#ponca
Floating Kyle’s Landing to Ozark on the Buffalo River
Spring is here and it’s time to float the upper portion of your favorite rivers. This year, my first float trip was Kyle’s Landing to Ozark on the Buffalo River. I usually make it a point to float Ponca to Kyle’s Landing every year. But I’m on a mission to float all the sections of the Buffalo I haven’t done yet, along with some new rivers. So floating this section on the Upper Buffalo was a top priority. It will likely be too low to float by mid-June, so you’ve got to get it while you can! We had a perfect Saturday for floating the last weekend of March. The area had gotten some good rain that week and the river was really high that Friday. But the Upper Buffalo drains off quickly, and by Saturday the water level was just right. Combine that with a sunn...
Paige Falls and Broadwater Hallow Falls
I have written a few articles lately about hiking around the Upper Buffalo River. That’s because there are so many great places there to hike. And most of them are not that far from each other, so it’s easy to do several in a day. All the trails have something different to offer. Some of them have waterfalls, others have majestic views, and some have caves and weird rock formations. They range from easy to difficult, short to long. And some of them are barely a hike at all. Paige Falls and Broadwater Hallow Falls is one of those. Much like Six Finger Falls and Fuzzy Butt Falls, it’s really hard to call this one a hike because the falls are so close to the road. The hike may be really short, but that doesn’t make the waterfalls here less impressive. In fact, this is ...
Hike to Balanced Rock Falls
The Buffalo River is well-known as probably the most popular floating and paddling river in Arkansas. But the lands around it are home to some of the best hiking spots in the state. In particular the Upper Buffalo area near Ponca, Boxley Valley and Compton is where you’ll find a lot of the most popular trails. There is a lesser-known hike in this area that is worth a look and that is the hike to Balanced Rock Falls. You won’t find the trailhead for this one on Google maps like the other ones. Nor is it listed on the Buffalo River NPS hiking page or the Hiking Project App. But you can find it on the AllTrails app I found this hike when I saw pictures of Balanced Rock Falls posted on some of the Facebook hiking pages that I follow. I like interesting rock formations as much as I ...
Hemmed in Hollow Falls Via the Buffalo River
Did you know that the highest waterfall between the Appalachians and the Rocky Mountains is located right here in Arkansas? Yep, that’s right. Hemmed in Hollow, located on the Buffalo National River, is 209 feet tall. That makes it the highest waterfall in Mid-America, according the National Park Service. From the regular trail head it’s a pretty tough hike. It starts in the hills above the top of the falls and ends at the bottom of the falls. So the steep uphill hike out of there is the difficult part. But for anyone that’s physically unable to do this hike, I have good news. You can access Hemmed in Hollow Falls via the Buffalo River and it’s a very short, easy hike. OK, so if you thought I was going to tell you about some special elevator, zip line or something, ...
Floating Ponca to Kyle’s Landing on the Buffalo River
Float season is fully underway in the Natural State. If you’re a paddler and haven’t been on at least one float yet, you have really missed out. The Caddo and Mulberry have been awesome. I’ve done those while the Buffalo has been closed. But great news – the Buffalo opens back up this weekend!!! So it’s time to start planning those float trips on the Buffalo. And this time of year, floating Ponca to Kyle’s Landing on the Buffalo River should be at the top of your list. Some will say that float season is year-round. I’ve always chosen to hike in the winter and float in the Spring and Summer. But I’m getting more interested in Fall/Winter floating. The water is often better. And frankly, I start to miss my kayak. Regardless of when you prefer t...
