After a grueling drive through the entire state of Kansas and spending 2 nights outside of Kansas City, MO, we were ready to get back in the woods. Since the Buffalo River, which is nestled in the Arkansas Ozarks, had been recommended to us by a couple of people, we decided to make a slight detour away from Atlanta to check it out. We’re sure glad we did.
Buffalo National River offers camping, hiking, and 120 river miles of unspoiled wilderness. This wilderness area is especially unique since its location allows plant and animal species of the Southwest, Southeast, and Northeast to coexist together.
After spending the first day hiking to a nice river overlook, we spent the next two days paddling different sections of the river for a total of 14 miles accessed right from our campsite. The river is clear and unpolluted, with high bluffs framing its banks and long stretches of sandy bottom — perfect for our crew. The weather was unseasonably warm and hit 90 degrees while we were there so we took every opportunity to get wet. Fortunately, the Buffalo River offered both deep swimming holes for rock jumping and plenty of slow, shallow spots for the kids to practice their swimming.
This area was previously unknown to us but being only 9 hours from ATL and offering another 106 miles of river to be paddled, we will definitely be back.
hihosilvers 