#paddling
Floating the Illinois River in NE Oklahoma
AR Own Backyard is an Arkansas Outdoors site, so I try to keep the subject matter limited to Arkansas destinations. But the “Backyard” part is subjective, right? Crossing an hour over state lines still counts as our backyard, doesn’t it? Well, when you want to float during dry season, you do what you have to do. So mid-September of 2022 we crossed the state line to try floating the Illinois River in NE Oklahoma. The Illinois River is a spring-fed river that starts in Arkansas and flows into Oklahoma. In addition to the Spring and Eleven Point Rivers, it’s one of the few spring-fed options we have. And it’s the only one I had not floated yet. So why Oklahoma? Simply because that’s where my crew wanted to go and they planned the trip. But I’m glad we...
Swinging Bridge to Lobo Landing on the Little Red River
Another hot dry Arkansas summer has once again forced me to look for some new paddling alternatives. (New to me, that is). There are some good dry season float alternatives out there, and I have been able to check several of them off my list. Most recently, we visited Heber Springs to float Swinging Bridge to Lobo Landing on the Little Red River. The Little Red had been on my float list for quite a while, and it did not disappoint. In the hottest, driest part of Summer, this float is really hard to beat. This section of the Little Red River is below the dam that creates Greers Ferry Lake. I’ve done some other dam-fed floats before such as the Little Missouri and the lower Ouachita River . Those are great dry season options too. But Swinging Bridge to Lobo Landing on the Little Red Ri...
Dalton to Shanty On the Eleven Point River
In the dog days of Summer, all the popular floating rivers in Arkansas tend to dry up and become too low to float. Sometimes we get lucky with some Summer showers. But by July, it is usually hard to find fun rivers that are floatable. However, there are some good solutions to this problem. Dam-fed floats like the lower Ouachita or Little Red River are good options as long as the dams are generating. Spring-fed rivers are an even more reliable option. So this summer, we made a visit to the Ozark foothills of Northeast Arkansas to float Dalton to Shanty on the Eleven Point River. This would be our second visit to the Eleven Point River. Late last Summer, we did the short float that local outfitter, Trukees Canoe and Cabin Rental, calls “The Cruiser”. You can read about that float...
Maumee to Rush on the Buffalo River – An Overnight Float
One of my favorite ways to experience the rivers in Arkansas is with an overnight float trip. I’ve done several of these, and my most recent overnighter was South Maumee to Rush on the Buffalo River. All of the lands bordering the Buffalo River are public lands owned by the National Park Service. This makes the Buffalo one of the few rivers in Arkansas where you can camp almost anywhere along the entire river. Maumee to Rush is located on the lower Buffalo, making it floatable – usually – well into July. I love overnight floats because I don’t have to worry about the campgrounds filling up or trying to find a site. I don’t have to worry about getting off the river at a certain time to catch a shuttle. And when I do come off the river I don’t have to driv...
Floating North Sylamore Creek – Blanchard Springs to White River
One of my favorite things about doing a new hike, bike, or float is the surprise element. And the best surprise is when I finish it and have a new favorite. Floating North Sylamore Creek from Blanchard Springs to the White River was one of those occasions. I’m not saying it is my number one favorite, but it definitely lands securely in my top five. I knew it would be pretty good, but I had no idea of what this river really had in store for us. To say that I was pleasantly surprised would be a massive understatement. Floating North Sylamore Creek has been on my to-do list for quite some time. The problem is that it’s not an easy float to plan for. This creek drains really fast, so you have to hit it at just the right time to have a good float. Since I mostly have to float on the...
Marble to Marshall Ford on the Kings River
We are so fortunate here in Arkansas to have so many beautiful rivers to float, fish, and hike on. If your goal is to float them all, it can take a while to get to some of them. Especially when you have some favorite floats that are hard to stray from! The Kings River is one that’s been on my list for a while. But due to distance (and competing rivers), it has eluded my paddle for years. So this year, I made the Kings River my top priority. But my buddies and I weren’t satisfied with just any section of the river. We wanted the best water and most scenic. So my 2022 float season started with a float from Marble to Marshall Ford on the Kings River I recruited two of my best buddies, Eric and Neil to join me on this one. We were going to camp, but with rain in the forecast that S...
