Float The Illinois River

Float Oklahoma's Scenic Illinois River

Like many Ozark Rivers, Oklahoma's Lower Illinois River offers scenic limestone bluffs, clear water and gravel bars.
The Illinois River offers camping, cabins, fly-fishing, tubing and float trips from two hours to two days long.
A large number of canoe outfitters, campgrounds, cabins and float trip operators on the Illinois River are listed below. Renting a canoe, kayak or raft is easy.
Enjoy the easy highway access to many canoe outfitters and lots of public accesses from Scenic Hwy 10 near Tahlequah, OK.
We like to take a 9-mile from Peavine Public Access to No Head Hollow Public Access. We also take a 13-mile trip from No Head Hollow to the Highway bridge. Both are perfect for self-shuttled float trips.
A short drive from more float trips in great Ozark Rivers like The Elk River, The Kings River, The White River The Spring River and The Buffalo River.
Launch early and paddle quietly to see: Osprey, Whitetail Deer, Trout and Herons on your float trip. Look for great Summertime concerts at area nightspots.
A new law has been passed which states that all coolers on the Illinois River must have a locking system or they must be held shut with a bungee. Hopefully, this new law will help cut down on the littering that occurs when coolers are tipped over in the water.

Illinois River level was at 3.22 ft on Monday, 6/29/2009 2PM CDT.

Decent river level for family float trips on either the upper or lower Illinois River near Tahlequah, OK.
Check current Illinois River level.

Click to enlarge

Taken on the Illinois River near
Tahlequah, OK

Oklahoma Sooners UA Performance Heatgear Long Sleeve Training Tee
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Choose a stable, easy to paddle recreational kayak.

Spring River Near Quapaw in Northern Oklahoma

Fly Fishing in Oklahoma

The Lower Illinois River is a designated trout fishing stream. Anglers find rainbow and brown trout, stripers, crappie, catfish and bass. Winter is a good time of year for fly fishing on the Illinois River as the water is often quite warm in the summer.

Every person fishing MUST have a trout license from the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife and a fishing license if 16 or older. The river is stocked every other week in July through March and once a week in April.

The Designated Trout Area on the Illinois River is from Tenkiller Dam to Hwy. 64 bridge near Gore in Sequoyah County.

The folks at MarVal Resort promote trout fishing in the area and are open all year long.

The Mountain Fork River in Southeastern, Oklahoma near Broken Bow is a more common spot to see folks fly fishing.

For detailed maps and directions to Oklahoma's trout fishing resources, you can't beat the Oklahoma Dept. of Wildlife's trout fishing page.

Guidelines for canoes, kayaks and rafts on the Illinois River neat Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

Paddling the Illinois River (Weather & River Level)

Check out our latest Illinois River Trip Report on Our Blog! Our Spring 2008 float trip down the Illinois River was a blast!

Elephant Rock - Famous landmark for paddlers on Oklahoma's Illinois River Float Trips.

In October of 2006, Dianne and I visited Elephant Rock Nature Park. You can read all about our trip to Elephant Rock's excellent camping spot in our archived blog posting.

Moe trip reports on this page below the outfitters list.

Illinois River Canoe & Kayak Rentals and Campgrounds List

Dianne and I joined up with Yakker for a self-shuttled, Friday kayaking trip down the scenic Illinois River . At just over 4 feet, the river level was perfect for our entire trip. We put-in at the public access at No Head Hollow and paddled down to the public take-out at the Highway 62 Bridge. I think it was about 13 miles, but I couldn't say for sure. The water flow was so good that we only needed to paddle when we wanted to pass a canoe or negotiate an obstacle. For a full list of public access points on the Illinois River, download a copy of the Floater's Guide from the Oklahoma Scenic River Commission.

Just about 15 minutes into our trip, Dianne saw a Bald Eagle hunting from a tree top. It even let us get close enough to take some pictures before flying away. Since we launched around 9am on a weekday, we saw only a few canoes and two kayaks paddling the river with us. The weather, like the water level, was perfect at 70+ degrees and little wind.

We saw lots of large carp, several large blue herons and dozens of turtles. I saw one canoe turnover, not due to an obstacle, but rather a poor launch. Although there are no real rapids on the Illinois River float trip we took, there are some downed trees to avoid and barely submerged root balls from past flooding. Although you watch out for these, you are bound to get the occasional unexpected bump. Be prepared and don't paddle alone if you can help it.

I took my old Perception Swifty kayak, Dianne paddled her 12 foot Vapor Angler and Yakker had his newly purchased Dagger Edisto touring kayak. Despite paddling a somewhat tippy 15 foot boat, Yakker admirably managed the few obstacles the river threw at us. Dianne's Vapor performed well and my old Swifty just about has this river memorized. We stopped on a random gravel bar for a brief snack and again at Todd Public Access for a bathroom break.

