Trip questions for Ozark paddlers

organising a trip for a couple weekends from now for a group of freinds and myself and am checking my options.



I remeber reading on here that folks camped basecamp at a souther mo state park, and there were 3 awesome, highly recommended floats in close range that they did and if memory serves me (as evidence by this post it is not :doh:) it was on 3 different rivers. I remeber reading multiple accounts of the same thing and same trips (different seasons by multiple posters), but cant remeber for the life of me what it was and my searches are leaving me empty handed.





I want to say it was Sam A. Baker st park that was base camp, but im not even sure of that. one of the day trips was the black river im pretty sure…?





ANY HELP PNET? :smiley:

No problem…
We are bailing out of the trip this week do to bad weather/possible floods.



We base camp at Pulltite Campground. It’s kind of a centrally based campsite for the Current river, or even Jacks Fork.


Hey
Yeah Sam A Baker is a great little park off Highway 32 and 67, down the road from the Eleven Point River, Jacks Fork, The Current River and The Black. Sam A Baker is located on the confluence of Big Creek and Saint Francois River.



The Gem is The Eleven Point. Jacks Fork is great from the Prongs to Bay Creek. The Black is closest up Highway 21. Get a Gazetteer and just google any of the above rivers for canoes rental for river levels, shuttles and info. You won’t be disappointed.



When schools out Sam Baker is crawling with RVs on weekends. If Big Creek is up there are some fun little shut-ins, clear water and good small mouth fishing.

so
what trips on the current do yall recommend?

loooong shuttle
It is a very very long shuttle to the Current River if you are going to camp at Sam A. Baker State Park. Sam A. Baker is a nice park, but I wouldn’t use it to camp if I planned on paddling the Current, Jack’s Fork, or the Eleven Point. If the paddle plan was for the Black or St. Francis, then Sam A. Baker is a good choice.

Lots of options…
Sam A. Baker will give you easy access to 9 or 10 miles of the St. Francis and about the same on Big Creek which is served by the canoe rental in the park if you need them for a shuttle. If shuttling yourself, you have another 15 miles of so of the St. Francis that is easily doable upstream. As has been said, upper Black River isn’t far to the west, maybe an hour’s drive to where the best sections are. That’s the options for Sam A. Baker. The St. Francis is not heavily floated, but after the recent floods it may have some log jams and tricky spots. Same with Big Creek. The plethora of canoe rentals on Black River will insure that any logjams will be cleared out (and Black River is not much susceptible to logjams anyway. St. Francis is usually a little murky this time of year. Big Creek is very clear and pleasant. Black River will be extremely clear unless there have been very recent rains, with huge gravel bars everywhere.



There are a lot of campgrounds on Current River, giving you access to close to 100 miles of the Current and Jacks Fork. All of it will be populated with rental canoes if it’s a nice weekend, even in April. The upper Jacks Fork gets my vote for the most scenic stream in Missouri, and it will have enough water at this time of year to be class 2 in a few places. The best sections of the Current are all above Van Buren. Akers Ferry to Round Spring gets the heaviest use. Round Spring to Two Rivers gets my vote for the most scenic stretch of the river, but it doesn’t have the big springs that add interest to other sections. Two Rivers downstream to Logyard gets a lot less canoe traffic, is very scenic, but will be populated with quite a few jetboats.



If you camp around Eminence (on the Jacks Fork), you’re close enough to hit the Eleven Point. The upper river above Greer Spring will have plenty of water this time of year (it gets too low in the summer), and it’s very pretty. Greer to Riverton is the heart of the Eleven Point Wild and Scenic River and gets more traffic, but it’s gorgeous.

Lots of options…
Sam A. Baker will give you easy access to 9 or 10 miles of the St. Francis and about the same on Big Creek which is served by the canoe rental in the park if you need them for a shuttle. If shuttling yourself, you have another 15 miles of so of the St. Francis that is easily doable upstream. As has been said, upper Black River isn’t far to the west, maybe an hour’s drive to where the best sections are. That’s the options for Sam A. Baker. The St. Francis is not heavily floated, but after the recent floods it may have some log jams and tricky spots. Same with Big Creek. The plethora of canoe rentals on Black River will insure that any logjams will be cleared out (and Black River is not much susceptible to logjams anyway. St. Francis is usually a little murky this time of year. Big Creek is very clear and pleasant. Black River will be extremely clear unless there have been very recent rains, with huge gravel bars everywhere.



There are a lot of campgrounds on Current River, giving you access to close to 100 miles of the Current and Jacks Fork. All of it will be populated with rental canoes if it’s a nice weekend, even in April. The upper Jacks Fork gets my vote for the most scenic stream in Missouri, and it will have enough water at this time of year to be class 2 in a few places. The best sections of the Current are all above Van Buren. Akers Ferry to Round Spring gets the heaviest use. Round Spring to Two Rivers gets my vote for the most scenic stretch of the river, but it doesn’t have the big springs that add interest to other sections. Two Rivers downstream to Logyard gets a lot less canoe traffic, is very scenic, but will be populated with quite a few jetboats.



If you camp around Eminence (on the Jacks Fork), you’re close enough to hit the Eleven Point. The upper river above Greer Spring will have plenty of water this time of year (it gets too low in the summer), and it’s very pretty. Greer to Riverton is the heart of the Eleven Point Wild and Scenic River and gets more traffic, but it’s gorgeous.

Thanks alot al
great info… anyone else? :smiley:

I think…

– Last Updated: Apr-09-08 12:25 PM EST –

I think that Al gave you some good feedback.
Can't say that I disagree with too much he said.

Wherever you end up paddling; on the Jacks Fork, Current, Black, or Eleven Point........spend as many weekdays out there as possible, as opposed to weekends. In the Summer, a good time to put in is on sunday afternoon, or monday morning. Usually, by sunday evening most of the drunks ("river dorks") are passed out, or headed home, creating hazards on the highways. Best days to paddle as far as I'm concerned are monday thru thursday.

Some of my favorites:

Overnight: Hwy 17 to Alley/Jacks Fork
Greer to Riverton/Eleven Point
Round Springs to Two Rivers/Current

Multi nights: Cane Bluff to Hwy 142/Eleven Point
Prongs to Alley/Jacks Fork
Cedar Grove to Two Rivers/Current

Spots I "don't" consider to be safe to leave a vehicle for multi nights:
Greer access/Eleven Point
Prongs access/Jacks Fork
Cedar Grove access/Current

BOB

youre the man bob
thanks agian.





Got your email this morning, thanks. If I have any other questions ill def give you a ring!