Mystery Archive

Midwest

Big Piney Creek, Dover Arkansas

The locals call it Kyoot, Whirly-rock as many know it. Located in North Central Arkansas. In the Ozark Mtns. The Long Pool run is the section of river to look for, Heltons Farm to Long Pool camp. About 2.5 miles into the run, you'll come around a bend in the river. Two rocks protruding in the river, on river left, gravel sand beach on the right. Here it is man, paddle up towards the outer-most rock, and drop. We like the spot. Its Starting to give up really long rides, gotta love it. Local access requires a well equipped . I hate to say this , well equipped Suv. Not your moms truck either. Maybe something along the lines of your neighbors monster truck. No not really. Just some aggressive tires , about an hour trip down to the spot. Over rock slabs sticky red clay an occasional down tree, a small creek crossing. Graves creek, at high water a sweet 4+ micro gorge. Some serious hill climbing. And wa-la your there. Long Pool camp, is located off of Hwy 7. TO RUN THE RIVER .---TAKE HWY 7 NORTH OUT OF RUSSLEVILLE, ARK, TURN ON HWY 164 WEST ABOUT 5 MILES TURN RIGHT ON OLD HWY 7, GOING PASSED MOORE OUTDOORS, (YOU CAN STOP IN HERE TO GET INFO ABOUT THE RIVER. KERI, DEBBIE, AND NASH WE'LL BE GLAD TO FILL YOU IN.) CONTINUE NORTH 4.5 MILES TO THE CAMP. YOU CAN SET SHUTTLES FOR THE RUNNING THE RIVER HERE. GO BACK OUT TOWARDS MOORE OUTDOORS, RIGHT AS YOU GET TO THE FARM ON THE RIGHT TAKE THE DIRT ROAD ON THE LEFT,1805. HEAD NORTH TOWARDS HELTONS FARM, TO PUT IN. THE RUN IS TEN MILES LONG.-----THE DRIVE IN OPTION IS THE WAY TO GO WHEN SQUIRTING. LETS START AT KERI'S PLACE FOR DRIVE IN DIRECTIONS. BACK OUT ON HWY 164 WEST, CROSS THE TWIN BRIDGES, LOOK FOR ROAD 1800 ON THE RIGHT. DRIVE NORTH TO THE SPLIT IN THE ROAD, TAKE THE RIGHT FORK THAT GOES UP THE MOUNTAIN. WHEN AT THE TOP, YOU WILL PASS TWO ROADS ON THE RIGHT , YOU WANT THE SECOND 1800 D, FOLLOW IT TILL IT GOES INTO A BLUFF AREA, IT IS NO LONGER NATIONAL FOREST MAINTAINED, IT IS RUGGED. YOU’LL KNOW IT LOOKING INTO GRAVES GORGE. FOLLOW DOWN, ABOUT 45 MINUTES DRIVE FROM NOW. DRIVE THE TRAIL, DOWN THE MOUNTAIN, CROSS THE CREEK, UP THE OTHER MOUNTAIN, DOWN, TO THE RIVERS EDGE, CONTINUE FOLLOWING IT THROUGH THE GIANT MUD AREA, USE THE SIDES OF THE HOLES UNLESS YOU HAVE LARGER THAN 33 INCH TIRES, GET TO THE FOUR WHEELER SAND PIT, CROSS IT, AND YOU ARE LOOKING AT THE SPOT, HAVE A GREAT SESSION. River levels 2.8 min on the Hwy 164 Gauge 5 ft it starts getting really dynamic,(longer rides) As for bigger levels tan 5 ft go for it, it will rock your world.


By Chris Anderson

Illinois river

There is a small rapid on the Illinois river which runs west of Fayetteville into Oklahoma, called fisher's ford. For more directions go to www.ozarkpages.com/whitewater and look under creek info. Fisher's Ford is just under 30 minutes away from Fayetteville and it can be used year around, even in the dry season. The spot consists of a sloping ledge to the right, the water gains speed and drops off the ledge forming a small hole where the current comes together. The seam is directly behind the hole, both front and back cuts work well from the left and right sides of the current. There is also an excellent eddyline seam further down on the left that you can catch on your way back into the eddy. This is a low water spot usually running 100-400 cfs but never-the-less it yields helmet deep 5+ second rides on a regular basis. This is not an epic downtime arena, but it is a perfect place to perfect all your squirting technique.

