Log Yard Campground
A Park Service backcountry campground and year-round boat ramp at River Mile 37 on the Current River: six reservable sites, a vault toilet, and some of the darkest night skies in the park.
Paint Rock River Access
A Park Service river access at River Mile 33 on the Lower Current, at the end of County Road 626 north of Van Buren, with MDC's Paint Rock Unit around it and Gravel Spring a half mile downriver.
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Paint Rock is the quiet working access in the middle of the Lower Current. At River Mile 33 the Park Service keeps a river access where County Road 626 runs out at the water, inside the Paint Rock Unit of the Missouri Department of Conservation's Current River Conservation Area. Floaters put in here for the run down past Waymeyer to Van Buren, and boaters use it as their door onto a deep, bluff-lined reach of the river.
The access takes its name from Paint Rock Bluff, the dolomite wall that anchors this stretch of the valley and is listed separately in this guide. About a half mile downstream, Gravel Spring comes in at the bluff's foot; the Park Service lists it as a geologic feature reachable by river only, so the float out of Paint Rock passes it in the first few minutes on the water.
There is no development here beyond the access itself, and that is the draw: a road-end launch, a big river, and the conservation area's woods behind you. The Park Service states no fee for the access and no entrance pass is required anywhere in the Riverways; the surrounding conservation area keeps public-use hours of 4:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. for general use, with launching and landing boats allowed around the clock.
Good to know before you go
- Fees
- No fee is stated by the official source for this access (recorded as unknown). No entrance pass is required anywhere in Ozark National Scenic Riverways.
- Hours and seasons
- The Park Service states no hours and no seasonal closure for this access. The surrounding Current River Conservation Area is open for public use from 4:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily under MDC area regulations, with launching and landing boats allowed 24 hours a day. River conditions and flood closures can change access; the Park Service posts Current River levels and closures.
- Parking
- Road-end parking at the access, at the end of Reynolds County Road 626: about 13 road miles north of Van Buren on Highway D, then left on County Road 626 and follow it to its end (National Park Service park brochure directions).
- Accessibility
- No accessibility statement is published for this access.
- Nearest town
- Van Buren, Missouri
- Coordinates
- 37.12949, -91.06957
- Access type
- Canoe and kayak access
What you can do there
- River access at River Mile 33 on the Current River
- Put-in and take-out for float trips on the Lower Current
- Fishing on the Current River (listed among the surrounding conservation area's activities by MDC)
- Road-end access at the end of County Road 626
Best for
Filed under
Nearby places
Chilton Creek Boat Ramp
The Park Service's trailered-boat ramp on the lower Current River, about twelve road miles north of Van Buren on Route M: motorized vessels only, no floater access, with overflow parking shared with the Pin Oak access.
Watercress Recreation Area
The Forest Service's in-town Current River access: a double-lane concrete boat launch, five picnic sites, and concrete stair entries down to a river beach, a half mile from downtown Van Buren.
Songbird Trail
A half-mile Forest Service loop inside Watercress Recreation Area: past Watercress Spring, up a hillside to Civil War earthworks overlooking the Current River, and by a small cave in a rocky bank.