Arkansas Canoe Club Forums

i'm from vicksburg, ms and my brother is in memphis. we are looking to make a canoe trip in the western part of arkansas this summer and need ideas for a good 3 day/2 night canoe/camping trip on a scenic wilderness river. we'd like to keep it within 2-4 hours from memphis if possible.

anybody got ay suggestions?

Most rivers are kinda low in the dry summer.. wet times are ok. Hafta watch the levels. You have your boats or need rentals? You want to boat camp or do campgrounds?

Buffalo is crowded in the summer but easy as far as outfitters for rentals. Weekdays are nice. Also one of the best for camping on any gravel bar.. since it is a park. Most rivers You have to hit a campground and be aware of private property

Clif wrote:Most rivers are kinda low in the dry summer.. wet times are ok. Hafta watch the levels. You have your boats or need rentals? You want to boat camp or do campgrounds?

Buffalo is crowded in the summer but easy as far as outfitters for rentals. Weekdays are nice. Also one of the best for camping on any gravel bar.. since it is a park. Most rivers You have to hit a campground and be aware of private property

we will have our own canoe and would prefer boat camp rather than campgrounds.

Buffy or Current.

Not to be a smartass, but my suggestion would be...Missouri. While you MIGHT luck out and have some water particularly in the lower Buffalo (which would be closer to Memphis), it would be good to at least have a back up plan which would be the Current River up in Missouri. That is spring fed and you could easily put together a nice 3 day river camping trip there even if all other rivers are too low.

And if the rain gods smile upon you and happen to pour a whole lotta rain into the Buffy right before your trip, then you could maybe still do that. But already now that the trees are popping their leaves, just not as much rainfall will be reaching our rivers as all that greenery is sucking up the water!

River trips in Arkansas in summer are pretty hard to plan ahead for!

Also, the Current, while not in Arkansas, is within four hours of Memphis. Just hop on 63 and let it eat.

I love the Buffalo and the Current rivers, one thing to consider about the Current in summer is that it is very busy and very much party central......at least on weekends, during the week won't be so bad. Cedargrove to Roundspring is perfect for a 3 day 2 night trip. with time to stop and check out all the springs along the way.

Another river to think about is the Eleven Point in Missouri. From Greer Crossing to Riverton. A very pretty river but with fewer gravel bars to camp on, although they do have float camps positioned along the way.

The middle Buffalo is often floatable in summer and the lower is almost always floatable except in severe droughts. It too can be pretty busy on weekends.

Slow trip, lower Buffalo, Rush to the White seems to fit your parameters exactly.

I second the rush to the white. That would be a great 2 night 3 day trip. WIth pretty good fishing to boot.