Hopping on a trail in northwest Arkansas usually means lacing up your hiking boots, but in Siloam Springs, a new trail offers a different experience, one better done with a paddle. Now you can kayak, canoe, or paddleboard from Chamber Springs, east of Siloam Springs in Arkansas, all the way over state lines to WOKA Whitewater Park in Oklahoma.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Illinois River Watershed Partnership officially opened the 15.5-mile Upper Illinois River Water Trail to a crowd filled with community leaders and project partners on Friday. Through a large group of partners is how Game and Fish Recreation Access Coordinator Darrell Bowman says this trail came to be.
"This plan totally partnership driven. We were a supporting role and it created the model to — we recognize we need to do this for all the rivers in Arkansas eventually."
He spoke from the Siloam Springs Kayak Park, a recently updated launch point about halfway through the water trail. The access area now features a boat ramp, paved parking, informational signage, a bathroom and a free community life jacket station.
These improvements were intentional, and a collaborative document called the Upper Illinois River Conservation-Based Recreation Master Plan guided the project. It takes an actively managed, river-first approach toward recreation on the waters, and Bowman says without the plan, none of this would have happened.
"It's a novel, first-of-its-kind river management plan for a river in Arkansas, and it wouldn't have been created without the vision of Leif Kindberg and the support of Barry Moehring, Benton County judge, with funding — and this great crew, staff at IRWP, and the board of directors at IRWP. Leif — and I and others recognize that rivers in Arkansas have no voice. There is no single jurisdiction over rivers. There's a multitude of agencies and entities that have to do with parts of rivers, but rivers cross all these political boundaries and predominantly flow through private land."
Representatives from these entities attended the grand opening: Game and Fish, the IRWP, the city of Siloam Springs, the Grand River Dam Authority and others. One of those partners was Pat Zimmerman with Trailblazers, a nonprofit dedicated to developing active transportation infrastructure like this water trail. He says his history with the river and this particular access point goes back a long way, and the space was once more contentious.
"Personally, I'm a kayaker. I learned to paddle here 30 years ago in what was then known as Fishers Fork, and it was quite an experience, and I'll paint that for you. There was no parking lot. There was no bathroom. There was no life preserver community program over here. And there was a very hostile landowner. And I promise you, we wouldn't have been standing here doing what we're doing today, having this celebration.
"What we did do was we would go over to an amazing old steel truss bridge that stood right over here — must've been a century — and we would put in upstream of the bridge, and we would sneak our way down and we would paddle in the riffle, and the water ran 365 days a year. It was an amazing place for all of us to learn to paddle in. Hundreds of us, if not thousands from Northwest Arkansas, did just that.”
Paddling in this section back then required bravery and probably a good bit of luck.
“Every second or third visit you would have gunshots. You would have bullets whizzing over your head. And I'm not joking. This was the reality that we faced. But we kept coming, and on one occasion we actually got to meet — I'm going to call him Steve. He was down at the river, I think his name was Steve, and he was on a four-wheeler. And what I realized after talking to him for a bit was that he shared the same passion we did. He just expressed it and enjoyed it in a different way, and that will always stick with me. He talked at length about the 1980 case of State v. McIlroy.”
That was a landmark 1980 Arkansas Supreme Court case that determined the Mulberry River, located in Newton, Johnson and Franklin counties, is a navigable stream, ensuring public access despite private ownership along the riverbank.
“And he was pretty convinced that he didn't really have any rights to do anything about it. He knew that he couldn't do anything about it, and that was good for us, because I think that definitely made a difference in how he transacted. So we left here, as we always did. We pick our boats up. We carry them up the river, tripping over the rocks, avoiding private property on either side, thinking that maybe we had made a little bit of a difference and maybe things would be different the next time we showed up.”
Unfortunately, they were not.
“He did stay within the guidelines of terroristic threatening, and it was a pretty good shot. I mean, he never shot anybody, but he did continue to shoot for all those years. So we were persistent. We kept coming. Our skills got better, our passion grew, and we took what we learned here and we chased rivers all over the USA and on a few continents as well. It makes me proud that after all that, me and that same group of friends realized that the jewel truly is here in Arkansas. All of our tributaries — the Buffalo, the Illinois, all of our different rivers, the Mulberry — we have a jewel here in this state, and it is one of the premier destinations for paddling and, in my opinion, a well-kept secret."
