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Planning Your Float Trip
We furnish the canoes, paddles, life preserver vests, and shuttle service to the launching point. You should bring everything else you might want to take with you - food, drinks, etc. For clothing, we recommend you wear shorts, shirts, and tennis shoes. Hats, sunglasses, and suntan lotion are also in order. According to OSRC ( Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission ) regulations, it is illegal to litter on the river, to bring glass containers on the river, or Styrofoam on the river. The fine is $250.00 for these infractions.
Better safe than sorry. Especially if this is your first time in a canoe. You should not take any valuables (watches, keys, wallets, etc.) with you in a canoe. You should leave then in your car, or at the office. If you do take them, you should put them in a waterproof container and tie it to the canoe.
How Many People Can Ride In A Canoe
For inexperienced people, we recommend 2 adults per canoe. But, for those occasions when you have an odd number of people, we do have 3 seater canoes. The maximum we will allow in any one canoe is either 3 adults or 2 adults and 2 small children per canoe.
You do. While guides are available, practically no one uses them, because this river is not that difficult to negotiate.
Open daily, 8am til 10 pm, Memorial Day through Labor Day. Open weekends in March, April, May, October, and November. Any other time is by reservations only.
We have any length of trip, from 1 to 70 miles, from 1/2 hour to 5 days. The most popular trip by far is the 13 mile trip, 70% of our customers take it. Called the "Round-the-Mountain-Trip" or "Wilderness Area Trip". It goes all the way around Sparrow Hawk Mountain Primitive Area, by popular acclaim, the most scenic part of the river, because of its huge bluffs and seeming remoteness.
At least 80% of our customers come on Saturday, in the summer between the hours of 9am and 3pm. For seclusion, don't come on Saturdays in the summer. Come in the spring or fall, or on Sundays, and weekdays in the summer. If you must come on a summer Saturday, come before 8am or after 3pm.
On Saturdays, the 13 mile and 7 mile trips leave at least every 30 minutes beginning at 7am. Overnight trips leave every 2 hours, beginning at 7am. Other days, trips leave on the hour.
It depends on the individual or the group.
It depends on how much you paddle, on the river level, how much you stop and swim, rest, etc. Some guidelines: The higher the river level, the faster you will come down. The Illinois River is never so fast as to be classified white water. When the river is low (2 1/2 to 3 feet), there are long still holes of water that you have to paddle through. When the river rises (5 to 6 feet), there will be a slow current throughout these long still holes of water. But there will never be any white water. The higher the river is the more constant current there will be, and the faster your canoe will go. In the summertime (June, July, August), when the river is usually at its lowest (2 1/2 feet), and your canoe will drag bottom. The average length of time for the 13 mile trip is 5 - 6 hours. This is the time it takes most people to complete the 13 mile trip. Of course, if you paddle a lot, you could make it down in 3 - 4 hours. But you would be tired. We recommend that you take 7 - 8 hours. Paddle only when you have to. Relax, and let the river carry you. The 7 Mile trip is just about half the time of the 13 mile trip (2 - 3 hours average time).
For Beginners, at the office, there is a 15 minute tape on "Canoeing Safety", which tells you: What causes a canoe to turn over. How to turn a canoe over. What to do if the canoe does turn over. And how to paddle and guide a canoe. These same instructions are fiberglassed into the fiberglass canoes. Anyone in the canoe can read them. We have 2 VHS tapes (on canoeing and safety) that we will mail to your group at your request.
Just because it is raining (flooding) where you are (Tulsa, OK City, Etc.), doesn't mean that it is raining (flooding) here on the Illinois River. Many times, it will rain where you are, but not rain here, and vice versa. So if it is raining where you are, don't automatically assume it is raining on the Illinois River, and cancel your float trip. You may not be able to schedule it. Just pick up a phone, and call us on our toll free number, 1-800-722-9635, and we will tell you the weather conditions and the river levels here on the Illinois River.
Wait Until Thursday or Friday.
On Monday, most radio and TV stations will issue a long range, 4 day weather forecast. Many times on, Monday, they will forecast a "front" moving in on Thursday or Friday. Many people, when they hear this, will automatically cancel their weekend outdoor plans. Then when the weekend comes, it is sunshiny and warm. So, they have missed a golden opportunity and they may not be able to re-schedule it. So what should you do? Simple. When you hear the long range weather forecast on Monday, don't make up your mind then. Wait until Thursday or Friday. We weather forecaster are most accurate on their 24 hour forecast. The further they go, the less accurate they are. So wait until Thursday or Friday to make your decision. Plus you can always call us on our toll free number, or check the weather page to see the local forecast for the Illinois River.
What does sparrow hawk camp give you that other camps don't.
1. CI Canoes and plastic canoes. The other camps have mostly aluminum canoes, which in the summer are hot, and hard to paddle.
2. Backrests (to lean back on during your trip).
3. 3 seater canoes (so the 3rd person in your canoe can set comfortably).
4. 7-13 mile trip options. We put everyone in at the 13-mile trip. If you want to stop halfway, we will pick you up there, and bring you back to camp. You have your choice of making a long (13 mile) trip, or a short (7 mile) trip, and you make the choice on the water.
5. VCR presentation on canoeing safety.
6. Modern restrooms and picnic area at the halfway point of your trip.
7. True mileage trips. The other camps inflate the mileage of their trips. What they call a 12-mile trip turns out to be only 8 or 9 miles. Our 13-mile trip is a true 13 miles.
8. Use of the DEAR JOHNS (the only restrooms on the river designed to accommodate large groups of people).
9. Free use of the trampoline, log roll, and other camp recreations.
Copyright © 2001 Sparrowhawk Camp. All rights reserved.
Revised: March 25, 2001
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