On the Jack's Fork

I made my first float by canoe on the Jack's Fork River when I was about 14 years old. My sister and I were in one canoe and my parents were in the other. We floated from Buck Hollow to Bunker Hill Teacher's Resort. That was before the national park was established and before the Missouri State Teacher's Association prohibited use of the resort for canoe access.


When Linda and I moved back to Mountain View we were determined to enjoy the Jack's Fork and the Current River, the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. We bought our canoe in May 2005 and our first float was from Buck Hollow to Blue Spring. In 2005 we took five floats. In 2004 we had only floated three times in rented canoes. We floated six times in 2006, four times in 2007, and nine times in 2008.

This is the story of our 2008 canoe trips. My first 2008 float was on April 15. Linda was still working at the tax office and I went with Glenn Miller and Gene Woolsey. We floated from the Prongs to Buck Hollow (6.8 miles). The Buck Hollow river gage was 3.1 feet. The green heron and the belted kingfisher followed our progress. Most years the water level in the upper Jack's Fork, above Alley Spring, is too low for good floating after July 4. But in 2008, with over 60 inches of rain for the year, all nine floats were on the Jack's Fork.



Gene Woolsey was in the bow of my canoe. He was a brave man that cool day. I got him wet before we even started. Before leaf-out you can see through the woods very easily. Gene spotted 3 deer that day.


On the second float of 2008, May 29, Linda and I went again from the Prongs to Buck Hollow. The national park, the Ozarks National Scenic Riverways (established in 1964), starts about halfway through this section. It was a busy day on the river. We saw 34 turtles and 9 snakes, including 6 water snakes, 2 black snakes, and 1 copperhead. The great blue herons had arrived, as well as the Louisiana water thrush. We also saw Linda's favorite bird, the indigo bunting.


Our third float was on July 2. Faithful floating friends, Dean and Julie Summers from Illinois came for a canoe trip. They are loyal "river companions". Dean and Julie haven't missed a year yet. In the past they have floated Alley to Eminence on the Jack's Fork, Aker's to Pulltite and Pulltite to Round Spring on the Current River. This was their first trip on the beautiful upper Jack's Fork. We floated from Buck Hollow to Rymer's this day(9.4 miles).


The river gage at Buck Hollow was 1.9 feet this day. Outfitters stop putting their canoes in the upper Jack's Fork when the level falls below 1.5 feet.

This river section includes Jam Up Cave and the entrance of Jam Up Creek which flows intermittently from downtown Mountain View.



Trip Number Four on July 10 was a repeat from Buck Hollow to Rymer's. But this time was different. Linda's brother, Kent, and our son, Brad, home from Africa, fished the whole day.

They caught dozens of rock bass, sunfish, and smallmouths that day, including enough for a fish fry. But I never landed a fish. The sad thing is that Brad in now a "Fishing Depee".


It was a little cloudy and the water was a little murky. Good day for fishing and for birding. The yellow-breasted chat was especially noisy this day.



By this time of the summer, the upper Jack's Fork is usually too low to float (without excessive walking). But on this date it was actually higher than on July 2. The Buck Hollow river gage was 2.05 feet.



On July 24 we decided to get serious about covering the entire length of the Jack's Fork in one season. Linda and I floated from Rymer's to Bay Creek (9.0 miles). And I actually caught five smallmouths. See photo. (Gage=1.6 ft.)




I had only floated this stretch of river one other time and that was in about 1972. The river valley is wider here with fewer steep limestone bluffs. We saw the first "Jack's Fork wood ducks" of the summer this day.





On August 2, in the heart of the normally dry season, Linda and I floated from Bay Creek to the Alley Spring access (5.8 miles). This was my first ever trip on this section of the river. (Gage=1.7 ft.)

On August 15 Linda and I floated with my nephew, Andy Ellett, and his wife Betsy. We went from Buck Hollow to Blue Spring (2.8 miles). This was a repeat trip on this section of the river. It was a short afternoon float, but the water level was good(gage=1.5 ft.).


On September 18 Linda and I completed another previously "unexplored" river section. We floated from Eminence to Two Rivers (7.3 miles). In the photo on the right you can see the waters of the Jack's Fork entering the Current River. I saw my first Jack's Fork osprey that day and it was a great "turtle" day. We counted 101 turtles. We often see wood ducks on the Current River and on this last 8 mile stretch above the Current we counted 18 woodies. The river gage back upstream at Buck Hollow was up to 2.1 ft.



We've floated from Alley Spring access to Eminence (6.3 miles) many times, but that was the only remaining river section we had not floated in 2008. On October 10, Illinois friend, Jerry Sanders, and I completed the "Jack's Fork in One Season" project. Bird life was much "quieter" in October. We only heard pileated woodpeckers, belted kingfishers, American crows, and bluejays. Jerry loves to fish and he worked hard to catch some Ozark smallmouth, but to no avail.



There's nothing better than a bright day on the Jack's Fork, spring, summer, or fall. Maybe a winter float is next for us.


Quoting Oz Hawksley in Missouri Ozark Waterways (1965:98), the Jack's Fork is "one of the wildest and most scenic of the Missouri Ozark streams. Its deep valley is nearly a canyon, with no bottomland fields for the first 25 floatable miles."


And it is only 5 miles from our house.