Conquering Fears at Buffalo National River, Arkansas
We made it! And Buffalo National River did not disappoint! The trails were amazing, yet pushed us more than usual, the fall colors were beautiful, the food was delicious, the hotel was incredible, and the company was priceless!
When Caroline and I first started our venture into blogging about our little adventures, one of the first places I wanted to go was Buffalo National River in Arkansas. While researching, I came across a pin that stated that Whitaker Point/Hawksbill Crag (it has several names, so I’m just going to call it “The Crag”) was the “most photographed place in Arkansas. I knew we had to go there. It would be a perfect weekend getaway for us.
We had originally made plans to go Labor Day Weekend, but the weather in that area just wasn’t favorable. So we switched gears and headed to Indiana instead (you can read about that trip here). We got our chance at the end of October when we got a three-day weekend. Granted, the weather reports were not any better…possible rain and lows in the 20s at night and 30-40s during the day. But we didn’t let that scare us away!
Wellll….maybe it scared us a little bit. After a lot of research, I had made plans for us to camp at Steel Creek, but as the weather updates kept getting worse, so did my need to want to camp out! Neither myself or Caroline or my mom were too certain how our choice of sleeping arrangements would hold up in that kind of cold. I had a cheap Wal-Mart sleeping bag which was fine during the summer months, but untested in colder weather, Caroline had just picked hers up a few days before leaving from Goodwill, and my mom was still using her down sleeping bag that she used backpacking in Colorado while in college albeit with a few less feathers and a broken zipper. If there was an expiration date on sleeping bags, I’d say Mom’s was well past. (Sorry Mom! Couldn’t resist!) So Plan B was quickly placed into action.
Lucky for us, we only had a half day of school and then 6 more hours of Parent/Teacher Conferences, which translates into 6 hours of getting to catch up on work for the most part. (Have we ever mentioned that we are hiker superheroes disguised as teachers! LOL) So Caroline wasted no time in trying to find us alternate sleeping accommodations. After calling several B&B’s, including one false advertisement, without any luck, so we turned to Priceline.
So, I won’t lie, I’m not skittish about too many things, but like most people I would gather, I’m not a huge fan of sketchy hotels. During my travels through the years, I’ve come to find out that what you may see on the internet, does not always translate to what you get in person. And often you get what you pay for. I would rather be a little more inconvenienced and possibly uncomfortable in my tent and sleeping bag than having a bad hotel experience. But I trusted Caroline on this one.
Caroline researched hotels in a larger town near Ponca, called Harrison, AR. Found that there was only a few, one being a 3 Star Hotel called Hotel Seville. The Seville seemed like the best option, but not the cheapest if booked directly. That’s where Priceline came into play. There was one option for a 3 Star Hotel so. Caroline figured it had to be Hotel Seville. (If you’ve never used a site like Priceline, they keep the actual hotel secret until after you book it. All you know is you’re getting what should be a good deal on a room.) I was a little more skeptical, but went with it. We booked the “mystery hotel” and then both just stared at the computer screen waiting for the “big reveal” with fingers crossed. Imagine the looks we got in the school library when we both gave out big hoots and hollers when the Hotel Seville was revealed for half the cost!!! More about the hotel later. At that point, we were just glad we got one!
So off to Arkansas we went early Friday morning! We left Bismarck a little after 7:00 a.m. and headed towards the highway (not the route I normally would’ve taken to get to Southwest Missouri, but Caroline gets car sick). As you know we like to eat, but my first meal on the trip really wasn’t that glamorous. We stopped to get gas at a gas station in Cuba and I just couldn’t pass up the brats! There’s nothing like a big ol’ brat with sauerkraut, onions, and mustard at 8:30 in the morning!! By this point of the trip, we knew it was going to be a good one. We’d already made questionable food selections, established our “inside joke” for the weekend which was “Hot! Hot! Hot!” (inside joke, sorry can’t tell) and got most of our venting over with.
As we got closer to our destination near Buffalo National River, we were told by friends who had just visited the area on a motorcycle trip the weekend before, to watch for elk around Ponca. They told us that they had good luck seeing them just before dark. So we weren’t expecting to see what we saw in the middle of the afternoon….a field full of elk! They were perfectly staged in the middle of an open field, all laying peacefully. It almost seemed too easy. And since they were inside a fenced in area, I started questioning whether they were “farm raised” or actually “wild.” We decided they were indeed wild, took some pictures and moved on.
