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    River Ranch Resort

    3.0 (33 reviews)
    Open • 9:00 am - 3:00 pm

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    The river

    This was amazing! I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with family. Accessible and friendly

    Sydney B.

    This is my husband and I's second trip to the resort. This year we opted for the Pod lodging and the 8 mile float. The pods were adorable and located right next to the water, we loved drinking our morning coffee on our tiny porch. The weather was perfect for our 8 mile float which was relaxing and so much fun as always. Post float we opted for steak dinners right outside of the convenience store. The steaks were perfectly cooked and tender enough to cut with plastic silverware. Overall we absolutely love coming here for weekends away and highly recommend.

    Anita B.

    Amazing property that's very well maintained and so many fun things to do, set in a place of gorgeous natural beauty. The staff is knowledgeable, helpful, and friendly. But what struck me the most was how much management cares about customers. Extraordinary service at this place! Definitely coming back!!!

    Calm and peaceful
    Patrick S.

    Has a great time floating the Elk River this weekend with a handful of my college buddies. The water was flowing nicely and the crowds were too bad. We did the 5mi float in kayaks and had a blast. Other than a few sunburns we all left in one piece and with our prides intact. Great fun and I'd highly recommend if you like being on the water at all.

    Elk River
    Shelby B.

    We had such a fun weekend here! And for a pretty decent price too. Obviously, the float itself was wonderful and River Ranch was accommodating to any and all of our needs, but beyond that, their food was surprisingly great. In the morning, they had a breakfast buffet for $8 that has eggs, bacon, sausage and biscuits and gravy. The coffee, not so great, but it's better than nothing. And at night, they make and will even deliver delicious pizza to your campsite. They will also bring you any firewood you might need to your campsite.

    The exterior.  Pretty nice operation.
    Lisa A.

    Two words: exceeds expectations. We took a float trip here on July 3, 2014. This isn't just a shack with a couple of beat-up, overpriced, old canoes like you find in a lot of areas. This is a large, well-organized operation with plenty of nice equipment and converted school busses to transport you to your destination. They also have a campsite and a really impressive camp store. Seriously, forget the stop at Walmart. Their store has everything you need. Competitive prices and a really nice selection of water shoes, clothes, camping equipment, snacks, and liquor. They have a small restaurant on site too and advertise that they can deliver pizza to your campsite. After browsing websites from various outfitters in the area, we chose this place to take a canoe float trip. Their website is well-designed, their prices are clearly indicated, slightly better than other places and they have special weekday rates. They transport you upstream to begin your trip so you end up back at camp whereas some of the others make you wait for a ride back to your vehicle at the end. Renting the canoe was easy. I called ahead, but no reservations were necessary. With it being July 3rd, I half expected them to charge us the more expensive weekend/holiday rate, but nope, we still got the regular weekday canoe rate of $16 each. Kayaks were available but more expensive. We opted for the 5 mile/2 - 4 hour trip which, as advertised, ending up taking us 2 hours and 20 minutes with us paddling most of the time. You could certainly stretch it out if you stopped and/or just floated. The river is super clear, and deep enough for the canoe, but not so terribly deep that you couldn't see the bottom for most of it. There are plenty of places where you could swim or fish. We saw lots of fish and turtles. The river was really clean too. Aside from a beer can here or there we really didn't see much trash. They even provided everyone with mesh trash sacks so it looks like that is paying off. We can't wait to come on another float trip here!

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    2 years ago

    A dump. Litter everywhere and dated facilities. Too much of a party scene and not for everyone.

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    9 years ago

    Best place on the river. Convenience store on site. Better call ahead as it sells out and you might end up somewhere else....

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    Ask the Community - River Ranch Resort

    Review Highlights - River Ranch Resort

    “The rates were affordable and bussing everyone to the float trip was really organized.”