After we made it to the take-out at the Highway 62 Bridge, we were all eager to find some grub. However, my priority was to rummage through the outfitters stores for some kayaking t-shirts. I grabbed some decent canoeing shirts from the stores at Diamondhead and War Eagle, but alas...no kayaking shirts. Thankfully, right next to War Eagle's outfitter store we found Fatty's BBQ!

We enjoyed Pulled Pork sandwiches and Potato Salad Alfresco from Fatty's BBQ. The pulled pork was delicious. It was a perfect day on the water.

The Illinois River provides the introduction to paddling given to most every Oklahoma boys. We floated it twice on the same weekend as the Buffalo River Trip via Falcon Floats and All American Floats. Both outfitters are right on the river, but the take out point for Falcon Floats is a little tough to find due to some fallen timber. In fact, we paddled right past it!

Illinois River Float Trip Tip: Although Ziplock bags are better than nothing, they are NOT waterproof! Smart paddlers get Dry Bags - a smaller one to hold wallet, keys, camera, cell phone, etc., and a large one to hold a change of clothes in case you go in during the colder months.

The folks at the next take out (All American) were real nice and helpful and had such a well marked take out point, we took another short float via their Sit-On-Top Kayaks.

It was our first time on any kind of kayak and we found them to be great fun. They are supposed to be faster than canoes, but since Dianne and I tandem canoe, the one man kayaks didn't seem much faster. We were passing loads of canoes and rafts, but that isn't unusual. We are certainly eager to try out some Tandem Kayaks one of these days. -- Tom & Di

Take This Boat...and Shuttle It

With so much new rain in our part of the world, we had to think hard to decide where to dip our paddles this weekend. I wanted to rent a cabin. Since it was also Mother's Day, it didn't seem right to make the long-suffering mother of my cherished son sleep in a tent. Finally, we both decided that we would like to take the opportunity to paddle the Illinois River again before the Memorial Day rush.

Shuttle Skuttlebutt

More Illinois River outfitters were open this weekend than were open on our last journey down this river. However, this weekend we insisted on bringing our own kayaks. We had a fun trip as usual. We saw the Eagle again, but didn't manage to capture a good picture like last time.

I spoke to several outfitters on the phone and time after time they told me that they didn't want my business. I have heard that there are insurance problems with hauling non-outfitter owned boats, but that sounds like a lame excuse to me. I wonder if there is any enterprising folks running a taxi service in the area? Ultimately, I just needed a ride back to the put-in where we left the family car and kayak trailer. (Warning: unqualified opinion ahead!)

Paddling outfitters beware, the growing trend of not shuttling private boats and passengers divides you from some of your most avid supporters and proponents. Tourism is a business that only thrives in the midst of strong support business networks. You don't build a strong network by isolating the largest nodes. The current strategy appears to be based on hoping I'm willing to wait in line to rent their leaky boats. Better cell phone signal quality, more campsites with Wifi access and respecting the need for and value of services like shuttling private boats would gather much more of my coin than the current strategy.

Green River Floats is an exception to the rule. We called them on my cell phone from our take-out at War Eagle Landing. They arrived quickly and were happy to take us AND our two kayaks to our put-in at Riverside Resort. We gladly payed $20 for the service. Riverside Resort provided us with a decent cabin, but the lack of services for my boats means I may not choose their campground next time.

Can Your Hear Me Now...Good!

Although everywhere else I tried my cell phone on the Illinois River was a deadspot, I had full signal at War Eagle / Green River Landing. If I find out they have WIFI internet available there, I may have to come back and camp near there.

Speaking of wireless internet camping, I got word from Tom, at K-River Campground on the Kiamichi River, that you can now get Wifi access to compliment the camping at his paddle resort. Stop by KRiver.com for details.

One of the things I really love about the Buffalo River in nearby Gilbert, Arkansas is that my cell phone worked well everywhere I checked both on and off the river. IMHO, this now represents and important safety and commerce infrastructure need for Oklahoma's scenic rivers.

The Illinois River originates near Hogeye, southwest of Fayetteville, and flows west, crossing the Ozarks into Oklahoma five miles south of Siloam Springs. Eventually it flows into the Arkansas River near Gore, Okla.

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Free Illinois River Paddler Information Resources

Ozark Outdoors Adventures

Paddlers Supply Store Links:

Thunderbird Lanes in Tahlequah

Float The Illinois River

Fly Fishing in Oklahoma

Paddling the Illinois River (Weather & River Level)

Illinois River Canoe & Kayak Rentals and Campgrounds List

Take This Boat...and Shuttle It