Little River, AR, Hwy 71 Wilton Landing Launch, down
Kayak paddle trail route map on the Little River near Ashdown, AR, north of Texarkana. This trip launched out of Wilton Landing along Highway 71 and went downstream to a large interior oxbow lake. Other trips from this same launch go upstream or into the nearby Cossatot River. The entrance to the oxbow is a little channel but despite being isolated there were 5 or 6 motorboats in there fishing, on a weekday, so popular spot. Within the curve of the oxbow are some swampy regions that can be explored. And it’s pretty easy to complete the counterclockwise loop back out to Little River rather than return back through the oxbow. Quite a few alligators, although everybody was a bit skittish today and it was difficult to get a good snapshot. The nearby Pond Creek NWR is a nice place to camp, as well as Millwood State Park and several Corps of Engineers sites near the dam. The route in the map was about 16 miles round trip. The Little River gage near Horatia read 950 cfs so the river was low, but Millwood Lake itself was at full pool, about 259 feet.
33.78191,-94.14989
Launch Site Google Maps Link
Above: Morning sunlight just past the Hwy 71 bridge.
Above: Swamp marigolds.
Above: Some side pools were loaded with Lily pads.
Above: This guy is decent sized. But he knew, because a second later…
Above: ka-boom.
Above: Nurse log, a strip of green growing on it.
