Mile 580.0 - Arkansas River

RBD 580 Arkansas River

The 1475 mile long Arkansas River drains all of the Great Plains from Kansas down to the Texas Panhandle, including most of Oklahoma, and everything west to the continental divide of the Colorado and New Mexico Rocky Mountains. It's the biggest and longest tributary of the Lower Mississippi River (and the largest drainages basin), it's water volume sometimes swells to 200,000 cfs during flood water stages. This makes it one of the five largest and longest rivers in the continental United States. But even so the rugged Arkansas pales in comparison to the mother Mississippi which swells to over 2,000,000 cfs during flood stage, a ten-fold order of difference!

The Arkansas River reaches into such far flung locales as Leadville, CO; Dodge City, KS; Cimarron Canyon, NM; and Oklahoma City, OK. It drains snowmelt off the highest Rocky Mountain peaks, Mount Elbert and Mount Massive, and the cliffy crags of the awe-inspiring Collegiate Range. Its headwaters create a whitewater rafter's paradise. The busiest whitewater river in the world is found on the Arkansas River near Buena Vista Colorado. As the Arkansas cascades out of the Front Range it carves a deep slickrock canyon (including the famous Royal Gorge), and then flattens out and begins to meander after spilling through Pueblo and becomes the great river of the Southern Great Plains. After curving across the Colorado Plains it enters Kansas and almost disappears into its sandy bed as it siphoned dry by neighboring towns, farms & ranches. The poor Arkansas regains water as it descends down the rolling hills of Oklahoma and begins receiving waters from tributaries draining the Ozarks. At Tulsa it widens considerably and enters the so called Kerr-McClellan waterway created with the pools formed by 18 locks and dams. After it enters Arkansas near Fort Smith it divides the two major ranges of the Arkansas Ozarks, the northern plateaus from the southern ridges. When it flows past Little Rock it enters its final floodplain, but maintains its distinct color and shape all the way to its Mississippi River Confluence.

It could be called the Comanche River. Almost its entire drainage was once ruled by the mighty Comanche nation. The legendary warrior chief Quanah Parker ruled its watershed in his lifetime. It also drained the homeland of the Quapaw, the Kansa, the Kiowa, the Wichita, the Chakchiuma, the Caddo and the Jicarilla Apache. The Arkansas was the major highway for travel & trade throughout the mellenia following the last ice age. Today it drains the remaining reservations of some of these people, mostly within the state of Oklahoma. The self-named downstream people the Quapaw, once ruled the mouth of the Arkansas River with a collection of four cities numbering between 3 and 5,000 people when Jolliette and Marquette reached them in 1673. Their numbers severely declined thereafter subject to European diseases. The Quapaw were the southernmost of the Sioux nations -- who once inhabited the Ohio River Valley. When the Sioux nations migrated westward the plan was to turn up the Mississippi River and gain entrance to the open plains to the west via the Middle Mississippi and the Missuori Rivers. When the last nation reached the Ohio River confluence a fog descended and they missed the turn and instead floated hundreds of miles downstream in their wooden dugout canoes until finding a suitable settling place to relocate at the Arkansas River confluence. Hence they became the downstream people, a literal translation of their name, the Quapaw. One of their counterpart tribes, became the Omaha, the upstream people.

Paddling Past the Mouth of the Arkansas

If you are motivated to get downstream as expediently as possible, keep paddling hard and stay mid channel as towboat traffic allows. Upstream tows will be found chugging up the slower water RBD closer to the mouth of the Arkansas (and then hugging the bottom of the Arkansas Bar, usually crossing somewhere near the Rosedale Harbor opening); stay along the outside edge line around Prentiss Bend left bank descending and then follow the buoy line out into the big open channel below. As stated above, the river opens its gargantuan mouth wide open at this meeting place, and it feels like you might have reached the end of the river where it spills into the Gulf of Mexico (still 600 miles downstream!) Congratulations: this would an historically accurate feeling. This is what Joliet and Marquette felt when they reached the confluence and decided that they could turn around from this very same place satisfied that they had determined the river would end in the Gulf. (It also helped that the friendly Quapaw people warned them of certain demise by the Spaniards and their affiliated tribes downstream).

