Day-Use Passes Offered At Elk River Floats And Camping

Pat Tinsley, owner of Big Elk Floats and Camping in Pineville, invites the public to get out of the house and enjoy the great outdoors — from a socially-acceptable distance. Big Elk is offering free day-use passes to the campground and riverside from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, for the remainder of April.

Those wishing to take advantage of the access should pull into the office at 5029 S. Highway 71B, honk their horns for assistance, and a staff member will place a day-use tag on the front windshield of the vehicle. No contact is necessary.

Tinsley said he and his crew normally have the campground prepped for the season by April in anticipation of visitors from the tri-state area, but with the covid-19 pandemic and social-distancing recommended, fewer floaters and fishers checked in.

“We figured, since the area was ready, we might as well offer it to the community during this time,” Tinsley said.

To date, visitor volumes have ranged from 15 vehicles to 100 vehicles throughout the day.

Guests can fish from the quarter-mile of shore along the Elk River and Little Sugar Creek, kayak, canoe or raft, hunt for arrowheads and artifacts or hike and bike the property. Tinsley noted that a handful of recent visitors have unearthed history — a geode, multiple arrowheads and a Native American scraping artifact have been found near the riverbed.

Tinsley and his crew utilize a hospital-grade disinfectant fogger throughout the day to sanitize common areas such as restrooms, cabins and floating equipment.

Big Elk continues to offer kayak and canoe rentals, as well as overnight tent, cabin and RV camping. Day-use passes are available during the weekend for $10.

Close to two-dozen folks, for one reason or another, have chosen to hunker down for the foreseeable future at Big Elk. Many of them are connecting to the Wi-fi and opting for a more scenic office view while working remotely.

“If they’d rather have camper fever than cabin fever, we’re happy to help,” Tinsley said.