Our next stop was Whitaker Point/Hawksbill Crag Trailhead. While reading reviews about the trail, everybody commented about the road getting to the trailhead. Comments like “rough,” “be sure to take a 4WD,” and “take it slow,” littered the reviews. Boy were they right!! County Road 5 was SIX miles of rough gravel road to the top of the mountain. The road was filled with large potholes and rocks so big it felt like my Jeep was going to be “shaken” off the road while trying to go over them! All that being said, we still met a very nice Cadillac coming off the mountain!! I was shocked! The road itself was quite an adventure.
Once we arrived at the trailhead, we headed out. The Whitaker Point trail is a 2.9 mile, out and back hike. The majority of the hike was a fairly easy “walk in the woods.” A couple of “ups and downs” but nothing too crazy. When you make a final turn around a bend, you begin walking along a bluff towards the crag. Even though the bluff is pretty high, the wide path is lined with large rocks and plenty of trees. Very unthreatening for a person scared of heights….like me. Once the crag comes into view, you can’t miss it.
Hawksbill Crag is magnificent!! The way it jutted out perilously over the valley, literally made my heart skip a beat….out of fear!!!! There standing on the very edge of the crag, with her back to the dropoff, was a silver-haired grandma getting her picture taken by her granddaughter! I knew there was no way in hell I was going to get that close to the edge, if I even got the guts to walk out on it to begin with! From there, my fear grew. The way the bluff bends, creates a perfect side view of the crag, one which many people get their photos (including ourselves).
After “Silver-Haired Grandma” got her pictures done, it was time for three young “lads” to take pictures of each other doing YOGA POSES on the edge of the cliff!! And the cherry on top was when one decided to do a HANDSTAND!!! I mean seriously….what the hell!!! Even brave “Silver-Haired Grandma” couldn’t watch as the young man kept trying over and over to get himself to hold the upside down pose. And just to clarify, this guy wasn’t in the center of the crag, which really wasn’t that menacing, he really was right on the edge! He finally decided to abandon the idea when, from the corner of my eye, I saw he gave one more kick up, this time with a little more force, and completely flipped/rolled over, landing face down, which his left arm dangling over the side. At that point, I heard myself saying “Please, please don’t do that again!” I’m sure it made for some great pictures, but seriously Dude….was it worth it?!?!?
After my heart returned to a more normal pace (not completely normal, because I was still a little nervous), Caroline, Mom, and I ventured out onto the Crag ourselves to “take it all in.” It was a truly amazing view. We saw mountaintop after mountaintop, full of fall colors, and the winding river cutting through the valley floor far below. While on our feet, we stayed a pretty safe distance from the edge. The crag was fairly wide. At one point, I did decide to get a little bit closer, but I did that by scooting there on my butt, which you will learn is my preferred method of travel on rocky bluffs. Caroline, who is also leery of heights, “scooted” close behind. When it was time for us to get the iconic Hawksbill Crag side photo, we sent my mom back to the clearing on the trail, while we posed as close to the end of the crag as we could reach….or so we thought. What we thought was a position waaay too close for comfort, but still made us look real cool and brave, turned out to be barely halfway to the tip!! After that we hightailed it back to the car…it was time for some food!!
As we were traveling to our next destination, low and behold, we came across two more fields full of elk! These were closer to the road than the ones we saw earlier. Up until the point, I don’t think I had ever really paid attention to the shape of their antlers. They are so tall! And not like deer. Like many other tourists we pulled over on the side of the road and got out and took some pictures. Unlike other tourists, we did not hop the fence and approach them to try to get a closer look. Just a few weeks earlier some people had been attacked at an Elk park near our neck of the woods. After getting our pictures in, we went ahead and stopped at the Elk Education center in Ponca. There were people there to answer any questions we may have had. Caroline and I bought some gold leaf ornaments with Elk on them for the Christmas trees and we moved on.
We made one more stop before eating, Steel Creek Campground, along the Buffalo National River. I wanted to see where we had been planning to camp in case we decided to come down during warmer temperatures and I wanted to get my National Park Passport stamped by the Ranger before they closed. To my surprise the campground was already almost full!!!! There were a lot of people camping with horses, but on the other end of the park were all the tent campers gearing up for the evening. It did make me feel a little like a wussy that all these folks were going to brave the elements and we’d opted out. But I still feel like we make the mature decision based on our gear. We just need to update our gear! That’s beside the point. The point is….I loved the campground. It was right in a bend of the river. You camped along the river and opposite of the campsites were the prettiest rock bluffs I’ve ever seen. They were so tall and just sheer drop offs. The colors of the the rock walls varied from blacks and greys to tans and reds to creams and whites. Gorgeous. I immediately told my companions that I would be making a trip back with the rest of my crew for some camping. Keep in mind that you cannot make reservations at Steel Creek, it’s first come first serve.
