Fishers Ford Whitewater Park

[Auston]

That is good news. Fishers Ford was my first and so far only white water experience. Victor took me there on a float trip two years ago. First place that put serious scratches on my boat. I saw blue shavings floating around in my cockpit after I was dumped and immediately thought I had busted my boat. I was thinking "oh crap, glad I bought it from OMTC." but all was good.

[panicman]

Wow! great news. I guess I will have to look into getting another play boat now.

[cpresoz]

I was wondering if anybody had a link to the actual design. I'm being told it'll be complete by the end of the summer.

[nathan richard]

is it still ok to park/access on the south/river left side of the bridge for a float down to highway 59?

[adamm]

Yes. Parking on either side of the bridge is ok. The only issue currently are people walking across the field. I will issue a word of caution, lock your doors and don't leave anything out that you don't mind loosing. I had my tackle box stolen by some locals (? They were there on a 4 wheeler?) on Sunday. I left it on the bank about 50 yd upstream on river right. And walked out into the middle of the river to fish. They watched me hide it, drove across the bridge and hiked upstream through the water to get it while my back was turned.

[paddledog]

Isn't it ironic that we have gone from a gun totin' Jerk of a landlord
to a benevolent landlord that has to resort to gun totin' authorities
to run off jerks....
The next few months are going to be fun to watch.....

[cpresoz]

Isn't it ironic that we have gone from a gun totin' Jerk of a landlord
to a benevolent landlord that has to resort to gun totin' authorities
to run off jerks....
The next few months are going to be fun to watch.....

Yeah, a little ironic. I wonder if we'll be welcome.
Is it true the park is going to be called "White-Mart Water Park"?

[CAPTAIN ALEVE]

I got the plans for the park from Siloam Springs. They can be found here:

http://malvernwave.wordpress.com/fisher ... ary-plans/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mike Coogan, alias Captain Aleve

[cpresoz]

Thanks, Mike. Part of me is sad that the old natural drop and side ripples are going to be channeled, but the other part of me is really excited. I'm sure we'll be dropping by regularly to see the progress.

[CAPTAIN ALEVE]

Just got this email from the Community Services Director of Siloam Springs:

Mike:

We are in the process of passing through the county planning department. Once that is done we would like to see construction start around August/September at the latest.

Don Clark
Community Services Director
City of Siloam Springs
Siloam Springs, Arkansas
(479) 238-0930
dclark@siloamsprings.com


Mike Coogan, alias Captain Aleve

[Shep]

Once this has been built, I look forward to seeing what we might do hanging a few gates. We won't have enough water to build a full course of Class II WW, but even a few gates can make for a fun time and a good workout. We also could probably use the area for a longer, beginner-friendly slalom using the eddies behind the bridge abutments and other sub-class I features. A pretty cool development if I do say so myself!

Shep

[mgood]

My last two years of law school just got way way cooler.

Anyone know any details about the ideal flow range they're planning it for? Hopefully it's something like 100 cfs to 10,000 cfs.

[MaxTexan]

If I understand the plans, I would say that the features would be playable below 3 feet on the gage, a level now that is quite bony.

[tomOzarkVideo]

If I understand the plans, I would say that the features would be playable below 3 feet on the gage, a level now that is quite bony.

They are designed to be playable at minimum (spring fed) flow ~200cfs 2.15' up to 1200cfs.

It really looks like a giant version of Rio Vista!


Currently, there is a sweet spot that opens up around 2.35 and lower. The main part of the hole becomes retentive enough to surf.. Just don't tump without a GOOD helmet.

As sad as I am about "loosing" an old friend, this is going to be a major benefit for boaters in NWA.. Who knows, we may even show some competition at the throwdowns.

[MaxTexan]

I agree about mixing feelings of losing the natural appearance. I especially liked the river right feature where the water would slip around the tree creating a bowl.

I also wonder on the change will affect the deposit of sand that would accumulate river right below the two drops. If that sand get deposit in the pool below the drop that could be a problem over time.

I lived in Ft Smith, and went to NW AR 20 times a year and most times I would paddle at the Ford. If nothing else the pool below the drop was great for roll practices. I remember one time when the IL River watershed got rain and it rained no where else. The river was running like 5-6 feet and the current essentially went straight down the drop.