Buffalo National River
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The Buffalo National River in northern Arkansas is one of the largest undammed rivers in the United States. Protected through the National Park Service, both the river and surrounding bluffs are an outdoor treasure.
We selected to travel the upper section of the Buffalo National River east for four days in April. The Spring season definitely loaded the river to a very high mark. The river was just below the threshold prohibiting further traffic. We put in at Boxley Bridge. The bridge was previous underwater, with pools of standing water remaining on top, and the river flowing up to the bottom of the bridge. While we feel we are experienced paddlers, we nearly dumped the boats moving into the main channel. This would be an exciting trip! The entire first day, was incredibly fast. We achieved our mileage goal, which we expected in 6 hours, completed in four. The entire first day, I refrained from grabbing water at the base of the canoe for fear of allowing the canoe to veer incorrectly into one of the constant rapids we encountered. The rapids, broken up by large rocks, created many inconsistent channels that needed to be read and steered through correctly.
The canyon scenery was beautiful, and the difficulty of the paddle was exciting. However, the turbidity of the high water levels denied the group the chance to experience the excellent fishing which the Buffalo National River is known for. Later into the trip, the water volume and speeds diminished. Yet whether we fished from the boats or along the many excellent sandbars, we were unsuccessful fishing the river.
On day four we completed our trip. We enjoyed the incredible beauty of the Buffalo National River, and would like to return.