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.

Exploring national parks on water trails

If you've never paddled a kayak or canoe you have likely missed many scenic and pristine areas of our national parks that are accessible only by water.

And by paddling, instead of using a motor, you will be less apt to frighten away birds and wildlife, often enabling intimate close up views from their eye level.

Water trails, or blueways, are networks of points along the water that paddlers can access using human-powered boats. Water trails also provide pleasant physical exercise and recreation, and promote environmental awareness.

The National Park Service has helped communities create water trails nationwide for over a decade. This year, the NPS Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program is partnering with state and local governments and other organizations to work on improving and creating water trails in roughly thirty states. You can find out more about these efforts at the watertrails page of the NPS website.

Even if you don't yet have a kayak or canoe, often local providers will have boat rentals available for use on the park's waterways, and will a few simple instructions, you are good to go.