Ozarks Canoe Camping

Participants:  Chip Campbell, Gary Gurkin  (Author of report)

 

Back in 1991 I was driving out west to spend 2 weeks in Colorado and Utah when I stopped at the Buffalo River in Arkansas to take a break.  At the time I thought 'This is a nice looking river, I need to run it sometime'.

 

Well it took me 23 years but I finally got around to doing it earlier this month.  The trip was supposed to be in early May but a variety of work conflicts pushed it to this month.  (I do recommend doing it in May or even April.  The one negative of the trip was that it was oppressively hot and humid.)  Also, Robert Martin was supposed to go with us but he had to cancel due to a medical issue at the last moment.  (literally, he was on the way there when the issue arose)

 

We started by meeting up at Round Spring Campground near Eminence, Missouri on Saturday.  I got there about 2 pm and piddled around the rest of the day; Chip pulled in aboutmidnight. 

 

On Sunday we had wanted to do the Jacks Fork river but it was too low so instead we did the Current river from Akers Ferry to Pulltite, a 10 mile trip.  The Current was the 1st national riverway in the US and is mainly spring fed so it runs pretty much year round.  Nice river, not something I'd drive all the way to Missouri for but worth doing.  The highlight was towards the end where you come to Spring Cave which is a good sized cave you can paddle into where the water is about 150 feet deep.  After we finished we drove down to the Eleven Point river near Alton, Mo and stayed at Greer Crossing campground, which was our put in the next day for an overnighter on the Eleven Point.  The road between Eminence and Alton, highway 19, is the most roller coaster road  I think I've ever driven on. 

 

The Eleven Point is hard to describe, it has a very unique look and feel.  Also primarily spring fed, it has crystal clear water, lots of critters, lots of songbirds and the most butterflies I've ever seen.  Nothing on it is more than an easy class 2 but the current is constant.  On Monday we covered 12 miles in 4 hours despite a very leisurely pace.  I love a river that does the work for you.  We stayed that night at the White Creek float camp, which we had to ourselves.  (in the Ozarks you don't go paddling or boating, you go floating)  Tuesday we did the remaining 7 miles to our takeout at Riverton.  Then we drove about 3 hours to the Buffalo in Arkansas where we stayed for 2 nights at Steel Creek campground.  This was a very scenic spot.  The campground is one large open field with the scenery dominated by Roark Bluff which runs the length of the campground on the far side of the river.

 

The next day we took a break from paddling and hiked the Lost Valley trail.  Very cool, with a natural bridge, huge cave and Eden Falls all within 1 mile.  You can also climb to the top of the falls where there is another cave, but it was just too hot for us to be up for that.  At dusk we drove along the Boxley Valley to check out the elk herd there.

 

For the next 2 days we had hoped to put on the Buffalo at Ponca and run down to Carver, which would have been about 30 miles.  But the water was too low for a Ponca put in so we did the bottom half of that and put in at the generically named Ozark campground.  Again we had crystal water, not too much boat traffic, and neat bluffs around just about every corner.  We camped on a gravel bar across from Welch Bluff which is both very colorful and has an interesting vertical fault caused by the downstream part of the bluff dropping 200 feet in days long gone by. 

 

The next day we were just starting to pack up when a T-storm came in which we decided to wait out.  Two hours later it finally stopped so we finished packing just in time for the big one.  I mean the mother of all t-storms.  There was constant lightning, 3 to 4 foot waves whipping up first going upstream, then downstream, limbs flying around everywhere, a tree across the river from us being toppled over and the tiny feeder creek near us turning into a muddy raging torrent.  Pretty awesome display which finally ended and we were able to finish up.

 

Overall some of the best canoe camping I've ever done.  It definitely won't be 23 years before I hit it again.
         

Gary W. Gurkin, Cary North Carolina
Email:  gwgurkin@gmail.com