Illinois River Access Points. 15 Awesome FREE Access Points.

Updated: April 2024

We are always looking for good Illinois River Access Points for our kayaking adventures. We searched online to find every access point possible and then checked each one out (and found a few others along the way).

We checked out 17 potential Illinois River access points. See how each one turned out. Click on the access point name in each header for a map link. Enjoy Illinois River Access Points: 15 FREE public access points…

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Illinois River Access Points in ARKANSAS

Kincheloe Road Launch

The first of the Illinois River Access Points sits right off Highway 412. The Kincheloe Road Launch location serves as a launch location only. The path to the river is short, but tricky when carrying a heavy kayak. Be extra careful if the ground is wet (the mud gets very slippery!)

The parking area is very, very small and does not allow for more than a handful of vehicles.

Chamber Springs Access

Chamber Springs is one of our most used landing and launch sites of the Illinois River Access Points (landing site from Kincheloe, launch site to the Kayak Park). It has a good ramp that is easy to use and does not require carrying a kayak far.

BUT (and that’s a big BUT…) the parking lot gets ridiculous. It is fairly spacious, however, people seem somewhat confused about how to park. And the lot fills up fast and FULL on weekends, so people will start parking wherever they can put a vehicle.

It can be difficult to get OUT of this access point, especially with a trailer, on a crowded weekend. We once had to unhook and leave our trailer because our vehicle couldn’t make it out of the parking lot with it attached. So choose your parking spot wisely.

This site also gets trashy. PLEASE pick up your trash (and maybe even clean up trash that isn’t your own) when you use this access point.

When visiting any of the Illinois River Access Points, please…

Encourage others to follow the Leave No Trace Principles with you!

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Siloam Springs Kayak Park

The Siloam Springs Kayak Park is one of the easiest of the Illinois River Access Points to use. The road to the park is paved, it has a large parking lot with parking spots clearly marked, stays somewhat clean, has bathrooms, swimming areas, a couple of rapids, and plenty of shorelines for launching and landing.

However, the weekends do get very busy at this park. Busy enough that there are now restrictions and paid parking on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays throughout the summer. The fee is $10 per vehicle for parking. Drop off and pick up only is still free (as long as you aren’t staying).

Illinois River Access Points in OKLAHOMA

To see these Illinois River Access Points on a linear map with float miles between each point –> Illinois River Float Guide!

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Carnes Ford Public Access Area

Carnes Ford public access takes a bit of driving down a dirt road to reach the Illinois River but is a manageable dirt road for most vehicles.

Once you reach the access point, there is mostly gravel and greenery to drive on and around. The river flows very well at this point, with a good mix of walking areas and swimming areas.

Because it is more of a drive to reach this Illinois River access point, this area is fairly secluded. We met one other couple on our trip to this access point.

This is an easy location to load and unload kayaks, but the parking is secluded which may make you uneasy leaving a vehicle alone for an extended period of time.

Hampton Bridge / Chewey Acess

The Hampton Bridge is one of the Illinois River access points that are hidden a little way down a dirt road. The road to enter the access point is rough but can be managed by cars at a slow pace.

The access point is a wide-open gravel bar that can get busy on weekends. We visited on a Monday afternoon and shared the shores with a few handfuls of other visitors.

This access point is good for wading, swimming, loading, and unloading kayaks.

Round Hollow Public Access Area

Round Hollow Public Access area is an easily accessible and very popular river access point.

The large gravel bar offers plenty of room to play. Although it is posted to not park on the gravel, people clearly do so.

You will spot some of the local outfitters dropping off rafts at the far right end of the sandbar, which is reserved for commercial use.

This is an excellent and easy spot for swimming and loading + unloading kayaks.

Stunkard Public Access Area

Stunkard Public Access sits right off the highway, with a long and well-maintained road to the access point, with picnic tables along the way.

At the end of the drive is a very small parking lot to park before walking the short distance down to the river.

This access point is on a steep incline and allows room for just 1-2 families to set up and enjoy swimming in the Illinois River.

The steep incline would make loading and unloading kayaks difficult, but not impossible. The area is good for swimming in a deeper section of the Illinois River.

Peavine Hollow Public Access Area

Peavine Hollow Public Access is another easy Illinois River public access point right off the highway.

Vehicles are allowed on the gravel bar only for drop off and pick up for floaters. There is a commercial use-only section, but still allows plenty of playroom for visits to swim.

Peavine Hollow is ideal for setting up to play and swim for the day, and also as a float landing and launch site.

Edmondson Public Access Area

Probably the biggest and most popular of the Illinois River access points is Edmondson.

Like the others, it has a large gravel bar that serves as pick up and drop off for private and commercial floaters.

Vehicles freely drive around this crowded access point, but still allow plenty of room to wade and swim in the Illinois River.

GRDA No Head Hollow

No Head Hollow is a very small Illinois River access point.

It serves primarily as an access point for floating the Illinois River.

It has one small, steep ramp that drops off into a deep section of the river. Some people swim to the other side of the river to set up and spend the day.

To see these Illinois River Access Points on a linear map with float miles between each point –> Illinois River Float Guide!

Todd Public Access

The Todd Public Access Area is a fun Illinois River access point.

There is a small ramp to allow for loading kayaks, but it is a little steep and uneven.

This area allows for some swimming and wading but has a small deep current to swim past to get to the wading area.

Most of the shoreline is very steep with an “unstable riverbank” warning. Picnic tables are available at this location as well as a rope swing for use.

This location wasn’t crowded and no other visits showed up during our visit on a Monday afternoon. The only other people we saw were the many floaters drifting by on kayaks and rafts.

Echota Public Access

This small location has a picnic table and a restroom but doesn’t seem to sit directly on the river.

There is an available boat ramp, but it leads into a small area of water that is not actively moving and looks very stale.

Riverside Park

This one turned out to be a bust. Although it showed up in my search list for Illinois River Access Points, there was a “closed” gate across the entrance.

It appears some people use the access point anyway, but we chose not to walk past the gate to get to the river.

Murrell Home

This access point turned out to be a flop. Although found online as “Murrell Home Public Access,” it is NOT an Illinois River public access point.

Check out the story of this location HERE.

Horseshoe Bend Public Use Area

The next of the Illinois River Access Points is Horseshoe Bend Public Access. I had high hopes for the site based on the beautiful homes and landscaping along the road to the access point.

There were many intertwining roads and paths leading to the access point. Most were muddy and wouldn’t easily be traveled by car.

The water at this access point is very still and there is a ramp available for use. This access point looks great for fishing, although I’m not sure I would swim in it. And the banks are very dirty with lots of trash left behind by previous visitors.

Welling Bridge

This Illinois River Access Point was not initially on my list. We happened across it and were pleasantly surprised.

I’m not totally confident that a car would make it down the entire road to the banks, but you could get close enough and take a very short walk.

This was a relaxing little place with plenty of gravel bar to play on and water to wade in.

There were other people enjoying this spot on a Monday afternoon, but it was not overwhelmingly busy. It would make a good access point for swimming, wading, and kayak launch/landing.

Etta Bend

Etta Bend public access is a little way down a path through the woods.

The roads are manageable by car if you go slow and pay attention (the road to the left at the fork would be better for cars).

There is a ramp available for loading and unloading kayaks. And many areas at the bank’s edge are set up for fishing. This Illinois River access point would be decent for swimming as well.

Final Thoughts

There are so many great, FREE Illinois River Access Points! We will continue to check them every season to ensure they are still accessible, and also search for any new ones that pop up!

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