Arkansas Canoe Club Forums

With the creeks drying up fast I am thinking about other floats that will keep running. It has been a few years since I've floated the Spring but the last couple times I had floated there it had really gotten out of hand. I am no prude by any means but the beer pong table set up within 10' of my hammock at 1am, a guy getting beat up with a 2x4, the two rafts tied together with a PA system playing music with a guy narrating the river that could be heard .5 miles either direction, and the swingers on the side of the river that were.... I'll leave it at that. I regularly overload my canoe with beer and head down the river with old friends but I am wondering if it has chilled enough for a relaxing float.

i know many islands is a wild place to camp, not sure if there is a better place or not but I know I have started floating down stream from many islands for a lot less people, not as fast but a great trip anyway and with a lot less people, a whole lot less, if you have your own boat you can arrange to have your truck moved if need be,

I grew up in Jonesboro and as such spent quite a bit of time on the Spring but hadn't been there as an adult (which I'm still not entirely according to Mrs. Deuce and others who know me) until I started attending the annual paddling school there in June. I think if you went back you'd find it to still be a party river but maybe not quite as obnoxious as it was years ago. It's not tame by any means, but I haven't seen any swinging or nudity in the five years I've been attending the school (granted that's only one weekend a year). The floating band is still a thing but it's just kind of rowdy. We always camp at Riverside which isn't nearly as rough as Many Islands. It is what it is, a party river, but it sounds like it's calmed down a bit since you were there last. I don't think you'd regret giving it another shot provided you don't camp at MI.

Go mid-week. Avoid the weekend.