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Map & Directions...
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From Little Rock and South
Take I-40 West to Exit 64 at Lamar. Go west on Hwy 64, 9 miles to Ark Hwy 21 North and go 50 miles to Boxley. Then turn right onto Hwy 43 North to Ponca....BOC is 4.5 miles north on the left-hand side of the road.
From Springdale, Fayetteville, Tulsa & Rogers area
Take U.S. Hwy 412 East to Hwy 21 South to Boxley. Then take Hwy 43 North....BOC is 4.5 miles north in Ponca on the left hand side.
From Branson, Springfield, St. Louis and Kansas City area
Take U.S. Hwy 65 South to Harrison, AR. Take Hwy 7 South....just as you leave Harrison take Hwy 43 South. 25 miles later you will be in Ponca. The BOC office will be on the right.
From Memphis and North East Arkansas
Take Hwy 63 North to Hwy 412/62 West into Harrison, AR. Take Hwy 7 South and just as you are leaving Harrison, hit Hwy 43 South. Stay on Hwy 43 and 25 miles later you will be in Ponca. The BOC office will be on the right.
From Fort Smith, Dallas and the South East
Come North to Fort Smith. Take I-40 East to Clarksville, AR. Take Hwy 21 North to Boxley. You will then take Hwy 43 North into Ponca. The BOC office will be on the left.
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| Day Trips |
Ponca to Kyle’s Landing (10 miles)
Our most popular float---and without a doubt the river’s most scenic---is the 10-mile section from Ponca to Kyle’s Landing.
This float takes between 4 and 6 hours to complete, depending upon the individual.
Please note: On Saturdays in April and May, the National Park Service requires outfitters to launch rental boats at Steel Creek;
however, private boaters may still launch at Ponca if water level permits.
Steel Creek to Kyle’s Landing (8 miles)
When river conditions are too low to launch in Ponca, we then move 2 miles downriver to the Steel Creek launch (10 minutes from Ponca
on Hwy. 74) where you’ll float 8 miles to Kyle’s Landing. This section still features the finest scenery on the upper river, including
Big Bluff (at 550-ft. the tallest single-faced bluff in mid-America) and Hemmed-In Hollow, the tallest waterfall in mid-America. This
section of river takes between 4 and 6 hours to complete, depending upon the individual and whether or not you take advantage of side-trip
hiking opportunities.
Pruitt to Hasty (7.5 miles)
When river conditions are too low to float from Steel Creek, we then move 24 miles downriver to the Pruitt launch (on Hwy. 7, about 5
miles north of Jasper), where you’ll float to Hasty. The day-trip float on this section of river takes about 4 or 5 hours to complete.
From a scenery standpoint, this is the second prettiest section of the river with nice bluffs featured along the way.
Booking a Boat
Call us at 1-800-221-5514 to book your boat(s). For weekend rentals, you’ll want to book in advance as we are always 100% booked on Saturdays,
oftentimes a month ahead of time.
Getting On The River
First, come to our office in Ponca between 8:00 AM and Noon to learn your launch site, complete your national park contract, and pay for your boat(s).
This is also when you will arrange and pay
for your vehicle shuttle should you need one. Once this is done, you will drive to the launch site, where our staff will be waiting for you with boats,
paddles, PFDs, and trash bags.
How Our Shuttle Service Works
While you are on the river, we will shuttle your car from the launch site to the take out, unless, of course, your party has multiple cars and you prefer
to do it yourself. Running your own shuttle takes about an hour. Here are some helpful things to know about us shuttling your car:
- Shuttles do not have to be booked in advance, even on weekends.
- Bringing a spare key with you is helpful.
- Shuttles are generally run in the order in which the requests are received. We do everything possible to get your vehicle to the take out before you
come off the river and we accomplish this almost 100% of the time. Thank you for your patience, however, on those rare exception days when shuttle volume is high.
Car owners requesting shuttles after 11:00 AM may experience a slight delivery delay. Even on these days, however, we are usually able to have all vehicles
moved by 5:30 PM.
Private Shuttles
We can provide shuttle service for private boaters wishing to save time and make their river trip even more enjoyable and convenient. Please note that on
heavy demand days (such as Saturdays in April and May), we may not be able to serve all private boaters asking for shuttle assistance. It is always wise to
arrive at our office in Ponca by 10:30 AM in order to assure the availability of private shuttle service.
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