Arkansas Canoe Club Forums

Hi all! Hoping to get a little last minute advice. This will be my first kayak trip and I want it to be great. I have planned a trip to the buffalo river in Arkansas for a 3 day kayaking/fishing/camping adventure and we're leaving on Thursday... I have a few questions for people in this region or are familiar with this river.

1. How far can you travel down river at a leisurely pace? We would like to see as much of the river as possible but do not want to kill ourselves either. Which leads me to my next two questions...

2. Where is the best place to launch? Where would you launch if you had 3 days?

3. I have heard recently that parts of the river are dried up and are not able to be passed in a kayak. I have contacted some outfitters and Im not sure I can completely trust them since they are trying to sell their services. This will be about a 7-8 hr drive from where I live and would hate to get up there and the trip be a bust due to low water levels.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Richard is one of our resident Buffalo River experts, so I'll let him answer most of your questions.

To help him give the best possible answers, I have some questions for you:

1) Are you renting, or bringing your own kayaks? (Knowing the kayak model you will be using makes a little bit of difference on how many miles is an "easy" day.)

2) DId you mean you are wanting to camp on the river overnight, or did you plan to "car camp" in the area and then take 3 one-day trips?

3) If camping out of the boat, have you kayak-camped before? Camping from a kayak is similar to backpacking, and requires a little bit more care in planning than canoe camping, because canoes make it easier to carry bulky loads...

Honestly, at the current river levels there's no way I'd drive 7-8 hours to paddle the Buffalo. If you decide to give it a go, however, the lower section from Rush to the White River ~25 miles) is the only part worth considering and even it's a foot lower than what I'd bother with.

1. I purchased one a perception sport pescador 12'.

2. Yes, I would like to camp on the river as we go.

3. I have never kayak camped before. I have everything I think I need in a 65 liter backpack.

1 person tent (fits in the back pack)
Bed roll
fishing pole and small tackle
3 MRE (just in case we don't catch anything)
Knife and eating utensils
Waterproof flashlight
Magnesium firestarter
First aid kit
Water purifier
Flask

I might have forgot a couple things. I'm open to sugestions too.

Is there a better river within an 8 hr drive from Dallas that we should consider instead??

That is abot the minimal amount of gear I'd take.

You can trust the local outfitters.

The Harriet gage reads 2.39. I've gone as low as 2.2 with very minimal drag. I had about the max amount of gear and supplies possible BUT was in a canoe and picked my spots real carefully as not to have to drag much.

There are better rivers for paddling and car camping, but there's only 1 buffalo.

If you do have to drag some here and there it will probably feel good to get into the water.

I agree with Half Ton. Come on up, but don't bother with any reach but the lower. As long as you have an open mind (sounds like you've got that covered already) and are prepared to drag some you'll be fine. There was another Texan (Houston area I think) who drove up in June to do the lower and he had a good time (except for being besieged by a pair of very persistent raccoons). Search this section for his thread and you'll get a good idea of what to expect as it was at this level then. Good luck.

I agree with John and Luke. The Harriet gauge is the one at the Hwy. 14 bridge just upriver from Buffalo Point: http://ar.water.usgs.gov/buffaloriver/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Even when low, you can get through there with some stepping out of the boat, but the pools are all full and great. Such clear, cool water. I bet you can put in slightly upstream of the Harriet gauge, say at Maumee and get a 3 day trip in. The outfitters will take your vehicle down to the White River.
More water would be great and you might choose to come another time. Just check the gauges.

The current, the jacks fork, and the eleven point are all good to go due to the fact that they are spring fed. They are all in southern MO. The jacks fork and the current can get a little packed some times, but they are nice rivers. Not the Buffalo, but still good.
Just some options.

We were on the Jack's Fork (Alley Spring to Eminence) back in late May and it was low enough that we scraped thru some of the shoals. One of the locals said he had never seen it that low. We did the Current (Aker's Ferry to Pulltite) the next day and it was much better. Plent of water and moving right along too. Talk about your nice cool water. Would love to go back when the weather cools off.

AR-Nimrod wrote: Would love to go back when the weather cools off.

Little Deuce and I want in on that fo sho. Trike, I really like this page for Buffalo levels. There's no shortage of access to the gauges, but this one is nice because it links to them all and provides the recommendations all in one place. http://www.troop142bsa.org/buffalo_national_river.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; I noticed your post over on Pnet, and the advice about backing into how much river you'll be able to see is sound because it really does depend on your average speed. However, in this case the reality is if you want to see anything above Maumee it'll have to be on foot. The good news is there's plenty of river below Maumee.

trike wrote:1. I purchased one a perception sport pescador 12'.

2. Yes, I would like to camp on the river as we go.

3. I have never kayak camped before. I have everything I think I need in a 65 liter backpack.

1 person tent (fits in the back pack)
Bed roll
fishing pole and small tackle
3 MRE (just in case we don't catch anything)
Knife and eating utensils
Waterproof flashlight
Magnesium firestarter
First aid kit
Water purifier
Flask

I might have forgot a couple things. I'm open to sugestions too.

I think it's good for sports adventure and bring my hunting knife.

SPAM SIGNATURE LINK HAS BEEN DELETED, USER BANNED

Seven of us ran Rush to Ship's Ferry weekend before last.
VERY low water. It was a push to get down in expected time.
We had to push to keep 2 mph.
Allow yourself plenty of time and don't go above Rush.

Maybe it goes without saying but you have stated all your
gear fits in a backpack. Don't wear a pack while paddling.
Spread Your gear out to distribute the weight.
Have fun.

Before Chrisjane's comment, this thread had been silent for a couple of months.

Paddledog has posted some more recent information, but I just wanted to caution readers that relative to water level information for the Buffalo, only the info posted by Paddledog is current information, the first part of this thread is way out of date.

Cowper wrote:Before Chrisjane's comment, this thread had been silent for a couple of months.

Paddledog has posted some more recent information, but I just wanted to caution readers that relative to water level information for the Buffalo, only the info posted by Paddledog is current information, the first part of this thread is way out of date.

I imagine Chrisjane is busy using his hunting knife to cut spam.