Arkansas Canoe Club Forums

Hi,

I just joined the club and just moved to the area. I live in Lawton, OK so I am a bit of a drive from Arkansas, but close enough to make some weekend trips. I moved from the east coast and like to do Class III kayaking and some canoeing as well (class II and below).

I have a few questions. First, I assume that you are more of a whitewater club and that most in the club are kayakers. Do you also do canoe trips such as multi-day river trips?

I assume that the vast majority of your trips are on rivers that are rain-dependent. Do you have any rivers you paddle that are dam-release rivers?

Given the long drive to the Arkansas border, I would be most interested in making a trip out for an entire weekend where I could get a couple of days of paddling in and ones that are planned with enough lead time to arrange my calendar (I am in the Army and taking time off usually requires a good bit of advance notice). This is obviously a lot easier to do with trips on rivers that have scheduled dam releases. I assume though, that most of the whitewater rivers and creeks in west Arkansas are only up after a rain and that they rise and fall pretty quickly it hard to plan trips very far in advance.

Thanks so much for your help!

Matt

Check out the Spring River for year round dependability, but as for the planning....most of us usually just load up the night before with a few favorite run options in mind, and then check gages and such before hitting the road. Also check into Tom Kennons book, A canoeing and kayaking guide to the Ozarks. Its like a holy book no shuttle vehicle should be without.

Try this as well:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/354832001204526/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

you might look into the mountain Fork below Broken Bow lake in SE OK, they release water there.

Howdy and welcome to the Ozarks.
Here is a great web page: http://www.ozarkpages.com/cgi-bin/stages.pl?ST=level" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
you will see all the Ar. river levels here and you can click on name for descriptions.
Yes, most of our runs are rain dependent, but we have a few "no rain" places tucked away here and there
Wister Wave near Panama, OK on the poteau river is a park and play spot ( dam release)
Fishers Ford is one of your closest park and play spots. Another Park and play spot is Trigger Gap on the Kings River, just south of eureka springs, and RockPort is good this time of year as it is a dam release. The Big Piney is good for holding it's level, day's after a rain. The spring river is a ways away but always runnable, class I & II a few small surfing spots and eddylines for squirts. you can do it in any boat. rec or ww
For Canoeing I like the Buffalo River, our crown jewel and Americas 1st. National Scenic River. Great scenery, history and lots of sidetrip options to log cabins, waterfalls, caves.... It's 125 miles long from Ponca to the White River with access points every 6 to 12 miles or so. I just got back from a Pruiit to Tyler Bend trip ( 42 mi.) and it was great! supposed to be a 3 day trip but did it in 2. I had planned to go another 30 miles to Buffalo Point, but had to take out early because that section had been closed while they searched for the body of a kc man who drowned.
and the Kings river is also a great float stream and good fishing. The Upper Buffalo is often too low to run in the summer but the lower is usually runnable all year. You will also like the Cossatot River ( S.W. Ar.)
These are just a few off the top of my head. You will learn plenty from the ozarkpages page, and if you have any questions, just come on here and ask, we are a pretty friendly bunch.
Right now is a great time to do the Upper Buffalo! good level and good weather.
Hope this helps, and let me speak for many others here who would like to thank you for your service, you are a patriot !!