We are taking a road trip to from Illinois to Texas via Arkansas.  Plan on having a couple days to burn in Arkansas, anyone ever done a day trip on the Buffalo or ? 
Thanks
Quentin

Quentin,

Yes, I paddled it with my family many years ago.  Very worthwhile. Smallmouth bass fishing is quite good. Also, if you’re into exploring caves, there are plenty of them.  There are also some nice trout waters, as I understand it, but further downstream them where we did our day trip.

Go for it!

Jimbo. 

Quentin,

The water color is actually "milky" looking from the limestone cliffs through which the river flows.  You should have some very pretty paddling that time of year.  It's a beautiful area.

We had great success using the smallest smallmouth lures in my box.  We tossed them right below the many small sets of rapids we passed through and generally had good results.

The caves are really something.  Bring a headlamp, otherwise you might go s-p-l-a-s-hing when you go spelunking.  Some of those shafts have pools of water collected in the drop-offs where they open up into wider chambers.  We found the public-marked ones in the state parks to be quite safe but, if you get claustrophobic, you might want to think twice before crawling in.  You can acquire a certain "unsettled" feeling when you contemplate the mountain of rock that lies overtop the 2 foot, very dark crawl space you are crabbing your way through....

It's still worth it.

Jimbo   

Quentin,

Unfortunately, it's been a very long time so I don't exactly remember where.  I DO remember that we were below the section of river that held trout.  Also, while we rented a cabin nearby, I believe we launched our canoes at a campground and arranged for a shuttle to bring us back there.  We did no more than half a day on the river.  The kids were little & we didn't want to push it.

One of the neat things about that area is they reintroduced elk... and they are thriving!  I had never seen one in the wild before but we ran into large herds there.  When they are "bugling", you'll know it!  All in all it was a very nice vacation.  My two small boys & three nieces had a blast but, as I recall they were quite young at the time, I'm guessing that trip was well over 20 years ago.  The funny thing is that I kept all the old books & maps up until just a few months ago, then trashed them!  Otherwise, I could tell you a good bit more & send you some materials.  Oh, well....

Yeah, I hope not to miss Copia next year.  I missed my time away with the guys.

Later,

Jimbo   

Thought I'd bump this up as options for this year.

I did a 2 night Eleven Point River trip in Missouri in 1987.  It was really beautiful and small.  Sandbars and clear water through a forest.  It's been a long time but I highly recommend unless you like to run rapids.  Some swifts but no rapids to run.  The drive through the winding 2 lane roads is very cool too.  Could be different now though.

Yes, spring much better for weather and water levels. Check this out, reporting very low and not floatable.  (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

And definitely only go on weekdays.

Did this in April - first link is to my trip report (no pic's)
  might be a warmer trip a couple of weeks later or so.

second link is to other report

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