Floating the Eleven Point River in Arkansas
July and August in Arkansas can be brutally dry sometimes. And that makes it really tough for river floating around here. 2021 Summer was especially bad, with the dry season extending well into late September. We can usually find a dam-fed river to float, but even some of those have been generating less water lately. So what does that leave us with? Spring-fed rivers. There is the Spring River near Hardy. It’s a fun river if you like to party, but it does get really crowded and rowdy on the weekends. I actually like the river, but I’m over the crowds there. A while back my brother asked me, what about floating the Eleven Point River in Arkansas? The Eleven Point? In Arkansas? Maybe I’m the only one, but until recently, I didn’...
Middle Fork Little Red River Float
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my first time to float the Cove Creek run on Cadron Creek. It was not the first new float for me this year. Actually, all my floats this year have been new ones for me. One of the latest was in June, where we floated the Middle Fork Little Red River. This is a float that I’ve had my eye on for a while. For me, the first challenge is finding a weekend when my float friends are free to do a new float. But the biggest challenge for this river is hitting it at just the right level. And boy did we! For this trip, we lucked out getting the perfect water level on a day we could go. More on that later. We shuttled with Little Red River Outfitters* to do the 10-mile float from Lydalisk to Shirley. Let me just tell you, this float is a hidden gem that is not...
Floating the Cove Creek run on Cadron Creek
The 2021 float season has been a good one so far. Planning has been a challenge at times but I’ve managed to paddle a lot of new water this year. This Spring, I made my first floats down Kyle’s Landing to Ozark on the Buffalo, and Norman to Caddo Gap on the Caddo River. And in May I finally got to float the Cove Creek run on Cadron Creek. (This is Hwy 65 to Hwy 285). This one had been on my list for a while since floating the section upriver from it many years ago. I’ve always heard this is a nice float, but the scenery and the river completely exceeded my expectations that day. Floating the Cove Creek run on Cadron Creek is really convenient for folks in Central Arkansas and the Ozark foothills. It’s only a half hour north of Conway and easy to self-shuttle. I̵...
Norman to Caddo Gap on the Caddo River
The 2021 Spring has been a crazy float season in Arkansas so far. The rain has been even more unpredictable than usual. I’ve cancelled more floats this year than ever due to water being either too high or too low because of the crazy rain. We’ve even had some cold weather all the way into mid-May! This can be frustrating, but it also presents opportunities to float sections of rivers that are rarely floatable. One of those sections I finally got to float this Spring was Norman to Caddo Gap on the Caddo River. I have made countless Caddo floats from Caddo Gap down to Glenwood.. And it’s till my favorite float on the Caddo so far. But I like to float as many different sections of rivers as I can. So when Norman to Caddo Gap on the Caddo River was finally floatable on a day ...
Floating Kyle’s Landing to Ozark on the Buffalo River
Spring is here and it’s time to float the upper portion of your favorite rivers. This year, my first float trip was Kyle’s Landing to Ozark on the Buffalo River. I usually make it a point to float Ponca to Kyle’s Landing every year. But I’m on a mission to float all the sections of the Buffalo I haven’t done yet, along with some new rivers. So floating this section on the Upper Buffalo was a top priority. It will likely be too low to float by mid-June, so you’ve got to get it while you can! We had a perfect Saturday for floating the last weekend of March. The area had gotten some good rain that week and the river was really high that Friday. But the Upper Buffalo drains off quickly, and by Saturday the water level was just right. Combine that with a sunn...
Wolf Pen to Byrd’s on the Mulberry River
Folks, we have had some really good (and rare) late-summer floating opportunities this year. I have written several times about taking advantage of the prime floating conditions of Spring and early Summer. One of the spots this really applies to is the run from Wolf Pen to Byrd’s on the Mulberry River. I missed my chance early in the summer. But thanks to all the rain from the hurricanes, I got a rare late-summer chance to float this section of river on Labor Day weekend. I have stated in a previous article that High Bank to Byrd’s was one of my favorite floats in the state. Well, I’m adding 4 miles to that run and saying Wolf Pen to Byrd’s is now one of my favorites! Not only did we catch it when it was runnable – it was actually high. If you’re lucky e...
