Print it. Bag it. Bring it.Phones die, screens crack, and most of this water has no signal. Print this map, fold it into a zip-top bag or dry bag with your license, and you have a backup your electronics can’t give you. Every marker is numbered so you can say exactly where you are.
| # | Point | Type | Lat, Lon | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RiverView Cabins & Canoes Canoe rental and cabins, upper Ouachita | Outfitter / canoe rental | 34.60869, -93.77419 | Canoe rental on the forest reach, 0.21 km off the centreline. OSM tags it tourism=chalet; re-typed to outfitter because the rental, not the lodging, is what a floater needs. The usual source of a boat for the Oden-to-Rocky Shoals run. |
| 2 | USGS streamgage - Ouachita River, upper forest reach Reference gauge for this water page | USGS gauge | 34.61000, -93.69750 | Real-time flow and the gauge the water page links. Coordinate taken from the site roster, not typed by hand; it sits on the centreline in the forest reach above Lake Ouachita. The USGS station name was not confirmed this run. |
| 3 | Fulton Branch Recreation Area Ouachita National Forest; canoe launch | Access / boat ramp | 34.62595, -93.65935 | Forest Service recreation area on the float trail, 0.11 km off the centreline by its own polygon. The access road beside it is named Fulton Branch Canoe Launch Rd in OSM, which is what confirms the launch. |
| 4 | Dragover Recreation Area Ouachita National Forest; float trail access | Access / boat ramp | 34.64260, -93.63075 | Forest Service access on the Ouachita River float trail, 0.19 km off the centreline. One of the standard put-ins and take-outs on the free-flowing reach above Lake Ouachita. |
| 5 | River Bluff Recreation Area Ouachita National Forest; riverside camping | Campsite | 34.63982, -93.62603 | Forest Service camping area on the bank, 0.08 km off the centreline, immediately downstream of Dragover. The usual first-night camp on an overnight float trail trip. |
| 6 | Buddy's Landing River access and campground near Oden | Access / boat ramp | 34.62619, -93.54238 | An unnamed slipway on the centreline, 0.32 km out, with an unnamed campsite 0.2 km away and the OSM place node Buddys Landing between them - the three together place and name it. The only X Landing node that ships. |
| 7 | Blakely Mountain Dam U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; forms Lake Ouachita | Dam / hazard | 34.57251, -93.19480 | The Corps dam that ends the free-flowing reach and forms Lake Ouachita, 0.09 km off the centreline. Hard take-out: the float trail stops in the lake above. AGFC manages the cold tailwater below as trout water. |
| 8 | Carpenter Dam Forms Lake Hamilton | Dam / hazard | 34.44277, -93.02637 | Second dam of the Hot Springs chain, 0.10 km off the centreline, forming Lake Hamilton above and releasing into Lake Catherine below. The lake is a separate water page; nothing on its arms is on this sheet. |
| 9 | Remmel Dam Forms Lake Catherine | Dam / hazard | 34.42695, -92.89433 | Third dam of the chain, 0.09 km off the centreline. Below it the river is free-flowing again and the gentle float to Interstate 30 begins; scheduled release weekends raise it to whitewater at Rockport Ledge. |
| 10 | Ouachita River Whitewater Park Rockport Ledge, northwest of Malvern | Access / boat ramp | 34.39427, -92.84158 | The Rockport Ledge play reach a few hundred yards above Interstate 30, 0.15 km off the centreline. A boulder drop-off paddlers use on release weekends, a gentle float otherwise. Scout it before running it high. |
| 11 | Ouachita River Park Arkadelphia, on the river | Park / conservation area | 34.11986, -93.04646 | City park on the bank at Arkadelphia, 0.11 km off the centreline - the one Arkadelphia green space that is actually on the water. Three other city parks and two campus lawns nearby passed the distance gate and were dropped. |
| 12 | Sandy Beach Park Camden; park with boat ramp | Access / boat ramp | 33.59382, -92.82016 | Riverside park at Camden, 0.21 km off the centreline, with an unnamed slipway 0.17 km away that the park names and places. Ships as one point, not two. The last developed access above the lock-and-dam reach. |
| 13 | Calion Lock and Dam Lock and Dam No. 8, Ouachita-Black navigation project | Dam / hazard | 33.30734, -92.48181 | First of the navigation structures on this sheet, 0.07 km off the centreline. Commercial lock chamber - a paddler needs to portage or arrange passage, not drift into the gates. An unnamed duplicate polygon 0.98 km away was dropped. |
| 14 | Moro Bay State Park Arkansas State Parks; Ouachita and Moro Bay confluence | Park / conservation area | 33.30123, -92.34625 | State park at the Moro Bay confluence, 0.46 km off the centreline, with two unnamed slipways within 0.13 km of the water that it names. Camping, a ramp and the ferry crossing; the main access on the middle navigation reach. |
| 15 | Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | Park / conservation area | 33.16426, -92.16488 | Refuge covering the lower Ouachita bottoms, 0.30 km off the centreline by its own geometry. OSM types it leisure=nature_reserve; re-typed to park. Flooded timber and backwater sloughs - navigation here is by the refuge's own marked routes. |
| 16 | Crossett Harbor Recreation Site Boat harbour inside Felsenthal refuge | Access / boat ramp | 33.14929, -92.10430 | Harbour and ramp on the refuge reach, 0.40 km off the centreline, with an unnamed slipway 0.12 km from the water beside it. The practical launch for the refuge pool. |
| 17 | Felsenthal Boat Ramp At Felsenthal Lock and Dam | Access / boat ramp | 33.06693, -92.12967 | Named ramp 0.34 km off the centreline, just above the lock and dam. The last ramp on this sheet with a name in OSM; a second unnamed slipway 1 km away was dropped as a near-duplicate. |
| 18 | Felsenthal Lock and Dam Ouachita-Black navigation project | Dam / hazard | 33.06096, -92.11375 | Navigation lock and dam 0.85 km off the centreline by centre point, controlling the refuge pool above. Portage or arrange passage; do not approach the gates. |
| 19 | Lock and Dam Number 6 Last structure above the Louisiana line | Dam / hazard | 33.03263, -92.08902 | The lowest navigation structure on the Arkansas Ouachita, 0.05 km off the centreline and roughly 4 km above the state line. Below here the river is Louisiana's and off this sheet. |
Gauge: USGS 07356000 — Ouachita River near Mount Ida, AR. Live flow on the web page.
Species: Bluegill, Channel Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Longear Sunfish, Ozark Bass, Rock Bass, Shadow Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Spotted Bass
Regulations: www.agfc.com/regulations/general-fishing-regulations/
Emergency: call 911 and give the number of the nearest point on this map plus its coordinates.
Mount Ida - the gauge reach and the main access point on the upper river.
Rocky Shoals - Ouachita National Forest access and a popular float launch.
Highway 27 crossing near Norman - bridge access on the upper reach.
Dragover - a classic float access in the national forest corridor.
Pine Ridge area - upper river access above the main float water.
Highway 270 crossings - access at several points along the valley.
Upper end of Lake Ouachita - the bottom of the free-flowing reach.
Spring: the best flows of the year and the strongest smallmouth fishing of the season.
Summer: low clear water, wading and sight fishing, with floats needing some dragging.
Fall: cooling water, active smallmouth and excellent color through the Ouachita valley.
Winter: slow and cold, with fish stacked in the deepest pools.