 Richland Creek
Class III-IVMap to the put in. Map to the take out from the put in. River Levels (Richland Creek Gauge) - Minimum - 3 Optimum - 4 Maximum - 6 I have one word that describes this run AWESOME! I have got to run this 4 times this year at different levels each time. It starts off as a pretty easy class 2+/3 river with a few good warm up rapids in the first mile or so and then when you come to the bluffs pictured to the right you know the fun is about to start. After these bluffs is where the real fun starts. There are quite a few good rapids including Crack in the Rock, Knucklebuster, Upper & Lower Screw Up, Cindys or Susans Hole, and Maytag. Not to mention all the other class III rapids in between. There is a river wide 6'-8' waterfall called Richland Falls that is beautiful. Just after Richland Falls where the river makes a hard right and there is a tributary coming in on river left, there is a trail on river left that you can get out of your boats and hike to Twin Devils Falls. Here there are 2 20'+ waterfalls that drop into the same pool. A must see if you have never been.  The first time I ran it the river was right at 3' which made the run very boney and a little more technical because you had to avoid all the rocks. I got to run it around 3'6 and it was a better run with a lot more rocks under water. The last time I ran it, it was over 5'6 and man it was huge! Being able to paddle it at different levels all within a few months, I was able to see the difference in the river at different levels. When the river is over 5' the holes and waves are twice as big and will throw you twice as bad. I would not recommend the river above 5's unless you have paddle plenty of class IV's. If you would like to read more about this river please visit the link below to the Ozark Creek Summary about this river. The guys there have put a lot of time into gathering info about all the premier paddling spots in Arkansas. USGS RIVER GAUGE Ozark Creek Summary |
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 Hailstone Creek
Class 2/3+Put-in - The put in is located at the NFR 1463 crossing of Hwy 21 about a mile North of Fallsville.
Take-out - The take out is at the Hwy 21 bridge over the Buffalo River at Boxley. River Levels (Buffalo River Gauge) - Minimum 4.8(and rising) Optimum 5.5 Maximum 6.5 Hailstone Creek is the main tributary to the Buffalo River. This run is consider to be one of the best local whitewater runs because of how remote this creek is, the length, and the rapids. The creek has at least a 1 hour walk out at any given point on the run not to mention the entire run is about 14 miles. This run is constant rapids for the most part with a few pools to paddle through. Because of the length of the run, it is best to put on as early as possible. I would not put on after 1pm unless you plan on not stopping and paddling the whole way. This is one of the most senic runs in the area as wel, with a ton of little tributaries dumping into it along the way and all the waterfalls coming down. I had been wanting to run this river for quite a few years and was finally able to this Spring. I must say this has been one of my favorite runs I have done and am looking forward to doing it again. I would recommend that you have good class 3 skills before running this river. Not because the intensity of the rapids but because it is a long ass walk out if anything happens! USGS Buffalo Gauge Ozark Creek Summary |
 Falling Waters Creek
Class 2/3+ Put-In - The put in is reached by taking 16 east from Pelsor to CR-1205 (Falling Water Rd)
Take-Out - The take out is reached by continuing on CR 1205 North to the Richland Creek Camp Ground River Levels (Richland Creek Gauge) - Minimum 4 / Optimum 5 / Maximum 6.5 Well just a quick post about our trip down south this weekend. Me, Curtis Claybaker, Clint Claybaker, Terry Praiter, and Nick Avery headed south for the weekend to do some paddling. We left Friday morning and headed to the richland area and decided to run Falling Waters Creek since it doesnt run a whole lot and Richland would be there Saturday. We started off the run with a 10' waterfall at the put in. http://jchism.myjalbum.net/kayak/ That is a link to a photographer that was down there when we arrived and who snapped some good pics of us running the falls. It was so much fun we decided to run it twice. And it was pretty sweet to watch Terry run it in an open boat. We had a good run with no "serious" injuries but a few scrapes and scratches. Saturday we ran Upper Richland and boy was that fun. I know when we put on I was a little nervous as was Nick but after the first few rapids the nerves calmed and we had a great day. Curtis, Nick and I decided to walk Lower Screw up because the bottom half of the rapid had a tree with the roots lodged in the far river right slot, but Terry decided to give it a go. Nick was up top watching with a rope, I was at the bottom of the rapid in my boat, and curtis was mid way with a rope. Nick gave us the thumbs up that Terry was coming so we got ready. He decided to try the boof move through door #1 but the current caught the front of the boat and swung him straight into a nasty hole/eddy that shot him straight up the face of the rock that all the water was pouring into. As he came back down the water grabbed his back end and swung him around backwards but he landed on his strong side and got a good brace to keep from going over. He made it through the top half and pulled out to empty the water, then run the rest. The bottom half was pretty bony with a big under cut rock on river left, an under cut rock on river right with a huge tree, with root wad facing up stream, just a few feet off of that, and a big ledge with 2 big rocks behind those drops pushing water either into the tree or into the undercut rock. But Terry kept his cool and ran the left side with a boof right in front of the undercut and then paddled out. I have a new found respect for watching Terry paddle and hopefully I get to boat with him more. The rest of the run went without a hitch. More Pictures! USGS Richland Creek Gauge Ozark Creek Summary |
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