Suggestions for Bachelor Party Canoe Trip

[seriousdan06]

Hello, I'm from central Texas and looking into planning a canoe trip for my little brother's bachelor party, about a month from now. I've been researching the different rivers and everything, but I could really use some advice from people who have actually experienced them.

We'll probably have somewhere between 10 and 15 people on the trip. We would drive in on a Thursday night and drive home Sunday. Most likely we would stay at a hotel in a nearby city and just do one or two one-day trips. We would need a rental company to provide the canoes, all the necessary equipment, and shuttle service. We're not planning on doing any fishing; scenery would be nice; but I think what we're mostly interested in is whitewater/rapids. We're all reasonably athletic, but most have little to no whitewater experience. So we can't do anything too crazy, but I still want to keep it interesting. Another preference would be something more in the southwestern part of the state to lessen our drive, but that's not a must.

So, all that considered, does anyone have suggestions on particular rivers that would be appropriate for this kind of trip? Any particular canoe rental companies you would recommend? Thanks so much for your time!

Danny

[paddledog]

Vegas is nice that time of year......

[Jim Krueger]

Danny,

Some of the streams you've researched that otherwise offer whitewater and outfitters, may or may not have enough water in another month. It depends on the rainfall. The Spring River would probably fill the bill for what you would like however it's about the farthest river to get to coming from Texas.

Best Regards
Jim

[Deuce]

I agree with Mr. Jim that the Spring sounds like your best bet. It meets all your criteria with the exception of its location, and you dont have to worry about whether it will be dry when you get there. Might it be possible to fly into Little Rock pretty cheap? If so, you could then drive the two hours to the Spring.

[Randy Dodson]

have you considered the Guadalupe? close to home

As already mentioned, the Spring River in Arkansas will be the only place with mild whitewater that you can count on to have a reliable flow. It's a party river on the weekends so it might be perfect for a bachelor party weekend.

If the Mulberry has water, it would be awesome.

Spring River: Riverside Resort

Mulberry River: Turner Bend or Byrd's canoe rental

All of these places have campgrounds as well as canoe rentals.

[R_Corter]

Bachelor Party= Spring River!!!!! Make the extra drive time, it will pay off!! Like others said if this trip is between mid June-November water will likely be an issue, especially for white water except for Spring River. I recommend Spring River Oaks for outfitter the reason being you can float dam 3 to Spring River Oaks. When you arrive at SRO there is no wait on a bus to carry to your campsite you would be at camp. Riverside is great too you just have the wait at the end of the float and a bus ride out. Spring River Oaks is just below Saddler Falls AKA Dead Man's Curve. Dead Man's curve is where most party goers stop and do there thing, look at naked hooters ...... When you finish your hooter lesson for the day camp is just below if you stay at SRO. Spring River Oaks or Riverside both have cabins for rent.

[okieboater]

what R_Corter said times ten!!!

[Cadron Boy]

Another "times ten" -- ain't no whitewater in Arkansas in June but the Spring River be made for Bachelor parties: one river-long beer party with girls lookin' to have fun. And if you drink enough those "ledge drop rapids" make for a hilarious Class V experience.

Water sports in Arkansas in June are usually limited to our lakes -- think Lake Ouachita with houseboat and jet ski/ski boat.

[TrentF]

Totally agree with the Spring river idea! A buddy of mine had his bachelor party on that river as well and I have been there many other times and Its a great party river! Great river for floating to since there is still a few rapids on it (dead mans curve is the best though!)

[Jim Krueger]

Danny,

There may be enough rainfall in the last day or two before you want to come up for your float so you could float various streams. However you'll probably need to make advance plans, book camp-sites, boats. etc. well ahead of time. You can see from my friends comments, the Spring is really a pretty good choice It is a pretty good drive, but really is just a great stream to float! I don't think you'd be disappointed at all. I also do recommend that you consider staying at Spring River Oaks so you can have a nice long day on the river, then just walk up to your camp-site.
Let us know if you have other questions, or we can help otherwise, and please do post a trip report afterward

Best Regards
Jim

[seriousdan06]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, that helps alot! Sounds like the Spring River is a clear favorite. I'll let you know what we end up doing.

Thanks again,
Danny

[seriousdan06]

So I've been talking with my brother, and as great as the Spring River sounds, I think it's a bit too far of a drive. I'll have to go back a little on what I said before and ask if there's anything more toward the southwest part of the state. He would prefer to stay at a hotel as opposed to camping, so I was thinking about finding something in Hot Springs and driving to a nearby river for a day trip. I had come across the Caddo River in some previous research, does that sound like a good option? Or is there anything else y'all would suggest?

[Lupe]

You might want to look into the Illinois River in Oklahoma...it's their version of the Spring River, and might be a much better drive for you from Texas. The Caddo could work, but might be too low later in June. In fact, it often is too low even now except that we just had a freakishly huge rain event. Once all this recent rain drains off, unless we keep getting a lot of heavy rains (which doesn't usually happen in June), it might be too low. The Illinois isn't quite as rain dependent and I think will assure you with a fun float no matter what.