If the Buff ever gets 2+ feet of water at Ponca, I’ll be canoeing & fishing a very loose itinerary to Gilbert. Anyone intetested?
Two feet on the Ponca gauge is equivalent to only 30 cubic feet per second. That is really, really low.
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Yup. Id prefer 3+, but may have to take what i can get.
Seems like i know you
Like years ago on the Current with Texas Lady, Terry & his wife The Bob, etc?
Yes, I was there.
Yup, We’ve met. Look forward to a reunion.
You might want to check out the thread in the “Going Paddling” subforum titled “Ozark Fall Rendezvous”. We had pretty good water on the upper Buffalo the first week in May during the Ozark Spring Rendezvous.
It’ll be a last minute decision if i go. Am currently looking at enjoying the fall colors in the BWCA fron Oct 20 - 30. That would be a tad tight commute. Doable, but tight.
Should the BWCA not pan out… your trip down the Current following the rendezvous sounds most interestimg.
Snarvol,
My wife and I are still paddling…
Bob aka “TheBob”
Bob, you havent shrunk an inch. i do remember your paddling a white Mohawk. I watched you peel out from an eddie with classic form & realized that you had acquired some serious skills somewhere. It’ll be good to see you again should i got to Pultite.
Where would be a good put in & take out for a decent length trip on the Current. I do need to get a decent map of the river.
Below is a link to the National Park Service website for the Ozark National Scenic Riverways that has a map that you can enlarge and pan around. The same map is available on folded paper at the ONSR Visitor Center and most of the NPS campgrounds on the Current River. The map shows the major access points and an estimate of river mileage.
A much better map is the National Geographic Trails Illustrated “Ozark” map. It is on water resistant paper and a much larger scale. You can find it on Amazon and elsewhere. It is worth the price if you plan to do much paddling on the Current River and the Jacks Fork. It does not cover the Eleven Point, unfortunately.
In the drier months you generally can’t put on the Current above Cedargrove, or at least you probably don’t want to in a loaded canoe. You can generally always put in at Cedargrove year round but might scrape in a few places the first five miles in drier months. Below Cedargrove you can paddle as far down the Current as you like, into Arkansas if you wish.
You will start to run into motorized traffic below Round Spring. Jet boats can be numerous below Round Spring on Summer weekends. Rental and private paddle craft can be very numerous above Round Spring on Summer weekends.
I don’t fish but the upper Current above Akers Ferry has the coldest water and is best for trout. Farther down small mouth are more common. I have read that the fishing is worst between Akers Ferry and Pulltite.
I’m not sure how many river miles you would consider a decent length trip. Ponca to Gilbert on the Buffalo is 71 miles. If you put in at Cedargrove on the Current a take out at Logyard would entail a 61 mile trip, to Waymeyer would be about 70 miles, to Van Buren about 77 miles, to Big Spring about 81 miles. If the water is high enough you could put in at Baptist Camp which is not quite 6 1/2 miles upstream of Cedargrove. The Current tends to have more sustained current than the Buffalo at least in the upper stretches, so on average you can move a bit faster if you want.
Excellent reply, thanks. I’ll order the maps. I don’t know anything of the 11 point except that folks like yourself enjoy it. I’d be looking for that & other rivers of interest in Mo - Ar.
In 2011everything i owned burned up in a prairie fire that took out 55 buildings in the area so i took a 10 year break from canoeing & just returned last year although i fished for years from a kayak on Toledo Bend Reservoir where i lived part time when not working. I missed canoeing rivers although now at 78 yearsof age I portage class 3 rapids.
Someone at the last Rendezvous i attended years ago paddled a Nighthawk (?) of interesting and somewhat “different” canoe configuration. Was that you?
As to length of trips… Part of my history has been as a wilderness tipper in northern canada for a month to 6 weeks+ at a time. Also most of the rivers in Texas, but those mainly as day trips. I enjoy solitude and the company of 1 or 2 other easy going but experienced folks. That also can make ferrying vehicles a lot less expensive. I was contemplating tripping on the Porcupine River of Northern Saskatchewan this summer but with the devaluation of the dollar, the cost of flying canoes & camp in & out of remote areas has become prohibitive.
Probably like yourself, i tolerate boat traffic but don’t care for it.
It would take a day for me to get to the Current or Buffalo so a few days of paddling & fishing would we a nice contemplation.
I can’t seem to find a way to get to our bio’s on this p-com as we could on P-net (which i liked a lot more and it wasnt so invasive of our privacy). Can it be done or is that access not available on this site?.
Again, thanks for the reply.
It looks like a trip to Van Buren or Big Spring would give a good appreciation of the Current River without too much other traffic. I didnt realize the current was floatable for that number of miles. Your replies are both interesting & informative.- Thanks.
No I never had a Nighthawk or any other Blackhawk canoe. That was probably Bob G. or possibly Pat C.
Best times to paddle the Current River, Jacks Fork, or Eleven Point are in the Spring and Fall to avoid the crowds, or Winter if you are cold tolerant. The Eleven Point tends to attract fewer crowds and motor boats than the ONSR rivers. The upper Jacks Fork is the best part of the ONSR IMO but usually only has sufficient water in the Spring.
The best time to paddle the Buffalo National River is in the Spring, as you undoubtedly know. A really spectacular multi-day down river trip is on the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River from Leatherwood Ford to Blue Heron Mine or a bit farther.
If you are interested in trying to arrange a downriver trip in the ONSR or on the Eleven Point or Buffalo send me a PM.
Will do. Haven’t figured this site out yet for Bio’s, PM’s etc. I still have the P-Net mentlity. Really liked that site. This one would be good, but i resent the mining of personal info. Granted it’s ubiquitous, like jet boats, but ya don’t gotta like it. So how does one PM here?
Left click on the username of the person you want to send a message to. A pop up box should appear with a blue “Message” tab in the upper right corner.
Cool. Ill do that.
Oops, can’t find a left click app on this android phone…but I’m looking.
Just tap the persons icon.