Scouting, Volume 98, Number 1, January-February 2010 Page: 54
64 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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o TRAIL TIPS
BY LARRY RICE
Arkansas Traveling
Heed the call of the wild on
the Buffalo River Trail.
THE SWIFT-MOVING Buffalo
National River winds 130
miles through the Ozark
Mountains of northwestern
Arkansas. Managed by the
National Park Service, it exists
as one of the longest stretches
of free-flowing water in the
Lower 48. You can see this
near-wilderness of hills and
sculpted side hollows, forests,
and meadows by canoe trip-
ping. But try backpacking the
37-mile Buffalo River Trail,
easily one of the best hikes
around.
Located for much of its
length in the 11,300-acre
Ponca Wilderness Area, the
steep and rocky trail passes
rugged, wild areas that best
characterize the park. It's
where you'll find the river's
highest bluffs, along with
jumbled canyons, shaded
glens, and fern-draped
hollows splashed with
waterfalls.
You may think you're in
shape for an Ozarks hike,
but you'll know for sure a
5 miles
Dogpatch
Pruitt W
Landing
!....
\ V 3
Compton
_
ROCK
few minutes after leaving the
Ponca trailhead. Sometimes
hugging the river, sometimes
offering expansive views atop
the crests of hardwood-clad
ridges, the route puts you into
Dogpatch backwoods that
canoeists never see.
Along the way you'll
encounter the 500-foot-tall
Big Bluff (one of the tallest
cliff faces in mid-America),
the cascades of Beech Creek,
the historic Parker-Hickman
log house (built around
1840), and two cemeteries
that date back to the Civil
War. Unexplored caves and
ancient Native American
encampments lend an air of
mystery to the dells. The path
moves through gentler terrain
the final few miles, passing a
spring-fed pond that attracts
birds and other wildlife.
More than 10 million
people live within 250 miles
of the Buffalo River. Yet the
trail is a haven of tranquil-
ity. Here, where Southeast
meets Southwest, armadillos,
roadrunners, and
tarantulas co-exist
with whitetail deer,
bobcats, and black
bears.
Fishing fanatics
take note: The clear,
mint-green Buffalo
River and its tribu-
taries earn notice
for the number
of fish species—
among the most
••'
-
mmm
m
diverse in the nation. The
game fish of choice? Bass.
When the level of river
dips low enough to ford
(usually from late summer
through winter), don't miss
the 2.5-mile side hike (one
way) to Hemmed-in-Hollow.
A trail on the Buffalo's north
bank leads into a narrow,
dead-end canyon, backdrop
for a 209-foot, free-leaping
waterfall, the tallest of its
kind between the Southern
Appalachians and the
Rockies. But beware the slip-
pery, water-polished rocks.
The Ponca Wilderness
might be pint-size by Western
standards, but it's still wild.
Consider a compass and topo
maps essential.
Most people prefer hiking
the Buffalo River Trail in the
spring and early summer. I
like late fall when the leaves
turn golden and red and
all the creepy, crawly things
are dormant. Don't be sur-
prised, as I was last October,
if you hear the passionate,
high-pitched bugling of elk.
The Arkansas Game and
Fish Commission and the
National Park Service rein-
troduced the species to this
area in 1981, and more than
400 live adjacent to the river.
Coupled with the sharp
bite of autumn air, the elks'
haunting vocalizations rep-
resent one of the Arkansas
Ozarks' most powerful and
memorable experiences.
50
SCOUTING * JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2010
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 98, Number 1, January-February 2010, periodical, January 2010; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth310839/m1/56/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.