This local secret is becoming more popular, and Darrell Bowman says that with a growing Northwest Arkansas population, actively managing the site will be imperative.
"We've got a population that's moving in here that wants to do all the outdoor recreation possible. That's part of the draw of the area. So we've got to get our rivers caught up and river access to accommodate what we know is already a lot of people. And then… places like the Illinois, there's still a lot of the population that doesn't know about it, but we know they're going to find out and a lot of them do know about it. So the pressure is already here and we know it's just going to grow. So we've got to accommodate the pressure on outdoor recreation and make it a good opportunity for everybody. That's why we're focused up here."
Siloam Springs Mayor Judy Nation says the river means more to the city than just recreation.
"It's a dream come true for a lot of people. The river for Siloam Springs is part of our lifeblood. It is our primary source of drinking water, a vital ecosystem, and a rare gift for our entire community and this region and the state of Arkansas. By designating this water trail, we are doing more than just putting a name on the map. We are committing to a culture of conservation and leaving the river cleaner than we found it, ensuring this resource remains vibrant for generations to come."
The new trail marks more than 20 water trails in the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission's Water Trail project, and the first in Arkansas to cross state lines. For a section of the river to earn that designation, it must have public river access at least every 12 paddling miles. The Upper Illinois River Water Trail currently has two: Chamber Springs, managed by the Commission, and the Siloam Springs Kayak Park, which is managed by the city. A third is planned at the Highway 59 bridge when it is rebuilt, currently scheduled for 2027. Bowman says that project is already accounted for.
"Wherever they have bridge crossings, they're going to rebuild the Highway 59 bridge, which we will finish up at today eventually, and when they replace that bridge, there will be a new public access going in there. And that's thanks to our local fisheries biologist, John Stein, and making sure we requested that and our leadership making sure that happened. And we have partnership funding mechanisms with our DOT that's making that happen. And that's going to be a real asset to this water trail."
The existing Chamber Springs access upstream also needs work. Bowman says the Walton Family Foundation and the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation are helping fund an assessment of the site.
"We have to put a lot of study and assessment into how to renovate and remodel that access. It's really dilapidated from flooding, from the environment and from over-high use of recreation. So we want to address all those things, and we really appreciate we've got partners in helping us with that assessment — the Walton Family Foundation and the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation. We didn't acknowledge Deke Whitbeck, the president of the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation. So the two foundations, the Waltons and Deke, are helping us with an assessment of Chamber Springs, so that when we do figure out what we need to do there, we'll do the right thing and make it a sustainable space for years to come. All that's called for in this plan."
Downstream of the Highway 59 bridge and across the Oklahoma line is WOKA Whitewater Park: The trail's endpoint. Floaters can paddle through or portage around it at no charge, provided they comply with Oklahoma laws and WOKA rules. That includes wearing a helmet in the whitewater park or securing a permit for Oklahoma. The new water trail sign unveiled at the ceremony includes a link to those Oklahoma river laws.
After the ceremony, about 25 trail-goers were the first to float the new trail, putting in at the Siloam Springs Kayak Park and taking out at Gypsy Camp Canoe Outfitter. The float was calm, with only a few fast-moving riffles along the way. Despite it being the first float for some, all boats remained upright. Bluffs, wildlife and pastoral views captivated the group during the three-mile float. Conversation took place, but often folks remained silent, surrendering themselves to the experience.
You can have a similar experience now, free of charge. Visit agfc.com to explore future projects on the Saline River in central Arkansas.
And of course, whenever you're spending time on the water, be safe.
"Rivers are rivers. Just be safe. Be prepared. And the best way to do that is look for the local outfitters for information and the local organizations like Illinois River Watershed Partnership. If you don't know much about it or you're new to it, just get information — our website, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Arkansas Water Trails website, it'll detail this water trail enough where someone will know how to get started and where to go. But that's the main thing. Go find these awesome resources and then make sure you're prepared to enjoy them."
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