    Mentioned in 5 reviews

    Read more highlights

    Gypsy Camp & Canoe - Kayaks

    Gypsy Camp & Canoe

    4.4(23 reviews)
    30.4 mi

    What a horrible experience! Let me first start off by saying that over the years I have spent…read morehundreds (maybe even thousands) of dollars floating & camping @ Gypsys. I have 3 kids under 9 that are small enough to sit on a kayak with an adult. Most of the time my husband & I rent 3 kayaks, a $90 rental. On this occasion we had friends with their own kayaks floating and we decided to rent a tandem kayak instead, a $60 rental, and let 2 children ride with the friends. Upon arrival, I asked my husband to pull up to the stairs & drop me off so that I could check in. It's the bus turn around area, there appeared to be no other customers present except 1 other person in our party, my knee was killing me, and it wasnt a big deal. However, the young man driving the bus didnt think so and was quick to reprimand. I explained my husband was just dropping me with my injured knee off so I could check in. The young man with his super trooper shades then repeated himself and continues to tell me about it being the bus turn around and how we aren't supposed to drive there. It was a no harm, no foul situation and I really didn't feel I needed a lecture as my husband was just trying to help me avoid any extra knee pain. My first indication of the rudeness I was about to encounter. The owner Jerrid greeted me when I walked in the office. He tells me I had to pay the take out fees for my friends kayaks. Friends boats, not mine. I tried to call my friends but couldn't get through so I paid the fees for the boats that weren't mine, $15. Then he tells me each of my kids has a $20 shuttle fee adding up to $60. According to the website, this is the fee per person for shuttling boats, but now he is telling me its for shuttling 3 small kids, all less than 50lbs each, on a bus going 3.5 miles with their parents. We went from a $60 rental to $135 to cover my friends boats docking there and shuttle(bus) fees for 3 small kids without boats. I tried to explain that we had never had shuttle fees for my children & I felt at least one of them should be included in the $60 rental, as they had never charged me extra for shuttling them with 3 kayaks and I have ALWAYS been upfront about taking my kids. I mentioned the really nice blonde haired lady that worked the office in the past & how she knew the situation. Maybe that's what set him off, as I suggested she was his wife and he is divorced. Or maybe it was just that I wasn't willing to hand over $75 more to him on a slow, end of the season day bt this is when he began raising his voice & talking over me. He proceeded to tell me how I have been stealing from him if I had not paid his shuttle fees in the past. Lets call them bus fees as there was no boat shuttling involved here. I said I would have my friends at the kayak park come get my children, no big deal. He continued yelling at me and slamming things, not just in front of his children that were in the room but he followed me outside, slamming the doors in his establishment, and yelling at me in front of my children. He literally yelled that all I 'had to do was be kind'. He yelled it! Stop for a second a check yourself Jerrid. I wasn't treated with an ounce of kindness from the second we pulled in. Jerrid slammed the door of his office so hard that it was felt in the stairs on the other side and my family said you could see the windows shake. All because I wasn't willing to pay the excessive fees he presented & found a reasonable way to save $. He then tried to tell us to all get on the shuttle after having a temper tantrum about shuttle fees & me being a thief. As it turns out, my friends had already paid that $5/boat fee. Ironic bc he accused me of stealing from him. When informed, Jerrid threw cash at my friend & told him I wasn't welcomed back & he's going to "put my name in the computer". Jerrid you can put it in the computer, write it on a wall, sketch it in some stone, but there is no way I will EVER support your establishment again. He's clearly unstable. Jerrid & his staff have a lot to learn about being gracious to their customers.

    Super friendly staff, great place to launch from to float to WOKA for some whitewater fun! The…read moretandem inflatable kayak we rented was perfect for the day! We camped for 2 nights and recommend site 15, or the 3 spots closest to the river. But what the absolute best part was getting to watch Siloam Springs' 4th of July fireworks from the parking lot at the camp. They were going off literally across the street, and we had the whole place to ourselves. Incredibly experience!!!

    Photos
    Gypsy Camp & Canoe - Husband kayaking

    Husband kayaking

    Gypsy Camp & Canoe - Put in area

    Put in area

    Gypsy Camp & Canoe

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    Shady Beach Campground

    Shady Beach Campground

    3.5(8 reviews)
    2.5 mi

    Had the best time! Went with my friend and his kids (they've never been before) and they had a…read moreblast. Our cabin was cool and out had a full kitchen stove and fridge. Wish it came with grills though. They had a metal round thing but no grate to cook on.

    We had a fantastic time using the canoes with SBC. Not only did we rent canoes for floating down…read morethe Elk River, we also stayed at the lodge which slept 12 of our 16 person Labor Day Party! The lodge had a fully equipped kitchen, comfortable beds, two full bathrooms, and a BBQ pit in front. We used it all. You do have to bring your own linen and bedsheets, however, which was fine with us. Plenty of space for parking right outside too. One of our guests even decided to tent outside and there was room for that too. The lodge had private access to the Elk River where some of our patrons went to fish and soak in some of Americas most pristine water. We got to the lodge Saturday and partied hard. Sunday at about 10:30am, a driver brought a truck to the lodge and picked up our water coolers for River canoeing party so we didn't have to carry them next door. Then we walked over to the property next door where we found our canoes or sit on top kayaks to take down stream for a total of 8 miles. We completed our 8 miles of wet watery blissful fun in about 5-6 hours, stopping many times along the sides of the river for snacks and drinks. I can't remember another Labor Day where I have had more fun!

