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 | Arkansas Highway 9 bridge, Salem AR 9 / Main Street, Salem | Bridge crossing | 36.38457, -91.80924 | The upper river at Salem, about 18 river miles above the usual put-in. Southwest Paddler's float starts downstream at the Highway 198 crossing; the water above here is narrower and shallower. |
| 2 | Arkansas Highway 198 crossing (Fernwood Road) Fernwood Road, southeast of Salem | Access / boat ramp | 36.33946, -91.71415 | Southwest Paddler's put-in and river mile 0.0 of the 29.25-mile South Fork run. OSM names the bridge Fernwood Road and carries no route number on it. |
| 3 | Heart Road bridge (Highways 61 and 222) Heart Road, just north of Heart | Access / boat ramp | 36.34786, -91.65873 | Published at river mile 7.84; measured 8.55 mi along the chained centreline from the Highway 198 put-in. OSM names the bridge Heart Road with no route number. |
| 4 | Arkansas Highway 289 crossing at Saddle AR 289, southwest of Saddle | Access / boat ramp | 36.35278, -91.63457 | Published at river mile 10.0, measured 10.73. Many paddlers start here rather than at Highway 198 because the river above Saddle is narrower and shallower. |
| 5 | USGS 07069295 - South Fork Spring River at Saddle USGS streamgauge | USGS gauge | 36.35222, -91.63361 | The gauge this water page reads. Its OSM monitoring-station node sits 0.08 km off the chained centreline, which confirms the coordinate. |
| 6 | Pine Valley Road bridge Pine Valley Road | Bridge crossing | 36.33250, -91.56876 | Measured at river mile 19.80, where Southwest Paddler's ladder puts Slick Rock Ford on County Road 1299. Shipped under the name OSM carries. That report calls the ford dangerous at high water and portageable. |
| 7 | Upper Cherokee Road bridge Cherokee Road, Cherokee Village | Access / boat ramp | 36.31645, -91.54870 | Published at river mile 22.52, measured 23.32. Southwest Paddler notes this bridge and the golf-course low-water bridge just above it may both need a portage. |
| 8 | Cherokee Road bridge at Cherokee Camp Cherokee Road off AR 175 | Access / boat ramp | 36.32225, -91.53402 | Published at river mile 23.9 as Cherokee Camp, measured 24.59. The old bridge piers here are the paddlers' eyeball gauge: more than a foot of freeboard reads too low, less than six inches dangerously high. |
| 9 | Flathead Drive ford Flathead Drive, Cherokee Village | Access / boat ramp | 36.31110, -91.52586 | Published at river mile 25.21 as a low-water bridge and river ford. Southwest Paddler calls it dangerous in high water and portageable on either side. |
| 10 | Papoosa Park Cherokee Village | Park / conservation area | 36.30757, -91.52626 | Town park on the bank between the Flathead Drive and Griffin Road fords, 0.32 km off the centreline. |
| 11 | Griffin Road ford Griffin Road, Cherokee Village | Access / boat ramp | 36.30926, -91.50959 | Published at river mile 26.3 as a low-water bridge and river ford, measured 27.02. The last crossing above the mouth; dangerous in high water and portageable on either side. |
| 12 | Mouth - confluence with the Spring River West of Hardy | Point of interest | 36.31980, -91.49748 | The downstream end of the South Fork, taken from the last vertex of the chained OSM centreline. Southwest Paddler's take-out, Hardy Beach, is about 0.9 mile further down the Spring River and is on that water's own sheet. |
Gauge: USGS 07069295 — South Fork Spring River at Saddle, AR. Live flow on the web page.
Species: Channel Catfish, Longear Sunfish, Ozark Bass, Rainbow Trout, Shadow Bass, Smallmouth 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.
Saddle - the community the gauge is named for, on the middle river.
Hardy - the nearest town with services, on the Spring River below the confluence.
Spring River - the larger cold river the South Fork joins.
Mammoth Spring - the enormous spring at the head of the Spring River system to the north.
Salem - the Fulton County seat upstream to the west.
Gravel bar landings at county road crossings - the standard public put ins for floats.
Highway 62 and Highway 289 - the main routes reaching the river corridor.
Spring: high water makes it a float, with smallmouth aggressive as the water warms.
Summer: low clear flows ideal for wading gravel bars and sight fishing the pools.
Fall: moderate water, cooling temperatures and the most consistent smallmouth fishing.
Winter: cold and slow, with fish concentrated in the deeper bluff pools and trout below.