Family Friendly River?

[Rusty]

Is the Buffalo or any part of it family friendly? I have never floated it and if memory serves me correctly, I have seen it once. Meaning, can I take the wife and kids and everyone have a good time. No camping, to many girls. A cabin would be great though. Hot water and electric. Canoing or inflatable raft? Prefer inflatable raft that would accommodate two adults and four children. Something that would allow us to float different parts of the river for two or three days but have a semi nice place to stay in between. And of course, fishing is a concern as well. : )

[delta_queen]

http://www.gilbertstore.com/

the gilbert store has rafts, cabins, and more. rarely see rafts on this river though. I can think of nothing more family friendly than this experience.

[hoglaw]

Rusty:

It's nothing like the Illinois, Elk, or pretty much any river in Missouri for that matter. There are people there having a "good time," but no tatooed mobs screaming for flashers. If you're there on a week day or two, you might have the place to yourself.

[bobber]

the way that river lays-out... the upper section( boxley/ponca to eurbie/ozark) is the whitewater sections, at water levels in the neighborhood of 0-to-15 inches of air space below the low water bridge at ponca . (note*and this is the only air space measurement).. 1ft.9inches= or below 28 inches, your pulling the canoe down the rock gardens(rapids without water) this is also the section of river that the bluffs tower above you like a caynon.. as you move down river to say, the middle part, pruitt to hasty/carver ,mt.hersey/woolum, bakersford, tylerbend( showers) 65hwy( grinders ferry )gilbert. you still have some very large bluff wall ,and levels need to be above 4.5 ft. anything lower and you really need to pick the right lines, or some dragging will occur. and for the lower section, the maume's north, and south, spring creek, hwy 14(dillard's ferry) buffalo point(showers) ranger station , then rush , the last take-out before the wilderness section to the white river. you with me so far? ok, at some lower levels it's harder to avoid over hanging trees, or root balls due to the current of water going smack dab into them. making for a good hazard,and almost all of the buffalo is a class II ( fast moving water with hazards) so paddling with the wife, kids, and a dog, now how well do you paddle? if you grab at the gunnel's or freeze as to plow into the rocks, or reach-out and grab at branches. the upper sections aren't for you! from hwy65(grinders ferry) on down is more your style. i have floated this section in flood waters in the 8 to 9 foot range it's fun and fast, no rapids at all at that level, more just steering. ok, that being said, when paddling on any water , your out there on your own!!. and it's up to you to self rescue yourself . it's a wild river that changes all the time. and the force of the water is so powerful, it can fold-up a canoe to half the size it just was! right before your eyes. and it doesn't care who, or what was inside of it!!........that got you thinking? good. ( man' it's all about being safe! with the wife and kids) going in a group setting is always better than alone. even if you stay just behind another group you can watch to see whats going to happen so your ready to adjust or get out and walk the canoe through if need be. never listen to the people yelling GO RIGHT!( you look) and see if they are giving you false information just to see you dump over!! it sounds mean but it sure is funny to watch canoe after canoe dumping over>>>> http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=PYzTIkac23Q i know you are laughin'

[hoglaw]

Bobber:

That's too funny. Looks chilly to me, but then again, everything north of Bella Vista is chilly to me.

[Rusty]

Thanks for the help people.