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The Kings River is a tributary of the White River. It rises in the Boston Mountains of Arkansas and flows northward for more than 90 miles into Table Rock Lake in Missouri. The Arkansas portion of the river is undammed and bordered by rural and forested land, the river is popular for paddling and sport fishing.
The river follows a meandering course with the confluence with the White River being almost due north of the source with a drainage basin of , before emptying into Table Rock Lake, a reservoir on the White River at an elevation of ."Watershed Management Pla" Kings River Watershed Partnership. http://www.kingsriverwatershed.org/default_images/publications/watershed_plan/KRWP_plan_part_1.pdf , accessed 19 Jun 2013 The Missouri portion of the river and its confluence with the White River is flooded as part of Table Rock Lake. Arkansas Atlas & Gazetteer, DeLorme, 2004, 2nd edition, p. 23, Shell Knob, Missouri, 15 Minute Topographic Quadrangle, USGS, 1927 (Revised 1950)
The town of Berryville is the only incorporated city within the watershed. Near Berryville, the average annual mean flow of the Kings River from 1935 to 2008 was 572 cubic feet of water per second."Water Data Report -- 2008" http://wdr.water.usgs.gov/wy2008/pdfs/07050500.2008.pdf, accessed 19 June 2013
Tributaries of the Kings River include Felkins Creek, Maxwell Creek, Pine Creek, Keels Creek, Dry Fork Creek and Osage Creek.
The King's River Natural Area, established in 1979, is located on the upper Kings River east of the hamlet of Boston. The Natural Area includes and features a two mile hiking trail which leads to Kings River Falls, a scenic 6-feet (2 mt) high waterfall. The Natural Area is located in a rugged mountain area. A mixed pine-hardwood forests cloaks the east slopes of the preserve; the steeper western slopes are covered with hardwood forest."Kings River Falls Natural Area" Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission. http://www.naturalheritage.com/natural-area/kings-river-falls/, accessed 20 Jun 2013 The uppermost tributaries of the Kings River are in the Ozark National Forest.
The McIlroy Madison County Wildlife Management Area comprises including several miles along the Kings. In 2010, the Nature Conservancy established a preserve which includes seven miles of frontage on the Kings River, a short distance downstream (north) of the Wildlife Management Area."Kings River Preserve in Arkansas: The Nature Conservancy. http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/arkansas/newsroom/kings-river-preserve-in-arkansas.xml, accessed 19 Jun 2013
Recreational paddlers divide the Kings River into two sections. An upper section of eleven miles, from Dripping Springs to the Arkansas State Route 74 crossing of the river, is a turbulent class III whitewater stream, including the waterfall at the Kings River Natural Area. The water level of the river in this section is usually sufficient for floating in winter and spring until about July 1. Water quality is excellent. The lower Kings River comprises 82.5 river miles from State Highway 74 to Missouri State Highway 86. It is a relatively gentle Class I stream that usually contains enough water to be floated in winter, spring, and early summer until August or after rains at any time."Kings River" Southwest Paddler http://southwestpaddler.com/docs/kings.html, accessed 19 Jun 2013 The Kings River has good sport fishing for smallmouth bass and other species.
History
The Kings River area was a hunting territory of the Osage Nation Indian tribe during early historic times. A man named Henry King from Alabama was part of an expedition to the Boston Mountains to search for land to settle on. He died and was buried on the banks of the river which was supposedly given his name. Other families from Alabama soon settled the area. However an article titled "A Description of the Arkansas Territory" published in the February 4, 1823, issue of The Arkansas Gazette, refers to the Kings River (and also mentions the White River, Buffalo River and War Eagle River). About 1940 the poultry industry began to replace subsistence farming as the main source of employment for the sparse population of the region. In 1951 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed a dam on the Kings River, but the dam was never constructed, making the Kings River one of the few undammed rivers in the Ozark region."Kings River" The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=6310, accessed 19 Jun 2013
Conservation and recreation
The Kings River has been designated by the state of Arkansas as an "Extraordinary Resource Waterbody." This designation imposes restrictions on streambed alterations and development and pollution in the river basin. The state of Arkansas describes the river: "High in the Boston Mountains of Madison County lie the beginnings of the Kings River. From this steep country the stream twists its way northward to the White River....In its upper reaches, the Kings cuts a narrow gorge through sandstone, shale and limestone. On downstream, the countryside is not quite so precipitous, but the water is the same -- clear and cool.""The Kings River: Priceless" http://www.rexnelsonsouthernfried.com/?p=2209
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