The confluence is found where the Arkansas Bar ends. If there are no tows in view you can paddle along the green buoy line RBD as you round the Arkansas Bar, and keep going until the sandbars recede, the mudbars become submerged and the treeline ends. Paddle in further right bank (north) when all firm landmarks disappear -- and you will find yourself awash in the sea of muddy water. As with all things along the Lower Mississippi this exact location can't be pin-pointed with GPS because it changes with the water level and the shifting of the landscape. When both rivers are low a large flat sandbar forms at the mouth of the Arkansas full of snags and ragged masses of logs and other drift, and the waters of the Arkansas narrow to one or two shallow channels flowing through. When the Arkansas rises it occupies the entire confluence and charges into the Mississippi with joyful enthusiasm. Never to let anyone get the last word, the mother Mississippi teaches her young upstart a few lessons: when the Mississippi is high it floods the entire region and forces the Arkansas backwards dozens of miles up its channel!

Furthermore, the confluence periodically shifts with floods and the dynamics of these big rivers. Click on the map I created for the Mouth of the Arkansas Round Trip [CLICK HERE: Map of A Detour Up & Down the Arkansas] . Look at it in Terrain, and then go to Satellite. You will see that the Arkansas River channel occupies different channels! This is not a mistake on Google's part. What you see in Terrain is from the 1972 USGS survey. Since then the Arkansas has chosen a new path and carved out a new confluence location two miles from the older one (which is what is seen on Google Satellite). This is the nature of this ephemeral river-scape. It will be interesting to see how the current Arkansas River channel changes in the upcoming years, and how well Google will keep up with it.

If you aren't in any particular hurry, you might as well stay RBD and visit this amorphous confluence, one of the most important geographic & historic locales on the continent. You will know you're there when you find the color change in the waters where the rivers meet. The muddy yellow waters of the Arkansas hug right bank for miles downstream while the muddy green waters of the massive Mississippi lazily reach out with swirling octopus arms and greedily engulf great gulps of Arkansas River water one muddy slurp after another until there is nothing left of it save new colors splashed up on the muddy banks and new earth tones left in the sandbars below. Zoom in for a close up look off Google Earth, the subtle tonalities of mud can be seen from space! During low water levels the color line between the great rivers is usually clearly etched. However in highwater it becomes almost impossible to find as the big rivers have been mixing surreptitiously behind islands and through flooded forests throughout the entire bottom end of Big island above this point.

A Detour Up & Down the Arkansas

[CLICK HERE: Map of A Detour Up & Down the Arkansas]

A fun detour is to paddle upstream a ways up the Arkansas River and then turn around and paddle back to the Mississippi and continue on your way.

We call this maneuver the Omaha & Quapaw or Up and Down. Its a simple roundtrip. Its like climbing a mountain where you have to work hard to get up, but then get an easy trip back while gravity (and the flow of water) helps you back down. You can easily paddle upstream the Arkansas from the confluence a few hundred yards to the bottom of Big Island (LBD Arkansas River), which stands fairly high along its southern end. Or with a little more time and motivation you can paddle a few miles to one of the beaches on Cat Island which is found RBD one mile upstream. During high water you might have to paddle two miles to reach the sand (goes completely under around 30AG). Stop for a picnic or walk and then turn around and paddle back out. Go as far as you like, or your day will allow, and then turn around. When you are going upstream you are being an Omaha, the people who went upstream. When you turn around back downstream you are being like the Quapaw, the downstream people.

On the way back down the Arkansas scoot out from the top of Cat Island to the outside of Jimmie's Bend and follow the best current LBD around and below the steep cut bank. Notice the new colors layered in the mud, these are the colors of the Great Plains, the yellows of Colorado/Kansas and reds of Oklahoma are alternately laid by the seasonal floods. Cross back over RBD to the bottom end of Cat Island and follow the flow out to the Mississippi/Arkansas River Confluence, the yellow waters of the Arkansas dances along for several miles until being consumed by the slightly darker & normally muddier waters of the Mississippi.

Island Hopping

[CLICK HERE: Map of Island Hopping]

An adventurous way to get a taste of the Arkansas River and its Delta is to duck behind one of the many splinter islands crowding the confluence, jump into the Arkansas River (which is flowing behind these islands), and paddle down out of the smaller river to rejoin the big river. These islands are technically the southern extremity of Big Island since at low water they reconnect back to Big Island. Back channels open up at water levels above 23AG. (Note: This route is NOT doable from the Rosedale Harbor unless you make a 2 mile upstream paddle and a strong ferry crossing to reach the Malone Field at the top end of the Arkansas Bar.)

