Buffalo National River
Probably our favorite park in the Ozarks and it's in our backyard, less than 1 hour away.
Check out the slide shows, pictures, videos, and information below.
The Buffalo River is the first National River established in the United States. In 1972 the federal government set aside 135 miles of free flowing river with no dams to obstruct it. There are three parks, Lost Valley, Tyler Bend, and Buffalo Point, along this waterway. Our favorite one, Buffalo Point located just south of Yellville, is one of the most scenic parks on the Buffalo River. Canoeing along the river's scenic bluffs is one of our favorite activities. There are many outfitters in the area from whom you can rent equipment if you do not bring your own. You can set up a day trip from the Highway 14 bridge down to the town of Rush. This is an old Ghost Town that was a bustling zinc mining community before World War I, and many older buildings and foundations still stand there. Your outfitter will pick you up at Rush to bring you back to your car left at the bridge. There are also many other put-in and take-out points that can be arranged if you want to explore the river. Check out several pictures of the Buffalo Point Park and the town of Rush below.
The campgrounds at Buffalo Point are really great, those at the other two parks do not have hookups. If camping is not your thing, there are cabins for rent at Buffalo Point Park. If you prefer motels, those can be found within a reasonable distance at Marshall, Mountain Home, or Mountain view, Arkansas. If you are arranging a float trip with an outfitter, they usually have cabins or bunkhouses.
For more information about the Buffalo National River, Click Here.
Some of the pictures show different years of fall color from the hilltop behind the restaurant at the Buffalo National River Park. Also, there is a spring picture of this same view. Other pictures show the river from the Overlook trail and from the Indian Rock Trail. Since we visit most often in the fall, most pictures will be with fall color.
You can see descriptions of the pictures if you mouse over it at the bottom of each picture.
Below are pictures of some of the trails, campgrounds, and nearby attractions of the ghost town, Rush, and Blanchard Springs Caverns. If you double click on the picture, you can open it up to manually move the pictures and see more of the descriptions.
Stopping along the trail, one of the favorites for all visitors. Easy and views are great.
Arlene stands beneath this unusual tree along the Indian Rockhouse Trail.
Now we camp in the Buffalo River Park in our 24' Lance camper.
Stopping along the trail, one of the favorites for all visitors. Easy and views are great.
This 3 3/4 minute video below done by jminks shows some of the falls and trails along the Buffalo National River from its headwaters to the lower parts of the river.
We never seem to tire of taking pictures of the Buffalo River Valley especially in the fall.
Pictures of Tyler Bend Park, Headquarters fo Buffalo National River
Entrance Sign at Springtime
Visitor Center at Springtime
Entrance Sign at Fall
Visitor Center at Fall
The Third Park Is Between Ponca and Boxley, Arkansas.
Click on the picture below to go to a page about this area.
This is a 3 minute video done by the Arkansas Parks and Tourism. You can see some beautiful scenery and some of the sites along the Buffalo River
The 24 minute video is done by Chuck Dovish of Exploring Arkansas for AETN. The first 8 minutes of the video covers a trip he takes by kayak on a lake at a State Park. There are two other segments that deal with other sites in Arkansas: Mystic Cave near Jasper and Rush Ghost Town south of Yellville, Arkansas, which starts at the 16:20 minute marker.