Considering a Bennett Springs State Park Float Trip, DON'T...

Friday we [George, me, Hannah, Robert, JR, Emmy, and Sam] drove up to Lebanon, MO to take a little float trip on the Niangua River.  We enjoyed the float on the Buffalo last month and wanted to try a new location, or new to us.  I know Winnie and Mike have a camper there and go fly fishing in the river a lot, so someone said I should ask her about the float.  But, I knew better because everything is on the web now.  Well, maybe I should have tried to get a little unbiased info from someone who knew the area.  The river was wonderful for floating, the area was beautiful, but on a Saturday in August, the river so really congested with hundreds of drunks in yellow rafts doing what drunks do, being loud and stupid. If you are looking for a place to take a family with children floating and are considering the Niangua, all I can say is Don't.

Actually, we did have a good time, but I just did not expect to see so many obviously highly intoxicated humans clogging the river to the point it was a challenge to even navigate through the blockades.  If this had been on the Buffalo, you could see pictures on the national news today of hundreds of people being carted off in paddy wagons.

Just take this as a warning, a float trip on the Niangua River on a Saturday in August is strictly  R rated.  Definitely not  a good family outing.

Still, we did all have fun.  And, the last two hours of the float, we had left all the drunks far upstream, providing an enjoyable time on the river.

And, the kids thought the best part of the trip was swimming in the motel pool till almost 10 each night.  I thought that was a little late for our two little one, but I decided to consider it summers last hurrah.