From Terrene Sandbar (Great River Road State Park) stay with the strong current RBD past the Malone Field Light 587.0 and look for the first dike RBD (Malone Field Dike#1), which is sometimes marked by a buoy sometimes not. There is an opening in the woods directly below the bankside end of the dike. If not obstructed by the raft of driftwood that oftentimes accumulates there dive behind a little island through this narrow channel. If you miss it, keep going RBD around this little island and then follow the current flowing behind it over the Malone Field Dike #2 (which you won't see -- its underwater). The river opens up several miles wide as it flows over the Arkansas Bar. Follow the flow westward towards the tallest wall of trees behind. This is a large island around which the water flows on both sides. Before you get to this line of tall trees you will notice a medium sized channel flowing north and a larger channel continuing southwest. You can take either channel, although I recommend the northerly route.

The southwesterly route follows the edge of the island through a long ephemeral channel bordered by deep forests, and eventually disappears into several thick stands of willows that can be a challenge getting through. Paddlers might spend an hour or more bushwhacking through thick willows from the cockpit of their kayak or seats of their canoe as showers of sticks and leaves fall around them, and spiders, and anything else in the trees. Not for the faint-hearted.

The northerly route is easily followed as it rounds this splinter island (2 miles) and then joins the Arkansas River in Jimmie Bend. Paddlers can enjoy 2-3 miles of paddling down the main channel of the Arkansas River from Jimmie Bend.

I guided National Geographic Adventure through here in 2006, an experience which produced their story Where the Big River Gets Lost. This title is misleading, because of course the big river never gets lost - whereas people often get lost on the big river! In fact, with Nat'l Geo I decided to cut behind the Arkansas Bar using the above described southwesterly route, where we got bewildered by the crowded willow thickets with water flowing through, and had to haul ourselves armful of willows at a time, through the conflagration until finally emerging into other hidden pools of muddy water -- to get submerged again in more willow thickets. Unfortunately this confounding (and very adventuresome) experience did not get included in the final story (printed in the August 2007 issue).

The Floating Sensation

However you do it be sure to stop paddling at some point and enjoy the sensation of floating along in the meeting of the big rivers. If the wind is contrary you might only be able to enjoy this for one minute. But on a calm day with no tows to navigate around you can float for miles. Floating with the flow of the river will enable you to best appreciate the dimension and scope of this landscape as you silently roll over the curvature of the earth and are buoyed along by the big waters. With a little imagination you can dwell upon all of the places this water has travelled from to reach here and visualize the big bends upstream and downstream that come together at this location like the forks of the world's largest peace sign.

Circumnavigation of Big Island (52 miles; 5-7 days)

[CLICK HERE: Map of Circumnavigation of Big Island]

A complete circumnavigation of Big Island could be a challenging week-long expedition in of itself, not recommended as an addition to your Mississippi River journey, but to be done as an entirely separate adventure in of itself. It might take upwards of 3 days of hard paddling to get up the Arkansas, one grueling day for the portage to the White, One day of moderate paddling back down the White back to the Mississippi, and One day of downstream paddling back down the Mississippi. Add two days for exploration, bad weather, bear sightings and unforeseen circumstances. Approximately Fifty-two miles total.

The best place to start would be the Rosedale Harbor, although you could also initiate this adventure from Terrene Landing -- or on the Arkansas shore from the Montgomery Point Lock & Dam or the Ozark Hunt Camp. Secure your vehicle, or better yet arrange shuttle from some safe place for parking. Carry extra food and water, good maps (USGS 15 minute topos cover this region with great detail), compass, GPS, cell phone. Cell phone coverage spotty at best. Bring your satellite phone if you have one. Be prepared for one week of hard paddling.

Leg 1: Out of the Harbor and down the Mississippi. 2.5 miles in harbor. One hour. Flatwater paddling two and a half miles to the mouth of the harbor. Look both ways before crossing (possibly busy towboat activity -- monitor VHF channel 13). 4.5 miles to the mouth of the Arkansas which might be one hour of paddling. Follow strong downstream current around the Arkansas Bar and then angle in right bank descending for the approach to the mouth of the Arkansas River. Look for tell-tale change of water color. Cut in RBD wherever the face of the water opens unopposed to the north.

Leg 2: Upstream the Arkansas River. 20 miles. 2-3 days. Now the big challenge. You have at least twenty miles of hard paddling to get up the biggest tributary of the Lower Mississippi River. At low water the mileage might be more, but the time required might be less. At high water the mileage might be less (due to the smoothed out river bends) but the time might be doubled or tripled with added challenge of fighting fast moving water. If you're not an expert paddler, this kind of experience will make you into one!