    Photos
    Shady Beach Campground
    Shady Beach Campground - Nicole and Cassie waking up after a night of hard partying

    Nicole and Cassie waking up after a night of hard partying

    Shady Beach Campground - Super soakers and ready to hit the Elk River

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    Super soakers and ready to hit the Elk River

    Elk River Floats

    Elk River Floats

    1.7(12 reviews)
    0.2 mi

    This is the worst campground I've ever been to. This the place for hard core party ppl- who don't…read moreneed sleep- at all!! Last night was a Friday night. It was as if we went to a rave and decided to spend the night in the middle of it. The website says they have a strict quiet time of 11p. They sure didn't last night! And supposedly our site was in the quiet section! Our neighbors had music blaring! Across the river was blaring a different music. Ppl yelling, dogs barking until 2 a. It was impossible to sleep! And after 2 a when music finally shut off, the trains start blasting their horns and more dog barking. Oh! And this campsite is RIGHT NEXT to a busy road! I don't always need peace and quiet. I like music on floats. This was insane! Never again! Well except for tonight. We have 1 more night in this pit they call camping. lol. And- the seed tics were trying to crowd us out! By the time I set up tent the first night, I pulled off 30 tics. And I had bug spray on. I know the tics may not be management fault, but I would want to know. We had tics in tent, bed, everywhere! Oh and the shower house. Cobwebs everywhere! Not just overnight, more like we are going to do the very minimum to maintain this place so cobwebs for days. Toilets themselves were clean. No A/C. Just a fan in the corner ceiling too high to turn on. The river was very busy- but that just means lots of ppl to hand with and meet. The float was awesome.

    Pretty straight forward. They always answered the phone and answered questions. They had a rough…read morestart seems someone was late on the morning shift. But we got there about 9:15 and we're on our way about 9:45. Didn't have the fancy convenience store some launch points do, but honestly I can do without. It was very convenient the bus was right next to parking so we didn't have to haul our stuff from a parking lot to a bus stop like others ones we've gone on. They were all very friendly and helpful. The Elk River itself is a great run for families and easy to navigate. Definitely recommend! Do wish there was a slightly shorter run for families like ours. But that's ok, we'll be back!

    Photos
    Elk River Floats - From the river

    From the river

    Elk River Floats - New rafts

    New rafts

    Elk River Floats - Beautiful morning at Wayside Campground

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    Beautiful morning at Wayside Campground

    Gracies Canoe Camp - Sunset over the swim beach from the fire pit by our cabin.

    Gracies Canoe Camp

    2.5(15 reviews)
    6.8 mi

    1/5 Absolutely…read morehorrible experience. We were told by the guy up front to park on the beach and put our canoe in there. We had never been here before, so we were simply following the directions THEIR staff gave us. Then another man came running over screaming at us to "get the fuck off his beach" while acting extremely aggressive and getting into what looked like a fighting stance.(Craig, the owner) We immediately explained that we were sorry, that we didn't know, and that we had been specifically told to go there. A simple, "Hey, you can't launch here" would have solved the entire situation. Instead, we were screamed and cursed at over an honest mistake caused by the directions we were given. We got our money back and left. We will NEVER return to Gracie's Canoe Camp and absolutely would not recommend it based on the way we were treated. There is a huge difference between correcting a customer and trying to intimidate them. Completely unacceptable.

    We booked last minute at Gracies for a float trip down the Elk. We've floated the Elk before but…read morehad never stayed at Gracies. It wasn't a horrible experience, but we won't be back. We rented a four person cabin as we like AC and are not campers. The cabin was super tiny but nice and cool. There's not any space inside the cabin for hanging out. Definitely room for sleeping only. Despite the small size, the cabin was clean and worked great for sleeping! Typically we book places with private bathrooms, and although the community bathrooms were relatively clean (considering it's a campground), there wasn't any hot water for showers. The biggest drawback to Gracies was the smell. Normally, we'd like to spend more time outside but the place smelled of sewage and there was no escaping it. The smell really put a damper on our trip. We even walked around the camp hoping to escape the smell and had no luck. Despite the DJ, we didn't find the campgrounds to be overly loud. However, if our neighbors had been there to party, I could see how the close quarters could result in lack of sleep.

    Photos
    Gracies Canoe Camp - Is this what you call quality?

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    Is this what you call quality?

    River Ranch Resort - campgrounds - Updated September 2026

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