#paddleboard
Exploring Bluffton Preserve – A Natural Gem in the Southern Ozarks
Tucked away in a beautiful valley just six miles north of Clinton in the southern Ozarks lies the Bluffton Preserve Nature Area. This is another natural area managed by the Nature Conservancy. Through the help of generous donors, the Nature Conservancy is the same group responsible for bringing us other wonderful recreational areas like Rattlesnake Ridge and Blue Mountain. While exploring Bluffton Preserve, I immediately realized this place is an outdoors treasure chest. There are professionally built trails for mountain biking, hiking, and backpack camping. Four miles of the Archey Fork Little Red River flows right through the area, with an access point for launching canoes and kayaks. This picturesque stream provides swimming holes, fishing, and a beautiful backdrop for hiking and observ...
Greer Crossing to Whitten on the Eleven Point River
Every Summer when the temperature rises and the rainfall stops, the hunt for floatable rivers begins. We have had some great floats on dam-fed gems like the Little Red River and Lower Ouachita River. And for the last two Summers, we’ve really enjoyed the spring-fed Eleven Point River near Pocahontas in Northeast Arkansas. But I’ve always heard the Eleven Point is also really nice further upriver into Missouri. So we recently ventured into the Show-me State to check it out. To ensure the flow would be good, we decided on floating Greer Crossing to Whitten on the Eleven Point River, and it did not disappoint. The Eleven Point is one of the three major floating rivers in the Mark Twain National Forest of Southern Missouri. All three are spring-fed and in close proximity of each ot...
Floating Rush Landing to the White on the Buffalo River
The Buffalo National River offers a unique wilderness experience for millions of hikers and paddlers every year. This natural playground of the Ozarks attracts visitors from all over to experience the thrill and beauty of its many scenic floats. But for those seeking ultimate tranquility, solitude and stunning scenery, the Lower Buffalo Wilderness offers a true escape. Floating Rush Landing to the White on the Buffalo River is a 25-mile float that delves into the heart of the Ozarks. This remote stretch of the river provides a glimpse of a world mostly untouched by civilization. Floating Rush Landing to the White on the Buffalo River has been on my adventure to-do list for years. After bad weather spoiled our plans for this float in 2023, my buddies and I were determined to try again. With...
Cow Shoals to Swinging Bridge on the Little Red River
For many people in Arkansas, the hot temperatures and dry rivers of mid-Summer mean the end of float season. But that doesn’t have to be the case. That’s right, there are other float options out there that do not rely on rainfall. There are spring-fed rivers like the Eleven Point River and the Illinois River. And there are dam-fed floats like the Little Missouri, Lower Ouachita, and Little Red. Last Summer we made our first trip down the Little Red when we floated Swinging Bridge to Lobo Landing. To beat the heat this year, we went upriver to float Cow Shoals to Swinging Bridge on the Little Red River. Quick Glance Distance: Approximately 4.5 miles Difficulty: Easy Cow Shoals Access Coordinates: 35.513393, -91.929978 Swinging Bridge Access (Barnett Park) Coordinates: 35.489656,...
Long Pool to Hwy 164 on Big Piney Creek
There are certain floats in Arkansas that have a very short window of opportunity for floating. You have to catch these floats during prime float season, and often within days of a good rain. Floats like North Sylamore Creek, or Helton’s to Long Pool on Big Piney Creek are good examples. Big Piney Creek is one of my favorites, and I think a very underrated float river in Arkansas. And although the window of opportunity is often short, there is a section that’s a little more forgiving. Of course I’m talking about Long Pool to Hwy 164 on Big Piney Creek. Long Pool to Hwy 164 on Big Piney Creek is a float that I have done many times. You might also see it called Long Pool to Moore’s, or Long Pool to Twin Bridges. I like it for several reasons. One, it has some really f...
Grinder’s Ferry to South Maumee on the Buffalo River
As float season gets underway, the businesses along Hwy 65 between Marshall and St. Joe are getting into their busy season. Paddlers of all kinds will flock to this beloved area by the thousands for a fun day on the Buffalo River. A majority of folks floating in this area will do Tyler Bend or Grinder’s Ferry to Gilbert. It’s one of the most popular sections of the Buffalo due the ease of shuttling. But what does the Buffalo River look like after Gilbert? The next take-out after that is Maumee, and most people never see this 12-mile section. It’s been one of the few sections of the Buffalo left on my to-do list. So to start the 2023 float season, we did an overnight float from Grinder’s Ferry to South Maumee. You may be asking, “What’s the deal with this...
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...
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...
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...
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 and Fishing on the Upper Ouachita
For the past two summers, I have joined up with my paddling friends in Hot Springs to go floating and fishing on the Upper Ouachita River. I have written about floating the Lower Ouachita before. Even though this is the same river, it’s an entirely different float. What I call the Lower Ouachita runs from out of Lake Catherine down to Malvern and beyond. But what I call the Upper Ouachita is the western portion of that same river, running into Lake Ouachita. The Upper Ouachita is very different from the Lower because it is not fed by a lake. So the water level gets pretty low. I really don’t recommend this river in mid-summer for anyone looking for a fun float with good flow. But I DO recommend it for anyone looking for a place to float and fish. It is great river to catch some...
