River Markers- What Do They Mean?

As you are cruising along the Mississippi River you will notice there are many different kinds of markers on the waterways. What do they all mean? These are very important navigational tools that direct traffic on the waterways in a safe and organized manner. You will see red and green buoys on either side of the (in our case) the Mississippi River. These buoys indicate where the main river channel is and this is the safest place to travel up and down the river. You will always see green on one side and red on the other. As you travel down river always keep the green on your right and red on your left and when traveling up river you would keep the red on your right and green on your left. If you venture outside of these areas you run the risk of hitting an underwater object that could damage your boat. That is why always take precaution when leaving the channel and heading to a sandbar, approach slow and with the motor(s) slight raised up for clearance.
You will sometimes see numbers on some of these markers along the river. These numbers are mile markers which indicate where you are on the river, just like you would see along the interstate highway, in case you should need to call for the US Coast Guard or other emergency personnel.
You will in some areas see small white buoys with orange symbols and black lettering. These are navigational aids that give information other than the borders of safe waterways. The most common ones you encounter on the river are the SLOW NO WAKE buoys. These have circles which indicate a controlled area which means to slow down to just above idle speed as to not create a wake(wave). These are generally found in an areas that may be narrow, housing, boat launching sites, or high erosion potential. These areas are determined with all the combined efforts of the DNR, US Fish and Wildlife, US Army Corps of Engineers,US Coast Guard and local officials.
As you are cruising along the beautiful Mississippi River keep an eye out for these markers and respect what they mean; safe boating is fun boating.