The Lower Current River | Kayaking Camping Big Spring - Doniphan

We're all familiar with those amazing sights of the upper Current River. from Montauk Spring, Medlock, Cedargrove and Aker Ferry, to Cave Spring, Pulltite and Round Spring. What does the Lower Current have to offer the Ozarks?

Join us as we Kayak Camp our way from Big Spring near Van Buren to Doniphan where we meet up with some friends to hang at a great little VRBO cabin on the water.

Current River is the prime floating river in Missouri. But the further down her you get, the more homes on the water, motor boats and the less scenic it gets. But that doesn't mean it can't be magical. The call of the Current River is undeniable. For those of you familiar with the upper Current, the lower just isn’t the same. But the Current will draw you in just the same.

We’ve seen so many springs in the Ozarks this year, but Big Spring is unique. It does have the feel of a park and less off the beaten path from many of our favorites. With flows nearing 300 million gallons a day, it’s thought to one of the largest springs in the world. A spectacular karst hillside and bluff with several small caves can be explored around the Spring.

The first thing you notice about the lower Current, is it is a big river. No more charming stream, but a wide, powerful course prone to deluge is carrying you off. Because of this, you can cover so much more river quickly at an average moving speed of almost 5 mph. As wide as it is of course means fewer scenic bluffs cut by the narrow rill of like the upper.
And many jet boats cruise up and down the lower Currents bends sending wake at the helpless kayakers.

But just web you think your on a new river, uncanny rock formations and perfect swimming holes remind
you the Current is still that spring fed majesty it was 60 miles upstream.

It’s easy not to appreciate how fast you’re moving unless you track the data. Our average moving speed is nearly twice as fast than near Akers Ferry.

Finding suitable camping can be a touch tricky since Mark Twain National Forest splatters the map with little consistency the further of Big Spring you get.


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