Sardis Lake, Jackfork Creek, Oklahoma

This kayak paddle route starts at the Corps of Engineers Sardis Cove Boat Ramp (five bucks or an America the Beautiful pass) and launches into Sardis Lake, Oklahoma. The route goes west and upstream into Jackfork Creek to the point of a long wide riffle that I didn’t want to pull the boat up through, then returns across the lake to the ramp. The day was cold and windy in the morning, with ice hanging from plants along the shore, but there was a bit of sunshine later that lit the surface of the nearby mountains. The creek had minimal flow, with an occasional riffle, and it was an easy paddle except for a few logjam portages or squeeze-throughs. I lost a nice rain jacket that I had (stupidly) not tied onto the boat securely, it must have caught on a branch somewhere. One of the side ‘lagoons’ off the main creek had a beaver dam and I saw a couple beavers, a deer and a ‘wild’ beehive hanging from a tree. Great winter scenery especially with the surrounding mountains. Sardis Lake is a nice place to paddle, isolated, and not too far from Dallas. A trip up the North Jackfork is next on the list.