Finally it was time to eat! We had picked a place off of Yelp called the Low Gap Cafe that seemed to have a lot of good reviews. Also, the same friends from earlier had recommended it as well. After reading a little bit about the owner/chef, I knew it was a place I had to eat. Unfortunately, I wasn’t 100% sure of where it was and I didn’t have very good phone reception. I knew it was somewhere around Jaspar and we were already on the road that led that way, so off we went. As we were curving around the mountains, all of a sudden a little road sign pops up that said “Low Gap” out in the middle of nowhere. And just as I was saying, “Well we found Low Gap,” we rounded a bend and BOOM there was the Cafe right next to the road!
Eating at The Low Gap Cafe felt like I was on an episode of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. I can’t believe Guy Fieri didn’t walk out the door to greet us! From the outside, this definitely looked like a place that I probably wouldn’t think to stop and eat, I won’t lie. But since we had others recommending it, we figured it was a must stop. After doing a little reading, I discovered that the chef, Nick Bottini, actually studied at the Culinary Institute of America in New York. He then went to California before settling in Arkansas after falling in love with the area.
The menu was very refined. There were a lot of different options that you wouldn’t normally see on an everyday cafe’s menu. For instance, between the three of us, we ordered the Low Gap Bourbon Chicken for an appetizer, Pan-Seared Duck with a Port Wine Reduction, Chicken Bagliore, a Seafood Platter, and Bourbon Pecan Pie for dessert. (Haha…After rereading that sentence, it looks like we like alcohol in our food!) And in true “Lagom” fashion, we shared with everybody and I think we can all agree it was delicious. This is a must stop if you’re in the area.
After dinner, we made it back to Harrison to our night’s accommodations, The Hotel Seville. The hotel is a completely restored, 1929, Spanish inspired hotel. It has the tile roof, plaster carvings, archways, and wrought iron, split staircase that one would imagine in a Spanish architecture. The wall paintings and tile work is all beautifully done and reminiscent of the pictures I see of similar designs for that era. As stated earlier, we weren’t exactly sure what we were getting when we booked this through Priceline, but we definitely got some bang for our buck! After a long day on the road and in the woods, we were ready to settle in and just relax.
The nice bar/restaurant in the hotel was a great place to put up our feet, have a drink, and people watch. It was a pretty “hopping” place, so there was a lot to observe, besides the World Series on the bar televisions. My two favorite interactions came from a Scottish man and some bikers carrying a Chucky doll (like a Chucky doll from the movie Chucky).
First, the Scottish tourist. He approached my mom and asked her about her “Ireland” hoodie. “Had she ever been to Ireland?” Her answer was no, but her daughter did her student teaching there and this was one of the souvenirs she brought back (my little sister, not me). He then went on and on about Irish culture, religion, politics, and history….and turns out he was actually from Scotland! I wasn’t always sure what he was saying, but I could have sat and listened to his heavy accent all night. The part I did understand was when he told my mom the next time someone asks her about her shirt and why she’s wearing it if she’s never been, then she just needs to say “Fook You!” (Insert Scottish accent!) And to my shock, my mom does a pretty good impression of a cussing Scottish man!
After the Scottish man finished entertaining us, he moved onto a party of 3 bikers, plus their Chucky doll! I’m not sure why they had a Chucky accompanying them on their trip, but it definitely made for an interesting conversation piece. What we did wean out of their conversation, was that they’d been coming to Buffalo National River for many years and had yet to see elk since their first trip. They had plans of getting up early in the morning and getting to the Ponca area to see some because they’d been told that may be a better time. At the time that we’d seen three different herds of elk in the middle of the day, I didn’t think much of it. But after hearing their story, I would have to consider ourselves pretty lucky it seems for the encounters we did have. Before we left to go to our room for the night, Caroline was sure to let them know what we had seen, where and when. The next morning as we were getting up to go, so were the bikers with Chucky strapped to the back of a motorcycle! I hope they found what they were looking for.