Best route upstream shallow rivers with frequent shoaling in general is to hug the inside of the bends where the water is slower, jumping out of your vessel for cordelling when favorable. Coming out of the bend find the best place to make your crossing and position yourself for the next bend and the next place to hug the inside of the bend. After several days and 19 miles of upstream paddling start looking for the entrance to Owen's Lake right bank ascending (ie: left bank descending). If unfamiliar with region use google maps or GPS entrance. Paddle north up to low water road crossing.

Leg 3: Portage through Owen's Lake to White River. 1.38 miles. One day. 2 portages are necessary using this shortest route to the White River. Portage canoe or kayak over retaining dam (low road). Paddle one mile across Owen's Lake to its dead end. Scout best route to the White River, which lies to the east. Make your second portage several hundred yards through the woods and over gravel road to the banks of the White River. Watch carefully for bear tracks. In warmer months watch for poison ivy and snakes.

Leg 4: Down the White back to the Mississippi. 6.28 miles. Half day to one day of easy to moderate paddling, including possible delays at lock & dam. After you've reloaded your canoe from the Portage set off down the White RIver in its normally placid waters, but infrequently full of runoff from the Ozarks or the Arkansas Delta. Leave the Truster Holden State WIldlife Management Area and paddle through the bottom end of the White River National Wildlife Refuge. Watch for bears, wild turkeys and migrating birds. At low water, passage through Montgomery Point Lock & Dam will be necessary. At medium and above you can slide over the dam unimpeded. Watch for the color change in the water as you rejoin the Mississippi River.

Leg 5: Down the Mississippi River. 16.5 miles. One Day. Follow the Main Channel of the Mississippi River out of Scrubgrass Bend. Recommended detour through the Old Channel of the White. [CLICK HERE: Sibley's Chute] If staying main channel you will find the fastest water LBD below Smith Point Sandbar. Round Victoria Bend, pass Terrene Landing. Stop at Terrene Bar LBD for picnicking or camping. Plan your return to the Mississippi shore LBD as you pass the Malone Field and look carefully for the opening back into the Rosedale Harbor.

If there was any question before, all doubts will now be erased: you are on the B-I-G

R-I-V-E-R. The beautiful word Mississippi is derived from the Ojibwe name misi-ziibi, meaning Great River, or gichi-ziibi, meaning Big River. The awe-struck DeSoto expedition called it El Rio Grande the big river. You often hear it called the Father of Waters, although I prefer the name Mother River on the Lower Miss because it runs so wild and has so many moods, and simultaneous gave birth to the productive Lower Mississippi Valley. Paddlers in Natchez have named it the Phatwater and celebrate its greatness with an annual forty-five mile challenge.

Whatever you call it, the big muddy river dominates the landscape more proudly and pervasively than any of the many forces which combine, multiply & divide over the middle of America. The sun rises and sets. The moon rules the night sky for a time and then is reduced to a sliver, and then ends its cycle as a pale ghost. The wind blows itself into gusts and gales and then subsides and stills. The forests explode in greenery through the warm months and then become naked barren brown & blacks in the cold. The passage of severe thunderstorms comes & goes. Hurricanes threaten for a season. Only the river remains present -- forever strong, unruly, unstransmutable. It fluctuates in scale, from low water to high water to flood, but its inherit character remains constant.

Below the Arkansas everything increases proportionately: the face of the river, the pools between shoals, the size of the islands, the sweep of the sandbars, the length of the willow forests, the depth of the muddy banks. Even the narrows are less narrow. As you look downstream you will find an enlarged expanse of muddy brownish greenish water rolling & tumbling through incrementally bigger river bends. There are a few smaller tributaries downstream, notably the Yazoo and the Big Black, but none effect the scale of the big river as significantly as the Arkansas. Here the Mississippi River swells to its mature fullness and happily fills its wide valley with the gurgling waters of a nation, everything in between Montana and New York State, everything from the Rockies to the Appalachians, from the Smokies to the Alleghenies, from the New Mexican Plateau to the Cumberland Plateau, from the Great Plains to the Eastern Woodlands, and through the heartland, the midwest, the mid south and deep south, and most famously from the North Woods (Lake Itasca) to the Coastal Marshes of the Gulf of Mexico (Birdsfoot Delta).

For the paddler this largesse can be at turns enlightening, frightening and overwhelming. It can inspire you to new perspectives and motivate life-changing decisions. It can subdue you to the point of boredom, and leave you confused and feeling utterly alone to the point of despair. You'll never feel more challenged; you'll never be more humbled.

I know this is overly-romantic, but its true. Give the river enough leash and it will share with you all of the above!