, and equally as close to Pascagoula, Mississippi. 

The Watershed Area is long and narrow, approximately 15 miles wide and 100 miles long. (NPS) The length of the river is 80 miles. The lower third of the river is frequently out of its channel during high water, creating a broad cypress-gum swamp. (NPS)

The Escatawpa River begins in southwest Alabama less than one mile from the Alabama/Mississippi border in Washington County, Alabama. The river “flows in southerly direction from Alabama into Mississippi, crossing the Alabama/Mississippi line near the small town of Latonia, Mississippi. Latonia is in George County, approximately eleven miles southeast of Lucedale. The river continues almost due south until it nears the town of Moss Point, at which point it turns almost due west and empties into Robertson Lake. Robertson Lake is directly north of and adjacent to the town of Moss Point, and the lake itself empties into a series of other water bodies which form the mouth of the Pascagoula River.” (Sage)