The section of the Caddo River from Highway 182 to Hwy. 84, both near Amity, is an excellent Class 1 outing when the water level is at a very gentle level of 80 to 120 cfs of flow on the gage, found at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv/?site_no=07359610 . I refer to the flow for this river rather than the gage height in feet because the gage was moved in June of 2013 and I don’t know the correlation between the gage heights yet. The height of the water in feet on the new gage appears to be more than a foot higher than the what the old gage would have shown for the same amount of flow. (7/24/13 update: 6.5 on the new gage is about 80 cfs) The range for floating this river is not the range shown on other websites or in printed materials. Until those websites are updated, be sure to check the FLOW before heading to the Caddo. The part of the river described on this webpage often has water when other places are too low to paddle in late spring and early summer.
With the flow at 80 cfs or slightly above, the river is clear enough and shallow enough for you to see the fish and count the gravel as you proceed (a task I usually assign to the newest paddler). There is a gentle current most of the 5 miles from the Hwy. 182 AGFC launching ramp
to the somewhat rough take-out 1 under the west end of the Hwy. 84 bridge. You can drive under the bridge if your vehicle has good ground clearance.
TAKE-OUT 2 IS ON PRIVATE AND HAS BEEN CLOSED AS OF JUNE 2012.
The river varies from narrow riffles to wide pools, with occasional gravel bars.
There are a few small surfing spots and only one rapid of any significance, located at the sharp right hand bend made at the northernmost point of this trip. There is a small ledge at that spot that can provide a little excitement.
You may have to maneuver around a fallen tree, something that can be encountered on any outing.
Some places will require you to select a path that is not too shallow for your boat.
Have fun, relax and take in all the sights. Below is a link to a video of an outing in 2012 with a water flow at 80 cfs on the gage, disregard the gage height reading shown in the video:
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Thanks for the write up, I’m looking to do this float soon. There is now a 2nd takeout down the river at the Amity Landing Recreation Area. I’m not sure how far down this is from Hwy 84 take out as I have just researched using google maps. It also looks like there could be a takeout at Hwy 346 as it dead ends at the river. It appears that there used to be a bridge that is no longer there.
Thanks for the info, Aaron. I’ll have to check the Amity Landing Recreation Area out and see how much paddling in the lake is involved.