Last month, National Park Service officials released a new prospectus outlining its effort to relieve vehicle congestion at Buffalo National River access points, where parking is limited. Starting in a little over two years, canoe and kayak concessioners will not be allowed to shuttle the private vehicles of park visitors to locations up or down river, and it has the potential to affect a number of area canoe rental businesses.
Melissa Dirst Roberts and her husband, Doyle Roberts, own and operate Dirst Canoe Rental in the lower Buffalo River district. In an off-air interview, Dirst Roberts said she believes the lower district will not be affected as much as the upper districts. The new contract will take away the option to shuttle cars. Canoe rentals will no longer shuttle vehicles and this will limit the use of the Buffalo National River for private boat owners. The upper district will be affected the most because they currently only shuttle vehicles.
According to the prospectus, “Parking visitors’ vehicles at the Concessioner’s place of business, transporting (shuttling) people in Concession-owned vans and buses to the put-in location, and picking up people at the take-out location greatly relieves congestion issues while mitigating park resource damage.”
The prospectus states the new rules will start at the beginning of 2026.
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