In ten days I will be traveling to the beautiful state of Arkansas for a 26 mile 3 day paddle trip down the Buffalo River. We opted out of the typical Vegas/NOLA bachelor party destinations for a long weekend of roughing it and working our way down the river in celebration of our buddy’s upcoming wedding. So far, the general response we have gotten from people when we describe the trip (how it’s 26 miles paddling down river with only what we can strap to our boards or kayaks) is “why?”
Why would you want to spend three days paddling and camping?
The only logical answer is why not. I understand most people’s hesitance in a trip like this but for us we couldn’t be more excited. The thought of three days with no cellphones, no email, no t.v., no distractions sounds amazing. A long weekend to unplug from the normal responsibilities of life and just enjoy the moment.
When planning the trip we considered several different destinations but after seeing the photos of Buffalo River we were sold on making the drive from Texas. Some of the highlights of choosing this river were the amazing scenery, cooler weather than Texas, and the calm waters that will hopefully be suitable for our paddle boards.
via Flickr
We will be paddling the lower part of the Buffalo River as the water there is highest this time of year and supposedly relatively calm. The upper buffalo river has rapids and is more suited for rafting and kayaking. If you check out this map we will be putting in at Rush’s Landing and trekking through the Lower Buffalo Wilderness to Buffalo City where we will take out 2.5 days later.
Stay tuned for more info about the trip and our multi day SUP gear list coming in the next couple of weeks. If you are interested in visiting the river check out some of the information we found helpful while planning.
Paddleboard HTX 
Can’t wait to hear how it went. I’m looking to do this trip soon!
Hey Donald, just finished the river trip. It was great even with getting rained on two of the days. Are you planning on kayaking or paddle boarding? It was definitely tougher on the SUP since the water is so low this time of year and there were some rocky areas. If you need any other info about the river, let me know and I’ll see how I can help