Trip Reports
Finding Flow – Eleven Point River
You must be happy, my friend offered. Oh yeah? Why’s that? All this rain he replied, clearly surprised that I wasn’t vibrating with anticipation. Rain? I logged onto Weather Underground, briefly allowing myself to believe there was a chance, however remote, that there was indeed rain coming. Then I looked at the extended forecast – […]
Heavener Runestone Park
Fellow adventurers, there was no getting around it. The Arkansas Adventure Guide crew was beat. In addition to meeting the usual demands of life, negotiating a series of welcome and rewarding but by no means effortless changes had left us – well, as I said, beat. We were in desperate need of a rest. This […]
Little Missouri Narrows
Fellow adventurers, have you been outside lately? There’s no getting around it – it’s hot! I couldn’t stick around to confirm, but I was pretty sure I saw a chicken lay an omelette last week. Hot or cold though, adventurers gotta adventure, so what to do? I’ll tell you what. Seek out some cool, sweet […]
Lower Buffalo River – Rush to Shipps Ferry
Fellow adventurers, have you decided it’s finally time to try a multi-day float? And if you have, are you wondering where that float should be? Well, good – I know just the place! Okay Deuce, where? I’m glad you asked! No, not the bow of Blue Steel. You’re welcome there of course, but I’m talking […]
Mount Hersey to Woolum, Buffalo National River
What do you do when your family asks you to take them on their first ever Buffalo trip? That’s a rhetorical question. So what if their number exceeds the capacity of your fleet? That just means you need to temporarily expand your fleet. Thankfully my friend John Dean was happy to lend me his red […]
Overnight Loop Hike, Upper Buffalo River District
Early November is a magical time of year in the Ozarks. There’s a slight nip in the air – just enough to remind us fall has arrived – critters are preparing for the winter and the foliage is resplendent, having just reached or barely surpassed its peak. Mustard yellow, orange and ochre hues float in […]
Ponca to Kyles Landing, Christmas On the Buffalo Part 1
Maybe you’ve heard of #OptOutside. It’s a brilliant campaign REI launched five years ago wherein they close all their stores, including the one online, and pay their people to enjoy the outdoors instead of succumbing to the craven insanity that is Black Friday. I don’t work at REI, but opting out seemed like a great […]
Ponca to Kyles Landing, Christmas on the Buffalo Part 2
If you missed Part I check it out here. If there’s one thing adventuring outdoors has taught me it is flexibility, especially when it comes to planning around Ma Nature. We can’t control the weather, fellow adventurers. We can embrace it, face it, avoid it or adjust to it. We can prepare for it (and […]
Rattlesnake Ridge Natural Area
12.9 miles. That’s about ten percent of the drive the Arkansas Adventure Guide crew usually undertakes (one way) for an outing. It’s nice though, to be able to walk out the back door on a bluebird Sunday afternoon and be immersed in pure Arkansas adventure twenty minutes later. Twenty minutes, Deuce? I thought you lived […]
South X Southwest, A Day On the Ouachita River
The Arkansas Adventure Guide crew had a problem. We were spending too much time in north Arkansas. Okay, that’s not really a problem, but just go with it. Haven’t you people ever heard of rhetorical flourish? My point is, there’s adventuring to be had all over The Natural State, including in the southwest corner. Case […]
Talimena State Park to Deadman Gap, Ouachita Trail
I hope you don’t think this trip report is cheating. I was just across the Oklahoma border, so strictly speaking it wasn’t in Arkansas. However, the Ouachita Trail stretches all the way to Pinnacle Mountain State Park in Little Rock, so I think I’m good to go. If you disagree; well, get your own adventure! […]
Tall Peak, Ouachita National Forest
It’s a good problem to have, but a problem nonetheless. Water? Trail? North, south, east, west? The Natural State offers the adventurer an embarrassment of riches; so many in fact that the simple matter of deciding where to spend a precious Autumn weekend is anything but. The task at hand was daunting to be sure, […]
The Frog, the ELF and the Mink
This is not the seed of an ancient Chinese proverb or the title of a posthumously discovered Tolkien novel. It’s not even the beginning of a joke involving a frog, an elf and a mink that walked into a bar, although it does occur to me that would make an excellent joke. What it is, […]
The Frog, the ELF and the Mink, Part II
If you missed part I check it out here. Blue. We like blue. Blue on the American Whitewater gauge links means too high, and in some places too high can be just right. In our experience one such place is the Mulberry River, so a blue gauge on a hot summer day when we were […]
The Crew
Welcome from the Arkansas Adventure Guide crew! We’d love to tell you a little about ourselves.
Deuce
Luke “Deuce” Coop is a lover of adventure and the written word. He’s paddled, rowed, camped, fished and hiked across the map but his favorite outdoor adventure playground is his own back yard. Whether he’s float camping the Buffalo, paddling the Mulberry, Little Missouri or Big Piney or hiking the Ouachita or Buffalo River trails he’s right at home adventuring in Arkansas, and thanks to Arkansas Adventure Guide he can take you along. He looks forward to seeing you out there!
Bec
Bec Dwyer-Coop can be found around The Natural State float camping, stand-up paddle boarding or gazing up from a gravel bar at night at the holes in the blanket. She adds a fresh and unhurried perspective to Arkansas adventure and to The Guide and is an indispensable part of the crew. She’s also Izzy the Adventure Dog’s mom.
Izzy the Adventure Dog
Izzy’s job is to provide snuggles, lessons and laughs. In all three endeavors she exceeds expectations while also enriching every adventure the crew undertakes. If you’re not familiar with her origin story CLICK HERE to give it a read, then join her (and the rest of the crew) for more adventure!