Spring River put-in and take-out questions...

[N. Henderson]

I ran into a fellow from Spring River while paddling at Helton's this spring. He mentioned there is take-out just above SRO that doesn't require payment. I'm heading up there Saturday, and putting in at the "ice cream shop" above Saddler's and taking out just above SRO would cut out alot of flat water, and enable us to play more by simply running that last mile or so over and over.

Does anyone know about that take-out? Also, I have always put in far upstream, never at the "ice cream shop." How much do they charge to put in there?

[Roger]

Noah, I think you're talking about Saddler Falls Resort as a put-in and then the take-out would be their's also. It's on river left just down from Saddler Falls. I think it is marked and I think that Many Islands uses also.

It is gated and locked. What I've done in the past is to park at the "Resort", pay $5, put-in, paddle down, take out, stash boats and walk back to the car. Then load boats over locked gate.

Check with the manager at the resort and tell him your plans. When I did it last time, he was pretty cooperative.

[Susan Tinker]

I think everyone has heard my nightmare. I thought I could get out along the way and nobody would even let me dock long enough to get my cell phone out to call my pickup. I had to paddle the last 2 hours on flat water to the low water bridge, after the sun went down. Not fun at all!

So, make sure you have your take-out all confirmed before putting in!
I think the people along the Spring River are some of the rudest people in Arkansas, or at least that I've ever met in Arkansas. I understand it is private property, but when a girl needs help, I didn't get one hand ... even the police told my sister trying to find me ... "tough".

So make sure you have it all worked out before putting in!

[suckhole]

Unfortunately, the Spring River used to be a whole nother scene. Stay away from many Islands. He tries to have people arrested all the time, plus others here can probably tell the knifing incident better than I can. Happened at Many Islands, that's the main point. Sonny at Riverside used to have a clean facility and tried to keep trouble down and quiet time at least to respectable hours.We used to camp and put in riverside and take out at Spring River Oaks Parking at either place was 2bucks five years ago. They started roadblocks at SRO/many Islands split and Cherokee village going to the Southfork in an effort to calm things down a tad. Also Game and Fish was nailing littererers.