NW Arkansas Family River suggestions

[kimberkoz]

Hello. I am a fellow canoe enthusiast from Michigan, travelling to Arkansas to visit family over Labor Day weekend.

My husband and I would love to plan a canoe outing with his brother, wife and their two daughers, ages 8 and 6. They, however, are not experieced paddlers and probably don't want to travel too far from their home, located in Rogers, near Bentonville.

Can anyone suggest a stretch of river that we could do a day trip on, somewhere where we could paddle, swim, stop for lunch and have a nice lazy day? A livery suggestion would also be nice.

We would even be open to staying the night in the region, but I know they would prefer not to travel too far -- no more than two hours by car.

Thanks for any suggestions!

[paddledog]

Here in Arkansas we are rain dependent for most of our rivers.
You are coming during one of the driest summers on record.
Your choices are very limited.
My best suggestion is the Illinois River just outside Siloam Springs, Arkansas.
There is an outfitter located on AR. Hwy. 59 just south of Siloam Springs.
I couldn't find a website from them but here is their contact page:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/arkansas-59-can ... am-springs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They can set up a shuttle for you and have a campground at the end of the run to
camp in.


Welcome to Arkansas
Don't tell anyone what you see here.
We are trying to keep it a secret.

[kimberkoz]

Thank you so much.

We have nice rivers in Michigan, but wow ... I can see we are missing a lot.

What about the Upper Buffalo River?? That looks amazing.

[tomOzarkVideo]

Well.. The upper buff is just a river bed right now.

One suggestion that I have for you is to check in: Pineville, MO on google maps for Three Rivers Campground. I would suggest running Big Sugar Creek if it's flowing. WAY less crowded than the illinois and it takes very little rain to get it running again.

If that's not running.. Then try the Illinois near Watts, Oklahoma.

Neither is more than an hour from Rogers.

[Cowper]

Things can change over the years, but last I knew the Illinois could be a place to avoid on weekends if you want a "family" experience. It is a very popular summer time "party" stream. Based on what we see on other rivers around the state, I can make some general statements which could be confirmed with the local outfitters:
1) Weekdays are much less crowded and more "family friendly".
2) Even weekends are becoming more "family friendly" after Labor Day, and get progressively more so as you get further from summer.

Do I think the Illinois is still a good recommendation and should remain high on your list? Yes, I do.