Buffalo National River

[TripLeader]

Earlier this month, Two friends and I went to NW Arkansas to camp and explore around the Buffalo National River area.
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We spent our first nights at the campground at Kyles Landing.

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We arrived on a weekday and it was less than half full. It was good spot because it was close to some of the things we wanted to see in the upper section of the Buffalo.
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An old dug out we came upon.

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We then made our way to go see the Hawksbill Crag (AKA Whitaker Point). It really was a cool place.





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We saw a fire tower listed on the map a few miles down the road from the Crag. We went to check it out. Unfortunately it was closed down and inaccessible. Not only was the fence lined with barbed wire at the top, it had concertina wire too. The bottom sections of the stairs on the tower had also been removed.

 

[TripLeader]

We next headed to see the waterfall known as the Glory Hole.

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A waterfall on the way.

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Continuing on the hike.

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Looking into the Glory Hole.

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More of the Glory Hole. It's said it's best to see it the day after a heavy rain.

 

[TripLeader]

The next day we went to Lost Valley State Park. There are several things to see there. Most of them are close to a very well maintained trail.
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Hiking up to the land bridge at Lost Valley and preparing to go underneath it.

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Going under the land bridge.





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Checking out a small cave just upstream of the land bridge.

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Another small chimney-like cave.

 

[TripLeader]

Continuing up the trail at Lost Valley, we came to Cobb Cave. It's basically a large amphitheater type of cave.



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Cobb Cave is right by Eden Falls.

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Eden Falls is really a beautiful waterfall.

 

[TripLeader]

Eden Falls Cave is just up the trail above the waterfall. It was my favorite part of the state park.
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Heading in.

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There's a short dead-ending tunnel to the right. There's a room off to the left. If you go down the center, that will take you to the waterfall in the cave. You have to crawl on your hands and knees to get there.
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Looking back at my buddies following me to the waterfall.



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Once you're in the waterfall room at the back of the cave, there's plenty of room to stand. It's not the greatest photo, but you can see the waterfall on the left.

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Exiting the cave.

 

[TripLeader]

The last thing we did at Lost Valley was to go to Armadillo Falls. There's a faint bushwhack trail to get there.

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At Armadillo Falls.





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The hike back out.

 

[TripLeader]

With the weekend, the population at Kyles landing grew to slightly higher than capacity. We spent a last night there and planned to try to find more solitude.

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We headed to Rush, on the lower end of the river. On the way there I had problem with my Jeep. The bushing that held the shift linkage together failed. We made a field repair with zip ties.

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There were a couple of low water bridges to be crossed to get the campground at Rush.

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The view of the river, just below our campsite.

 

[trackhead]

Looks like a really cool area.

 

[matthewp]

Very nice! That definitely looks like an area worth exploring.

 

[TripLeader]

Looks like a really cool area.

Very nice! That definitely looks like an area worth exploring.

Thanks. There's definitely plenty of things to do.

 

[fortel]

North Arkansas is pretty cool. I don't get down there often enough because of all the cool stuff in the bottom half of Missouri keeps distracting me. Looks like a good trip.

 

[TripLeader]

We took the hiking tour of the ghost town of Rush. The first miners there thought they had a silver mine. They were disappointed when they went to refine the ore and found it wasn't silver. They abandoned the area. Then some other miners came around and realized they had zinc. The world's largest zinc ore nugget was found there and was displayed at the 1893 World's Fair.
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Rush's heyday was WWI. Zinc was in demand and the place boomed. The zinc market later collapsed and the mines were closed in the 30s.
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Old remains.

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An old smelter.

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More.



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The blacksmith's shop.

 

[TripLeader]

North Arkansas is pretty cool. I don't get down there often enough because of all the cool stuff in the bottom half of Missouri keeps distracting me. Looks like a good trip.

Thanks. If I make it back there, I hope to do some floating on the river. I would also hope to see some elk. We didn't see any this time. Someone told me the area around the White River is less visited and little more wild.

 

[TripLeader]

The Rush hike takes you by some of the old mines. They've all been closed off.



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We took a trip to Bull Shoals Lake. The place is huge. The dam may not be large compared to some of it's counterparts out west, but I thought it was huge. President Truman came for the completion in 1952.



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We spent some time checking out some old roads in the area. This was a well near Yellville.

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Another road dead-ended by this old bus.

 

[TripLeader]

That's the high points of the trip. Hiking, camping, and exploring. Thanks for reading.