Looking for good Tandem locations

[meeotch]

Hello there! My wife and I just got a 12' Tandem Kayak. Nothing fancy, but we love it. I'm looking for some locations that would be nice for us to try. This is a sit-on-top and we're not looking for whitewater, but I think light rapids would be ok. Obviously, I know any lakes are options, but I was wondering if there are any river locations that may be suitable for us, when going by ourselves. This past weekend, we went up to a public access beach (Buford) in Hardy, and paddled upstream for awhile then back to our starting location. It was great, and the water felt amazing in this heat. I'd love to know other places like that where we could try. Especially something closer to Central Arkansas. Even somewhere with a reasonably priced shuttle sercice would be ok. I had also read about the Dragover location. We drove up there, but it was too low. We went out on the lake instead. I'd appreciate any suggestions, and if anyone is in the same scenario and wants to hook up for shuttling, let me know.

Thanks,
Mitch

[tomOzarkVideo]

Ouachita river from Remmel to Rockport is a good section when the dam releases.

Release info can be found here:

http://entergy.com/operations_informati ... eases.aspx

[RiverRummer]

I like dam3 to spring river oaks on the Spring river, if your in one car, any of those campgrounds will shuttle you up for a fee. You'll have more places to go if you take two cars so you can run your own shuttle.
where do you live? The upper Buffalo is a favorite of many, but usually too low this time of year. The Lower Buffalo is always float able. There are good stretches on the Kings River just south of eureka springs, and Ernie at Kings River Outfitters can shuttle you if needed. once you get more comfortable you might even like the Mulberry or the Big Piney.
if you get into Missouri there's some good floating on Bryant Creek and the North Fork of the White River, just east of Gainesville, Mo. and then there's the Current River and Jack's Fork and the 11 point rivers just east of west plains mo. plenty of outfitters to shuttle you.
it won't be long before it's too cold for sit on tops and you might start looking at sit in kayaks to extend your paddling season. I usually recommend two singles versus one tandem. you can paddle side by side and not look at the back of your front seat person all day, and that person won't be constantly twisting around to talk to you. then if one of you decides to go when the other one can't, you can paddle the single easier than paddle a tandem solo.
This time of year, we don't have a lot of choices. The Spring River is where I go the most this time of year...... waiting for the fall rain to have more places to go.
when we can't get our river fix here, we go to North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, or out West to Colorado...While we go for whitewater, there are slower streams around too and they just opened up the upper chattooga for paddling up above section 3. absolutely beautiful scenery up there!

[Cowper]

Number one, I agree with Tom, Remmel to Rockport, at least through August. Guaranteed recreational releases (Sat + Sun) until Labor Day. We'll be doing that Aug 12, if you're off during the week, just posted in the "Trips" forum. Someone does it every weekend.

Scenery: Little Maumelle. Start at the Pinnacle Mountain State Park. If you have two cars, you can spot one downstream at 15401 Burnett Rd Little Rock, AR 72223 but remember to put $5 in the drop box. If you want to go in one car, just paddle downstream (to left if water is not flowing at the boat ramp) and then expect to have to wade it back upstream at two of the shallow places. There are two boat ramps, I'm talking about the one at the end of the main parking lot where most people park to start a hike up Pinnacle. Or to be precise, the one at N34.83865 W92.4912

Other: Lower Buffalo River. Check with more than one outfitter; typically prices for shuttles vary considerably based on where their center of operations is relative to the section you want to float.

There are other nice places, but most have dried up now.

[BEubanks]

Caddo River at Caddo Valley down to Arkadelphia is always doable in summer, though better for morning since level gets highs in afternoons with release from DeGray dam. Or a shorter section from the lower dam access to Caddo Valley. This is about two miles. CV to Arkadelphia is about seven. One hour from Little Rock.

[Jim Krueger]

On the Remmel Dam to Rockport float on the Ouachita River, there are often ACC members posting trips on the weekends, or sometimes on weekdays as Cowper's trip over there yesterday was. In those cases, you just need to chime-in early if you'd like to join in a trip. If you should need an outfitter shuttle, Saline River Canoe outfitter is operating there on the weekends currently.
On the Lower Caddo River near Arkadelphia, River Rats Outfitter there at Caddo Valley is currently operating seven days a week. You can look either outfitter up on the net for contact numbers, etc.

Best Regards
Jim

[meeotch]

Awesome suggestions! Thanks so much for the info. I am from Little Rock, btw. We did try Remmel to Rockport this past Sunday, and I loved it! It was perfect for our tandem kayak. We even got a little excitement on that last rapid before takeout. The water felt amazing. I can't believe that's been so close to me all these years, and I didn't realize it. I plan on trying several other places soon, and will keep an eye out in the trips section. I think I'd like to try the Little Maumelle and Saline River next. Those look interesting. Thanks again!