I’ll be driving from Atlanta to just west of St. Louis next week and will have some time to explore.
Does anyone have any favorite paddling rivers within a couple/three hours of St. Louis? Also, anywhere inbetween Atlanta and St. louis it would be worth diverting to. I paddle a fiberglass solo canoe so I probably would want to stay within Category II waters.
Any ideas would be appreciated.
It has been a while
since I lived in St. Louis, but heading south/west you can get to the Current, North Fork, and Ten Points rivers in ~3 hrs. Beautiful area with little or no develpoment along the rivers.
That would be…
That would be the Eleven Point River; not the Ten Points.
You are correct about the Current & the North Fork.
I would add the Jacks Fork, which is very close to the Current River.
All of them are in really nice condition right now.
BOB
Spring-fed w/Limestone bluffs n caves…
… sounds really good to me as described in the Places2paddle descriptions and photos.
Thank you for the relplies.
Anyone else have opinions on these or others?
Favorites out of those mentioned? Paricular full day runs to recommend?
Full day…
– Last Updated: May-18-06 9:58 PM EST –
If I were going to do a full day on the
Eleven Point; I'd put in at Greer Access(Mo Hwy 19)and take out at Riverton. (19 miles) I'd for sure stop at Turner's Mill & Boze Mill. I'd for sure use Hufstedler's Canoe rental at Riverton to run my shuttle for me.
If I were going to to do a full day on the Current; I'd put in at Cedar Grove & take out at Pulltite. (17 miles) I'd for sure stop at Medlock Spring & Welch Spring. If I arrived at take out early, I'd check out Pulltite Spring; just downstream of the Pulltite takeout. Might check with the outfitter at Akers Ferry for a shuttle.
If I were going to do a full day on the Jack's Fork; I'd put in at Blue Spring (Hwy OO) & take out at Alley Springs. (21 miles) I'd positively check out Jam Up Cave(on the right 3 miles below put in. At the takeout, I'd definitely check out Alley Springs & the old mill there.(right across the bridge from the takeout) (Mo Hwy 106).Several outfitters in Eminence, Mo. do Jacks Fork shuttles.
Can't recommend a particular outfitter for the Current or the Jacks Fork; I've never used any of them there.
Need more info.? Don't hesitate to ask, or email me.
BOB
P.S. All rivers mentioned have "great" photo ops.
All are clear, spring fed rivers.
"Ideally" done on a week day.
Wed Evening at Creve Coeur Lake
In St Louis County. Lots of Egrets occasional deer, it’s definitely an urban paddle. The County Parks Canoe and Kayak Club paddles every Wed about 5 till 7, mostly kayakers but all are welcome and you don’t need to be a member.
I could recommend a mild 8 mile trip on the Mississippi with no vehicle shuttle if your interested in that. Email if you want info and I’ll reply when I get back Monday.
Randy
Well
I always got out at the tenth point, not the eleventh, so ten points for me!!!
The web is so cool …
I wouldn’t have known who to call.
Thanks for the ideas and run suggestions.
I’ll pick one out after a little more thought on the matter. If anyone wants to push me into a particular river please do.
Also … Anywhere on the Atlanta side of St. Lou to break up the ride home? Ill be coming down I-57 and then across Tennessee on I-24. The hills are pretty big leaving the bread basket but I’d still like to stay within Class II waters.
Thanks again for sharing the knowledge.
I’m stoked.
Trip Report
Thanks to all who provided suggestions.
I was torn between the Current, the Jack’s Fork and Elevent Point rivers.
After talking my 70 year old mother and teenage nephew into coming along we chose the Current River because it would be the easiest and closest to St. Louis.
We stayed in Salem, MO at the Holiday Inn Express which was clean and comfortable. We paddled the Friday before Memorial Day which was a good move because there was little river traffic. In the summer I imagine the river is very crowded.
The Current River is part of the Ozark National Riverway and so has been wonderfully protected. The only structure we saw from the river on our 17 mile trip was a single old log home.
Some people tried to suggest shorter day trips but we easily made the 17 mile trip from Cedar Grove to Pulltite with a few stops along the way.
The current would occasionally try to pull boats into strainers but other than that this was an easy run.
Because of its seclusion and sandstone bluffs the sounds of the birds were especially prominent. We also saw a number of river otters. We came across one mother who was ferrying her pups across the river one at a time.
We also saw a number of turtles that seemed to be riding the current with us and wondered how or if they ever made it back upstream?
Yes there are springs and caves along the river, and one that you can paddle into, but for the most part I was expecting more of them from the photos and descriptions I saw.
This was a very nice easy day trip and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to others.
Lastly, If I hadn’t been worried about making sure my family members were safe and comfortable, I propably would have traveled the extra hour from St. Louis to the Eleven Point River as I got the feeling from what I could learn that it would have been a little more challenging and special.
Thanks again to theBob.net and I hope this helps others headed that way.