Jones Valley

The proximity of the Caddo River to Jones Valley makes it a premiere recreational opportunity for the family and our guests. You can fish, swim, canoe and kayak on the river or just take a stroll down and enjoy its beauty. On this page you'll find information about and links to internet information covering aspects of recreating on the river. There are many other recreations available near Jones Valley and I hope others will create a page covering that with which they are familiar.

This article is written as Larry Braswell and I prepare for a trek to the Valley this weekend for some kayaking and fishing and I hope in the future to add some photos (maybe of huge fish!) and enhance the info here. In the meanwhile, add comments with additional info you might have.

First, a little info about the river itself. It's a small, relatively unknown river but touted as one of the best smallmouth bass rivers in Arkansas. On Wildernet we find the following about the Caddo:

Read on and you'll be convinced.

For Fishing enthusiasts

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has a lot of information on their website including all about fishing licenses, fishing regulations and the like. You can even buy your license online and you'll get an immediate confirmation that you print and can use until the hard copy comes in the mail. The non-resident license is $40 for an annual, or $11 for a 3-day license.

There are general size and limit restrictions statewide, and for smallmouth bass on the Caddo there are special rules in the "flowing streams" section of the regulations. Scroll down that page to the Caddo River section and you find (at the time of this writing) that the smallmouth limit is 12" and 2 in possession.

Canoeing and Kayaking

There is a great article on the Southwest Paddler site about going down the Caddo. It covers the length of the floating portion of the Caddo from the Highway 27 put-in near Norman to DeGray Lake, a total distance of 40 miles. The most popular section is from one of the two commercial outfitters near the Valley down to Glenwood. If you have your own canoe or kayak you have other opportunities that are covered in that article or further on the Caddo River Camping and Canoe Rental site. Arrowhead Cabin and Canoe Rentals is another popular vendor. Both are quite near the Valley and easy to find. Their websites have directions.

For those of you interested in floating the river, river height and stream flow information
is available from the US Geological Survey (USGS) site with realtime
information. Here are a few more links to info about the river:

•  Arkansas.com
• Wildernet
• Trails.com for the route FR73 to Amity (this is a registration / fee site)

Before planning to float, check the river height and stream flow
information (see link above). You'll want it at a 5.0 or better gauge
height. Here is some technical info from that Southwest Paddler site:

Caution

There are important and potentially costly regulations on Arkansas waterways when you are in a canoe, kayak or inner tube. They are set forth here as found on the Game and Fish Commission site as of October 2008. Check for changes.