Buffalo River A Wonder Away From The Water

There's no bad time to visit the Buffalo National River, even when there's barely a trickle in the stream.

That was obvious during a Sunday drive to the river last weekend. There were trails to hike, elk to see and a beautiful river to view that flowed just ankle deep in places.

Flip Putthoff if outdoors editor for NWA Media.

A trip to the Buffalo is always on the agenda when folks from out of town come to visit. Our guests had heard of the Buffalo, but had never laid eyes on its majesty. They even have two cabins booked for April when they plan to return to float the Buffalo for the first time.

We hopped in the car Sunday morning for a little scouting trip to get them ready for their springtime Buffalo rendezvous. The drive to the Buffalo River country is pleasant indeed. Oohs and aahs came from the passenger seats soon as the bluffs and rugged hill country came into view between Kingston and Boxley Valley.

I mentioned that if we were lucky, we'd see some elk. We scanned the meadows between Boxley and Ponca as we traveled Arkansas 43. Our midmorning arrival was too late to see any elk.

First stop was the Ponca river access. A few cars were in the lot. Most were evidently hiking the Buffalo River Trail along the stream. A few of us just came for a gander at the river. Our friends will start their April float trip here. They got a good look at the Ponca launch site.

They commented on the clarity of the water and the turquoise hue of a pool on the upstream side of the Ponca low-water bridge.

We had a look-see at the cabin they'll rent in April and our friends loaded up on free maps and information about the Buffalo.

I was eager to show off some of the river's bluffs of 200-feet or taller that cradle the Buffalo, our country's first national river. This is easy to do with a short drive from Ponca to Steel Creek on a highway that's crooked as a snake.

Down, down we headed toward the campground and canoe launch at Steel Creek. A high bluff wall rises high above the river along all of the Steel Creek area. We had a picnic lunch on some boulders by the river at the launch site, then explored upstream a bit. The river was clear and low. The bluff line towered high above us.

Next it was on to Lost Valley for one of the most beautiful hikes in the Ozarks. The hiking trail up Lost Valley offers more for you hiking buck than most trails you'll see. It's an easy 2.2-mile hike, 1.1 miles in and 1.1 back out.

Clark Creek flows through Lost Valley to make the walk even more gorgeous. Sunday was the first time I'd hiked at Lost Valley when the stream was dry. Nary a trickle flowed through the valley. That is, until we arrived at Natural Bridge.

Here, about one-half mile into the hike, Clark Creek spills out of a tunnel in rock. It's a lovely spot worth a thousand pictures. In fact, Ken Smith's book, "The Buffalo River Handbook," features a "National Geographic" photo of the spot that was taken in 1945.

There was a trickle of water in the creek the rest of the way to Eden Falls where Lost Valley ends at a box canyon. The three-tiered waterfall was a veil of long drips that looked like icicles, each about as thick as a pencil. Water splashed on rock at the bottom of Eden Falls.

Time to head home, but not before we had one more look for those elk. And there they were. Five bulls and a cow were grazing in front of a cane break in a meadow. The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department has built some pull-off areas so people like us can stop for a good long look at the elk with our binoculars.

Four of the bulls sported massive antlers and another had two spikes for headgear. Our friends had only seen elk out west, and it had been awhile. We hoped to stop at the Ponca Elk Education Center on the main drag in Ponca, but ran out of time.

Seeing these elk made our day and we hadn't even launched a canoe. That will come later this spring.

Outdoors on 12/18/2014

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