Canoeing in July and August.

[CourtneyRoth]

I live in SW MO. I often canoe Elk River and have grown bored of it. I have heard awesome things about the rivers and creeks in Arkansas and want to get on one soon. I researched online for a while this afternoon and most sites claim that waters are too low to canoe in July and August.

Are there spots that still offer decent canoeing during these months?

I look forward to canoeing Arkansas!



Courtney

[Gordon Kumpuris]

Courtney,

First let me point out that I am not a fan of paddling flatwater so if that is your cup of tea ignore the next sentence!

Paddling in Arkansas by and large takes a serious turn for the worse from July - November. Winter rainfall coupled with a lack of foilage to absorb rainfall makes for better paddling From November to June. That said, there are always exceptions when we get an unusally heavy rain event. The Spring River near Hardy, AR is the one notable exception to the above. It is spring fed and provides floatable water pretty much year round. Beware however that Saturdays during the summer are a drunkfest with every yayhoo in East Arkansas and West Tennessee on the water!! Memorial Day and July 4th weekends are a site to behold!! (hint - go on Sunday if this turns you off) There are also a handful of streams that offer moving water released from a dam. This allows for a full stream even during dry months.
Ouachita River below Remmel Dam near Hot Springs and Malvern
This is perhaps the best known "dam released" stream frequented by paddlers. The dam releases water for a variety of reasons, flood control, and power generation most notably but recreational/energy demand releases are pretty much guranteed on weekend afternoons between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Weekday releases are also pretty regular too during hot weather when energy demand is peaking. (it is 1:00 PM on a Thursday as I type this and I can see online that it is running real good right now!!)

Saline River near Dierks. The section near Horseshoe Bend campground is downstream of the lake and also relies primarily from dam releases to fill the river. It is my understanding that most releases are in the Spring to adjust the levels after heavy Spring Rains. It seems that occasional releases are scheduled for other reasons too from time to time. Watch this forum for alerts from some paddlers "in the know".

Red River Below Greers Ferry Lake
White River below Bull Shoals
Norfolk River below Lake Norfolk
Primarily known as a trout streams but these might be fun class I float streams too during the summer month. Take your fishing pole and license!! Check with trout docks on the river for generation schedules.

Ouachita below lake Degray
Another stream that relies on releases from a spillway/dam. I know almost nothing about this section but I know it is often tubed and probably can be kayaked or paddled in a canoe.

Little Missouri below lake Greeson
Ditto above. Have not been here but I suspect that releases from this dam are rare events and I suspect the whitewater is extreamly mild or non existent.

Buffalo River - The lower buffalo offers slow moving water albeit pretty flat pretty much year round. The scenery is a step above the others listed above in my opinion. In July and August I would assume that most paddling is done downstream (east) of highway 65.


I think I covered the major summer Arkansas paddling destinations. I hope this helps!

[David Mac]

I'll second what Gordon said except that the Little Missouri below Lake Greson is some pretty decent white-water when you can catch a release. It's still only class II and the best play is to ride the leading edge of the release, but it is definately WW. The hardest part about catching a release is that they pretty much never release on the weekend.

[mb]

The lower Buffalo is slow and shallow this time of year, but the scenery is pretty good. I still enjoy making a lazy day of it--usually by myself---in the summer. My responsibilities are very limited during those times...quite enjoyable.