Arkansas Canoe Club Forums

Hi folks new member here, but I've known many of you for years.
FYI - I just got back from a great float on the Neches River in Texas with three friends of mine from Oklahoma, Utah, and Texas. The float on this lowland river was basically through the entire length of the Big Thicket National Preserve in extreme southeast Texas. Therefore the preserve status provides some seclusion, especially this time of year. We only saw one other boat and that was an aluminum jon boat with a small outboard motor with 4 camo-wearing dudes in it. The only development along the banks consisted of "houseboats" (floating dock houses) that were grandfathered in when the area became a preserve, as I understand, and most of those looked abandoned due to damage from hurricane related floods earlier this year. But the river was really nice with slow but ample current and more gradient toward the downstream reaches. Simple description - turbid water, lots of snags and logs (but no dangers), lowland trees including cypress, lot's of birds, and great big sandy beaches for perfect camping conditions.

Floated Village Creek several times while working for the Nature Conservancy in Silsbee, but never got around to paddling the Neches. Where did you put in and take out?

You ought to join one of the Ozark Society Bayou Chapter's Red River floats - conditions very similar to what you've described. We've done about 150 miles of the Red on 5 different legs. I can't go, but there's a group doing a 3 day float on the Red above Texarkana this weekend - Friday-Sunday. If anyone's interested, let me know and I'll put you in touch with the ringleader, Jack Land.

sounds like a great float Bowfin

Sounds like a nice paddle. My first time in a kayak was a night paddle on the Neches. It was just under flood level and had a 7mph current.

bowfin wrote: The float on this lowland river was basically through the entire length of the Big Thicket National Preserve in extreme southeast Texas.

See any really big woodpeckers?