Bogue Homa Creek
Bogue Homa is an old Choctaw name meaning Red Swamp. The Native American pronunciation is like the current spelling that lends its name to the Native American operated casino and recreation destination near Sandersville, MS called Bok Homa.
The Bogue Homa Creek has its beginnings between Sandersville and Heidleburg, MS., runs roughly parallel to Tallahala Creek and empties into the Leaf River east of New Augusta, MS. The Bogue Homa is a fairly shallow creek compared to the other seven, but it is certainly sufficiently substantial to canoe and kayak, even in the dry season. It offers beautiful scenery and lots of river wildlife.
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Near its upper end, Lake Bogue Homa forms one of the very few man-made lakes on any of the tributaries to the Pascagoula River.
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Click Below for USGS Bogue Homa Water Level at Richton, MS
FOUR LANDINGS-THREE TRIPS
Ovette-Moselle Rd. to Willow Dr./Whitfield Rd.
We first paddled this section of the Bogue Homa on April 29, 2023. We were so pleasantly surprised at everything about this river that it has become our new favorite. We put in at a dirt/sand "landing" under the Ovette-Mozell Rd. bridge. It was a little steep entry, but the access road was in pretty good condition. We took out at a sandbar landing on Willow Dr./Whitfield road that is accessed from a dirt/sand drive on the side of the road and a short path through the woods. I would only recommend this trip for intermediate level paddlers, because the first part of the trip had numerous obstacles to avoid and a few portages.
The total distance we paddled was approximately 9.65 miles. It took us only 3.4 hours, even taking a lunch stop and a few pleasure stops to observe the scenery. The water was a little high which made for a faster trip. Here is how it looked on my Paddle Logger:
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Landscape & River Features
There were several great features to this section of the Bogue Homa. First of all there were numerous beautiful white sandbars that were accessible, even though the water was pretty high. Many of the sandbars had uncommon shapes and features (such as dunes, streams and pools) and many had plenty of flat area to accommodate camping and picnicking. In two or three locations the river split into two channels that formed large wooded islands and reformed into the main river channel. There were also several pretty large tributary creeks and streams flowing into the river in this section. Almost all of this section of the river was surrounded by deep woods, with the exception of a very few pastures visible.
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The first half of the trip had a bayou feel with lots of mature cypress trees, stumps and knees, some of which significantly altered the course of the river. The second half of the trip opened up more and had numerous mild rapids (probably 10-15 good sets of rapids)
Wildlife
This section of the Bogue Homa was also a treat for spotting wildlife. We saw several Great Blue Herons and Kingfishers. A large Red Shouldered Hawk came up from the river with a pretty large fish in its talons, but it dropped the fish as it was just beginning to rise above the water. We also saw a young turkey fly across the river into the surrounding woods.
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We saw numerous turtles along the way with an unusual number sunbathing on the banks and sandbars rather than on logs as is common. We also saw numerous small fish and several large ones that jumped above the water. Although we did not spot any white tail deer on this trip, we saw lots of tracks on the sandbars.
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Here are some photos and videos of the trip:
Willow Dr./Whitfield Rd. to Hwy 42
This section of the Bogue Homa is a short run of about 5.3 miles. It took us about 3 hours including time to stop and play.
There is a pretty fair launch at the bridge where Willow Drive/Whitfield Rd. crosses the Bogue Homa. On the north side of the paved road and the east side of the creek, there is a short dirt drive leading to a short path cut into the river bank leading down to the creek. It is not always passable by vehicle, but is a short walk to the riverside. The take out on Hwy 42 is a public boat ramp on the north side of the highway on the west side of the creek.
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Karma and I paddled this one in mid September when it had been pretty dry, and the water was shallow. The geography of this section of the river was different than other nearby rivers such as the Tallahala and Leaf. There were numerous soapstone shoals and river banks, creating several shallow rapids, some narrow channels and some deep pools that are great for swimming. In this regard, it was reminiscent of the Okatoma, but shallower and with fewer sand bars.
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Also owing to the rocky clay bottom and possibly the lack of recent rain, the water was much clearer than most of the nearby streams. In our most recent float on this section, we could see hundreds of minnows, some bass, crappie and turtles as we passed along the surface.
We enjoyed this section of the Bogue Homa so much, we took our canoes and several of our children along in late March 2020. This time the water was considerably higher due to a very rainy and early Spring. The creek was completely passable by canoe and was almost unrecognizable from our last trip. Even with the recent rains, the water was much clearer than most other South Mississippi rivers we have paddled. For about 2/3 or 3/4 of the distance the river was fairly swift moving and had 2 or three sets of fun rapids to play in. This was probably one of our most enjoyable runs.
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Hwy. 42 to Old Augusta Rd.
Karma and I paddled this section on our first try at Bogue Homa Creek. It stretches approximately 9.8 miles from the public boat ramp at the Hwy. 42 bridge to as sandy dirt landing at the bridge on Old Augusta Road. We enjoyed the trip, but unfortunately, I cannot find the photos and videos we took along the way. When we made this trip, we were just looking at logical locations on the map to put in and take out. But we met a couple of locals when we were picking up our vehicle at the put in who told us that the popular run was putting in at Whitefield Rd. and taking out at Hwy. 42. They were right. the upper run was much better - and shorter.
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