Buffalo National River offers options any time of year

By Caven Clark, chief of resources and education, Buffalo National River

With so many options for visiting Buffalo National River in Arkansas, finding a starting point can be tough. In springtime, the blossoming redbuds and dogwoods provide spectacular viewing. In autumn, the reds, bronze, and gold colors blaze throughout the park.

For many, the main attraction is the river itself. Expert river runners might decide to hover around the Hailstone section waiting for that one rainfall event that will turn the river into serious whitewater. The casual enthusiast might just lay back and float the slow waters of midsummer in the middle and lower sections. Beyond the river, more than a hundred miles of maintained trails offer a myriad of options for touring by horse or on foot. 

In the Ozarks of north central Arkansas, Buffalo National River is many things to many people. America's first national river runs 135 river miles, beginning not far from its headwaters in the Upper Buffalo Wilderness of the Ozark National Forest, winding its way through Boxley Valley where visitors gather in large numbers for fall elk and color viewing opportunities.

While the Upper Buffalo District is perhaps the most challenging section for kayakers and canoeists, there are still tricky places downstream that make your visit more than a simple float. Constant vigilance and careful planning are needed to ensure a safe and enjoyable trip for you and your family. And plan carefully if you're interested in a summer trip downstream of Roberson's Hole–the entire river goes underground for about a mile nearly every year!

Campgrounds dot the Buffalo River along its length, some more developed than others, all with unique resources to enjoy. Horseback trails and horse camps are available park-wide. Open hayfields perpetuate the pastoral setting of the landscape while dark forests and tall limestone and sandstone bluffs provide the avenue through which the river flows.

Outdoor recreation is a big lure at the Buffalo River. If fishing is your goal, try out some of the less-traveled sections of the river for small-mouth and Ozark bass. Few visitors fly fish, but give it a try for some fast action. Hunting season gets underway in the fall when most floaters are off the river for the year. White-tail deer and turkey are abundant throughout the area.

If staying in a rustic cabin built by the Civilian Conservation Corps prior to World War II intrigues you, then head east to Buffalo Point, shut off your cell phone, get a fire started, and read your book on the porch. While you're there, hike to the Indian Rockhouse to see a bluff shelter that visitors have enjoyed for the past 7,000 years.

History buffs can explore at least 40 cemeteries in the park, documenting the passings of generations of farm families who earned their livelihood working the sandy bottoms or hard rock uplands.

You may be someone who wants to work off your visit by assisting in one of the park's river clean-ups or other volunteer projects that are vital to maintaining the beauty and integrity of the river corridor.

Clearly, there are too many options for only one visit, so make that visit count. You may be persuaded like so many to come back again…and again.

Arkansas Post National Memorial is a state jewel

By Edward E. Wood, Superintendent,
Arkansas Post National Memorial 

The Rifle Pits Trail wanders through woods to a cannon display near the remnants of a Confederate trench dug to resist the overwhelming 1863 Union assault. (NPS photo)

Hidden among the trees along the Arkansas River and its backwaters, Arkansas Post National Memorial is a jewel.

Travelers from Europe often make special plans to include this rural section of the Arkansas Delta in their sojourns across America, but Americans are, more often than not, surprised when they stumble across this small oasis in the vast expanse of agriculture.

Coming from Little Rock, Arkansas, plan on a two-hour drive between thousand-acre fields that produce almost half of all rice grown in the United States.

This beautiful setting is a natural wonderland of tree-covered walking trails, waterways and shaded shorelines. Recreational activities abound, as do numerous varieties of wildlife. Birds are everywhere and include resident and migratory song birds, raptors, and waterfowl. Waters abound with crappie, bass, catfish, brim, and an elusive population of alligators ranging in size from several feet long to massive males that include some of the largest 'gators in the state.


The visitor center is a good place to start your visit. Watch the free 20-minute film, “Echoes of the Past.” It  tells the post's story through the eyes of a grandpa fishing with his grandson.

After taking time to tour the museum exhibits, you need to get outside and immerse yourself in the park. Hike the trails through hardwood forest and examine the remnants of the historic town site. Or test your angling skills on the banks of the Arkansas River (it is recommended that you stay out of the water though).

If you time your visit well, you can enjoy some of the regularly scheduled interpretive programs, guided walks, and demonstrations.

Special events, planned throughout the year, focus on the park's natural and cultural history. The post hosts a number of Civil War and Colonial encampments. A regional favorite, the Ghosts of the Past program takes place on the third Saturday of October each year. Enjoy an evening tour by candlelight that visits the history of Arkansas Post through vignettes portrayed by costumed volunteers. The scenes change each year but the hour-long walk is a unique experience enjoyed by young and old alike.

Arkansas Post National Memorial was designated by Congress in 1960 to recognize almost four hundred years of Euro-American history. However, the story begins much earlier. Long before Europeans arrived, about 9,000 years ago, several Native American tribes called this area home. This legacy is an important part of the park's story.

The recorded history of the Post began in 1686 when the Frenchman Henri de Tonti built his trading post, the first European settlement in the lower Mississippi River Valley, near the Quapaw Indian village of Osotouy. As the small settlement struggled for survival, the Quapaw adopted and protected its occupants from hostile bands of Chickasaw and Osage Indians.

The post has experienced several notable points along its journey to becoming a national memorial. A Revolutionary War skirmish, Colbert's Raid, took place here in 1783. In 1803, the post was one of the few settlements in the Louisiana Purchase when the United States purchased the property from Napoleon, and in 1819, it became the first capital of the Arkansas Territory. This was the scene of the 1863 Civil War Battle of Arkansas Post, when 30,000 Union troops and nine iron-clad gunboats attacked and captured the Confederate Fort Hindman.

Arkansas Post has a colorful and varied history along with its equally colorful natural setting. It's a great place to learn about American history or enjoy the great outdoors. There are wheelchair accessible, hard-surfaced trails throughout the historic area. If fishing is your thing, bring a pole, and an Arkansas fishing license if you're over 16, and drown your hook in the lotus-filled waters that surround the park on three sides.