phone or facebook first or you might get this: ...I rolled up to the landing way late in the evening hoping to get across the river before calling it a night, my headlights showed only the road disappearing into the river where I'd hoped to see a boat. Not only was there no boat but the website said it wasn't going be in until 7:15am. so I got a nap and came back and as I was trying to make sense of it all a red truck pulled up and the guy in it said the ferry was closed due to high water and there's a sign as you leave East Prairie indicating as much... which is great except I came down 77... twice. so we sits and talks about how there used to was a few gin mills and some folks living around here until the Army Corp blew up the dikes because of high water a few years back and put an end to that. Then I'm off; in and out of Illinois and back home... read more

Dorena-Hickman Ferry - the landing is rumored to be 50 to 200 feet out past the stop sign... - Transportation Near Me

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Well worth taking!!!! We did luck out and had a private ferry with the weather being low 80s with a great breeze! The two workers were very pleasant and encouraged us to get out and walk around! The ferry ride could not have been any better!!! KUDOS and thank you! I recommend anyone to take a bit of the extra time to take this ferry ride!!! Thank you! read more

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If you need to ride this ferry for business or local transportation, you probably already know about it. If you are just visiting or driving through and looking for something interesting and fun to do, take a detour and cross the river on the Dorena-Hickman Ferry - the only river crossing between Cairo, Illinois and the I-155 near Carruthersville in the "bootheel" of Missouri, a distance of 80 miles. Coming from the Kentucky, the ferry landing is located in Hickman, and probably pretty easy to find. Coming from Missouri, you have to want to find it - the signs that get you halfway there from the Interstate strangely disappear when you are half-way there. If you persist, it should be worth the trip. You get to drive over a small ramp, perhaps getting your tires wet where the road disappears at the edge of the river, and onto a small barge, where you get a short trip across the "Mighty Mississippi" under tow from a creamsicle-colored tugboat. BONUS: If you take the ferry one direction, you get a coupon for a free ride on your next crossing!!!! Take it twice. read more

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