Paddling Arkansas' Buffalo River

The Buffalo National River in Arkansas' Ozark Mountains flows free over swift running rapids and quiet pools for its 153 mile length as it cuts its way through massive limestone bluffs (as seen here) on its course eastward through the Arkansas Ozarks and into the White River. This trip was an experimental or "scouting" trip for a possible future Sierra  Club Outing.

The lower 135 miles flow within the boundaries of an area managed by the National Park Service and designated in 1972 as the Buffalo National River, the first national river in the United States. It remains one of the few unpolluted, free-flowing, non-dammed rivers in the lower 48 states and offers both swift-running and placid stretches. The scenic beauty is unrivaled and eye-delighting vistas appear around every bend in the river -- and the bends are numerous since the river's 153 miles are contained within a park that is only 60 miles in length. The water in mid-May was warm enough to allow swimming and if you look closely, you'll see young Sammy returning to Greg's boat here...



We were not allowed to put in at Ponca due to low water conditions in the upper section of the Buffalo. Instead we put in at Pruitt Landing just north of Jasper, Arkansas, even though the water level was also low in this section and necessitated occasional dragging of the boats over gravel bars, and we paddled the 101 miles to the confluence of the Buffalo and White Rivers.

We camped along the bank five nights, always careful to choose high ground in case the river rose from rains upriver. Despite rain three of the nights, we managed to have a campfire every night and the stars on the clear evenings were breathtaking.



Our group included 5 canoes with Ellen and me, Walt and Marcia ahead to our left, Jake and Scott ahead to our right, and Greg and Sammy in front. Not shown is Graham who is scouting ahead of the group.



With two professional Florida guides as part of our group, meals were a delight, for despite the lack of refrigeration, Greg and Graham prepared delicious meals every morning and evening, such as pancakes and bacon, eggs and bacon, spaghetti and meat sauce, Cuban rice with chicken, and one chilly evening vegetable and sausage soup.



We often paddled together enjoying the scenery and each others company as the miles floated by. Wildlife sightings and scenic wonders could thus be shared with everyone, as well as stories of previous paddles and hikes.



Several times each mile we came across rapids caused by boulders that had fallen from the mountainsides, or trees that obstructed the river, or gravel bars, and though all most were merely ripples or class one rapids, some presented precarious situations when the current took the boats under "sweepers" or "strainers" -- trees that could capsize the boats or sweep the paddlers into the river, or entrap the paddlers within the branches and drown you. Here's one rapid and more are shown on the movie at the end of this post.



Our numerous wildlife sightings included, deer, otters, beaver, bald eagles, vultures, a timber rattler within three feet of our tent, hundreds of turtles, many species of butterflies, woodpeckers, lots of fish, elk tracks near camp, great blue heron and little green heron, and many more. This heron has a snake in its mouth...

Here's a short video I made showing the scenery, the rapids, camp life, and numerous wildlife sightings from our trip...



 Ellen has a great post detailing some of our wildlife sightings here.