Directions

The playspot is on the Illinois R. south of Siloam Springs. Follow Hwy 16 West toward Siloam and turn on Hwy 244 West a short time after you pass Lake Wedington. Follow 244 for a couple of miles or so and take Cincinati Cr. Rd., a gravel road, to the north. You can look for the old, white "Nicodemus Church" sign that is mostly hidden by bushes at this turnoff. The Hwy 244 bridge over Cincinati Cr., a medium sized creekbed with a gravel bottom, is just past the turn you need to make, so if you cross it, you've gone a bit too far. If you reach Hwy 59, you've gone a little over a mile too far. Follow the gravel road north about a mile, and you'll come to an intersection. Go straight on what is now Fishers Ford Rd. The road makes a few bends, but just keep following it north toward the river. When you come to the old metal bridge, park on the river left, upstream of the bridge and be sure to pull off the road. Don't block the little road leading down to the river by the bridge, since local fishermen use it to lauch johnboats. Unload and walk down to the river and put in and paddle down about 100 yards to the ledge. When you're finished playing, either paddle or walk back up the streambed to get back to the bridge. Please respect landowners' rights around this spot, and DON'T TRESPASS on the river banks at the ledge, which are clearly posted. Ask permission from the landowner in advance if you want to walk through the field to reach the playspot



Mulberry River

North of I-40 in western Arkansas. For more directions go to www.ozarkpages.com/whitewater and look under creek info. This is a sedimentary creek which means it has deep pools and clean eddylines. There are many different runs possible on this river and nearly every eddy yields at least neck to helmet deep mysteries. But there are several specific spots that must be mentioned. From the put in at the Little Mulberry Creek to the take out at Birds Canoe rental (8miles which can be broken up many different ways) there are three main downtime arenas.

1st: just around the corner from a low water bridge crossing is a rapid called PHD which has changed in the last 3 years to a mystery paradise. The current splits with the main channel flowing straight into the bank which creates 2 very powerful elevator eddies, the smaller channel comes in from the right at a 90% angle creating a crazy stationary whirlpool. This spot is tricky but has yielded 10-15+ sec deep mysteries during which there was no downstream movement, very unique and cool playground.

2nd: about 2 miles below High Bank Access area the river narrows and runs along a rock wall on the river right. You will see a strong elevator eddy at the top and directly behind it is a smaller eddy on the right along the bluff. At the top of this eddy the river drops over a ledge and if you can catch the surge you are rewarded with a very fast and powerful mystery. Be careful to stay on a level flight path because the river is not very deep, although your head will still be at least 3 feet under water. There is also an access point just below this rapid, if the level is 3-3.5 feet on the gauge you can easily spend allot of time here.

3rd: 2 miles from the take out at Birds, directly below the largest rapid, Whoop and Holler (it is the ozarks), a ledge extends out from the river right and creates a very strong eddy with good downtime potential. It is fairly difficult to figure out but there have been some long deep rides here.

These are just 3 highlights of this short run on the mulberry, I have at least 3 other places downstream that have very good potential. The Mulberry River is an excellent squirt run, easy rapids, deep eddylines, and beautiful scenery.

I have squirted the Mulberry for 9 years now and it is still one of my favorites.

Directions

Newton, Johnson, and Franklin Co.; S1: Take Hwy. 23 north of Ozark form I-40. Put-in at Wolf Pen Recreation Area on NFR 1003 east of Hwy. 23. Take out at Redding Campground on NFR 1003. (Alternate take out is Byrd's Campground east of Redding.) S2: Take out at Hwy. 23 bridge. S3: Take out at Milton Ford on NFR 1501 west of Hwy 23. S4: Take out at Hwy. 215 bridge north of Mulberry. (Alternate take out is dirt road south of Shores L.)

By;

Noah Fraser