McClellan-Kerr Navigation System
Arkansas and Verdigris Rivers
Including the White River

General Description & Characteristics: The McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (MKARNS) is one of the more recent additions to the inland navigable waterway systems, having been completed in 1968.  Generally following the route of the Arkansas River, it provides a navigable waterway from the Mississippi River to eastern Oklahoma.  The waterway climbs a series of 17 lock and dam structures.   Some of these are not merely channel dams, but impound rather large reservoirs, notably Robert S. Kerr and Webbers Falls Lakes in Oklahoma. 

Location and Navigable Mileage: The downstream end of the MKARNS is actually at the confluence of the White and Mississippi Rivers.  Going upstream on the White River for about 10 miles, MKARNS enters a 9 mile man-made canal (the Arkansas Post Canal) that connects it to the Arkansas River.  The MKARNS then follows the channel of the Arkansas for 376 miles to the Verdigris River.  It follows the general route of the Verdigris, but with many man-made cutoff channels, for another 50 miles to the port of Catoosa, near Tulsa, Oklahoma.  That should add up to a total of 445 miles!

Additionally, the White River is navigable upstream for a quite some distance (we believe to Newport, Arkansas, about 245 miles), but our research did not reveal any details of this waterway, and the COE navigation charts appear to be out of print.  Many maps show a series of three lock/dam structures on the White River at   Batesville and upstream.  These are no longer in operation, but their dams remain to block the channel.

Interesting Features: This waterway will take you (going upstream) from the threshold of the Mississippi delta region, through the rugged Ozark region of western Arkansas, and into the rolling timbered region of northeastern Oklahoma.

The waterway flows through or adjacent to the cities of Little Rock and Fort Smith, Arkansas, and Muskogee, Oklahoma (where a war memorial and W.W.II submarine will be found).

The lower Arkansas is one of the really big rivers of the US, and the channel is several hundred feet wide (300 feet maintained channel).  Some of the reservoirs impounded by the waterway are several miles across at their widest points.  By contrast, the farthest upstream section of the MKARNS was built along the course of the Verdigris where a 150 foot wide channel is maintained.

The MKARNS is a working commercial waterway, with lockage of several hundred commercial tows each year.

Mooring, Camping, Lodging, Services:  In addition to services in the towns along the waterway, you will find marinas at several locations, primarily on the reservoirs.  Check the COE navigation charts for current listings of these and services provided.  There are numerous public park facilities along the waterway, and no end of locations for overnight mooring in remote areas.  For those inclined toward primitive camping, some sections of this waterway will have large sand beaches ideally suited to this purpose.

Additional Information:

Navigation Information, Charts	Corps of Engineers information on MKARNS lock system Corps of Engineers Navigation Charts
Connecting Waterways	Lower Mississippi
Marinas	See COE Navigation charts for current list
Towns, parks, attractions on/near the Waterway	Little Rock, AR Fort Smith, AR Port of Muskogee, OK USS Batfish war memorial (Muskogee) Port of Catoosa, OK COE Parks Directory
Books	The Arkansas - An American River The Last River - Life Along Arkansas's Lower White
More Pictures	.
Environmental Issues/Organizations	.
Acknowledgments/Contributors	.
Miscellaneous	COE General Information on MKARNS