Falcon Floats

Falcon Floats is a decent place to enjoy the Illinois River. Since there aren’t any reviews relating to the river itself, allow me to give a brief overview. The Illinois River is a very mild river that lends itself well for a relaxing *float* down the river. Don’t expect whitewater rapids; you wil be disappointed. It is a nice river to enjoy the scenery and to drink vast amounts of alcohol. Two types of people go this river: those hoping to experience the outdoors in the peak of summer and college-​aged kids looking to get completely obliterated. Perhaps unexpectedly, these two groups tend to get along just fine on the river (though perhaps not as well at camp).
Ok, now on to Falcon Floats itself. It, just like every other place on the river, rents canoes, rafts, and kayaks and shuttles you upstream to the dropoff point, then you float back down the river to Falcon Floats. There is a 6 mile and a 12 mile path of the river. When the river is low, 12 miles may be an all day event. If it’s your first time, I would encourage you to take the 6 mile. Falcon’s equipment is decent, though some camps (Sparrowhawk) appear to have newer rafts. For the 12 mile trip it costs about $ 20 per person in a canoe. 3.2 beer is allowed on the river, just no glass or styrofoam. Bring lots of drinking water.
I camped in the Echota Public Access area immediately adjacent to Falcon Floats. The price is the same to camp (about $ 15 a night per car in addition to the canoe rental), but the public access has way more shade. The game warden is responsible for coming by to accept your payment, but if he doesn’t, then you get to stay for free. If you pay Falcon $ 5, you can use their showers, bathrooms, and pool if you aren’t camping there. The swimming pool is TINY and was always packed full of kids when I was there. Falcon offers a concert on the weekends for an additional fee. I didn’t pay the money, as you can hear it throughout the campsite for free. I wasn’t impressed; a lot of high school aged people from the area flood the camp just to see the concert. Overall, I would go back to Falcon Floats but would still camp in the public access area next door.
Let me point out that the map that Unilocal shows is wrong. Follow US-​10 west of Tahlequah and make a left turn right before the big bridge (still following US-​10).