Interactive Google Map of Access Points.By the time it reaches Wichita, there is often plenty of water for a scenic, leisurely float trip. During drier periods, it may run dry on its surface in southwest Kansas, but picks up water as it flows through the state. When the flow is low, the river divides into several small channels flowing in a broad, shallow bed. The trail begins in Great Bend and ends at the Kansas-Oklahoma border southeast of Arkansas City. The Ark River is prone to seasonal reductions in flow. In Kansas, the Arkansas River is pronounced “Ar-Kansas,” and is sometimes shortened to the “Ark River.” A 192-mile portion of the Arkansas River in Kansas was designated as a National Water Trail on June 3, 2016. The Arkansas River travels about 1,469 miles from its origin near Leadville, Colorado, through Kansas and Oklahoma to its confluence with the Mississippi River at Napoleon, Arkansas.
