Buffalo River water level

Flow in cubic feet per second and gauge height in feet, provisional USGS data. Unsafe limits from the National Park Service.

How to read it

Go by flow, not feet. The November 2024 flood rearranged the riverbed around several gauges, and the old charts that turned gauge height into "low," "ample" and "closed" no longer line up with what's in the river. A Ponca gauge reading that used to mean a good float can now mean dragging the canoe.

The Park Service publishes the flow it considers unsafe at four gauges, listed above. It doesn't publish a minimum. The upper river (Ponca down to Kyle's Landing) needs rain and usually floats best in spring. The lower river holds water longer into summer and fall.

If the numbers are low and you're not sure, call an outfitter near your put-in. They were on the water this week and you weren't.

Questions

What flow is too high to float the Buffalo?

The National Park Service lists these as unsafe: above 1,600 cfs at Ponca, 2,000 cfs at Pruitt (Hwy 7), 8,000 cfs at Grinder's Ferry (Hwy 65), and 9,370 cfs at Dillard's Ferry (Hwy 14).

Why don't you say whether it's floatable?

The old gauge-height charts stopped matching the river after the November 2024 flood changed the riverbed, and the Park Service and USGS moved to flow-based numbers. The Park Service publishes the unsafe level, not a minimum. For low water, an outfitter who was on the river this week is the best call.

Which gauge should I watch?

The one closest to where you put in. Ponca covers the upper river (Ponca, Steel Creek, Kyle's Landing), Pruitt covers the stretch around Hwy 7, St. Joe covers the middle river around Tyler Bend and Grinder's Ferry, and Harriet covers the lower river near Buffalo Point.