Last Updated April 6, 2006

Dagmar Wildlife Management Area is a small area inside the larger Cache River National Wildlife Refuge. There are two signed canoe trails that must have been created recently and are not mentioned on any websites that I have seen. The Bayou DeView canoe trail can be found by taking a right at the first signed split in the road. This road, labeled as Rock Island Road on the map, follows an old railroad grade and ends at the trestle that used to take the train tracks over Bayou DeView. However, as of the end of 2005, the lack of rain has left this area without much water to paddle in. Despite the lack of water, it looked like a fantastic place to paddle through a cypress-tupelo swamp.

Taking lefts at the first two signed splits in the road leads you to the Robe Bayou canoe trail. After going under I-40, there are multiple concrete and gravel ramps along the next mile of road that allow you to access Robe Bayou. Even after the drought, I was able to paddle for more than a mile up this canoe trail before turning around at a beaver dam. In higher water, there is at least 2-3 miles of water for paddling. In addition, the map labels Mud Slough as a "boat lane." However, the recent drought had made this not suitable for paddling as of the end of 2005.

Finally, driving to the end of the main road leads you to Hickson Lake. This lake is surrounded by cypress trees and would probably provide hours of exploration through the trees at a decent water level. However, the water was so low that I could not paddle into the trees at all. There are several other ponds / lakes near I-40, but the noise of the interstate isn't exactly the natural experience I am looking for....

We went back to spend a weekend at Dagmar in the spring of 2006 when there was more water. This area is really nice - I highly recommend it. At that time, the Morton Gage on Bayou De View was about 13.5' to 14' and rising. This gage is not very close to this area, but it was the best gage I could find. There was a slight current on the river when we put in near the old railroad trestle. We floated all the way down to the south end of the marked canoe trail near Hwy. 70 and paddled back to the put-in without any problems. We also paddled a little north from the trestle to explore a little. At this water level, the current was only slight and made for a pleasant in-and-out trip. I have been told that, if there is sufficient water, you can paddle from Hickson Lake all the way to Hwy. 70. However, I don't know what level the gage would need to be before this is possible.

I believe there is at least a rudimentary ramp at Hwy. 70 where you could take-out if you run a shuttle. I also noticed that there is ramp access to Bayou De View at Hwy. 17 between I-40 and Cotton Plant. If there was enough water, I would imagine that would be a very nice paddle from there to Hwy. 70 on the other side of Dagmar WMA.

Warning: Before paddling downstream with any current on and in-and-out paddle, try paddling upstream first to make sure that you can get back without any problems.

Map (PDF)

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission

Bayou De View - Morton Gage