Before we headed off to hike some more trails, Caroline found a “Pin” stating that one thing you must do while visiting Harrison, Arkansas is visit the Maplewood Cemetery. It’s definitely not the oldest cemetery or the most “interesting” cemetery I’ve ever visited, but it is one of the prettiest. That is because all the roads, which are in a nice grid pattern, are lined with beautiful large maple trees. And this fall morning, they were especially breathtaking!
After stopping in a little shop in Ponca and purchasing our own souvenirs, we headed towards Lost Valley Trail to meet up with a friend we met through some hiking groups on Facebook, Lesleigh. I found Lesleigh, or Lesleigh found me, on a “Women Who Hike” group. I immediately took notice of all the gorgeous pictures she took while she was on her hikes in Arkansas and surrounding areas. So when we decided to take a trip to Buffalo National River, I knew Lesleigh would be a good source of information. I was even more pleased when she decided to catch up with us and hike a trail with us. Lost Valley Trail was our “first date.”
Lost Valley hadn’t really been a part of my original plan, but we had time to get in a short hike, and Lesleigh said this was one of her favorites. It was one of my favorites as well. It was the perfect warmup hike for the day. Not too difficult or long, but spectacular sights. We climbed up a mini waterfall, through a cave, and up a “valley” where we scrambled over rocks up the river bed that was dried up for the season. If Lesleigh hadn’t been with us, I would have never known to take the path we took to see the sites we saw. Finally, at the end of our trail, we ended up at the biggest cave opening I’d ever seen. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a deep cave like some I’ve been in around Missouri, but the mouth was huge! I felt so tiny climbing up in it amongst giant boulders. Afterwards we headed back to the parking lot, saying our goodbyes to Lesleigh, but not before she warned me about the treacherous hike we were about to go on next!
At this time I want to get a little off topic and discuss “Networking.” No matter what you’re into, I would highly recommend doing your research and possibly joining any groups or clubs with similar interests. Thanks to social media, there are so many hiking groups on Facebook and Instagram to join, it’s easy to get inspiration and any questions you may have answered. As well as meeting new friends like Lesleigh. I would highly recommend getting involved.
Our final trail of the trip was the one I was most anxious about. The one that had kept me tossing and turning the night before. The one that still gives me that feeling of fear and anxiety to think about doing again…Big Bluff, also known as The Goat Trail…dun dun dunnnn!
Big Bluff is exactly that, the tallest sheer bluff between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains at over 500 feet…straight down…to certain death! You walk along the edge of the bluff on “The Goat Trail,” a narrow path that has been named because of the wild goats that roamed the area. I felt like one of those mountain goats that one sees on National Geographic perilously perched on a mountainside. According to my mom and Caroline I looked more like a strange mix of a hunchbacked gorrilla as I skittishly walked and even CRAWLED to the end and back of the trail! I started out by scooting along on my butt. Eventually I felt brave enough to get on my feet and walk, but I couldn’t get myself to stand up straight! On the way back, I made a mistake and looked over the edge at a skinnier point in the trail and instinctively fell on all fours and started to just crawl! People finally felt so sorry for me, that one man grabbed my hand and walked me safely back!
Even though it was terrifying, I had made it my mission to conquer my fear of heights and experience these amazing view. So honestly, all that I just said about Big Bluff was my fear speaking. If one were to fall, one probably would not survive, but the path is wide enough two or three people could probably walk shoulder to shoulder across it. If you can get the guts to go out and do it, it is most definitely worth it.
For your viewing pleasure, Caroline and I deciding whether we were going to walk the Goat Trail or not and myself actually doing it:
The view of the Buffalo River Valley is gorgeous. It’s an experience unlike any other I’ve had. But one other thing I failed to mention, the trail you take to get to Big Bluff, Centerpoint Trail, is over a 1,000 feet decline in elevation to the bluff, basically straight down. And what goes down must come up!! The whole adventure is not for the weak of mind or body, but if you do it, you’re sure to make a lifetime memory.
So that was our little adventure in Arkansas. We made one last stop at the Cliff House Inn, a restaurant and inn built on the side of a cliff with a gorgeous view of the valley, and ate some more great food. Including the famous, Company’s Comin’ Pie, a meringue crust with crackers and pecans filled with whipped cream and pineapple. Then we made the five hour drive back to southeast Missouri.
This was an amazing adventure and I plan on going back to do more exploring. If you’ve ever been to the area, what would be some “must-do” activities you would recommend?
Additional Photos from Hawksbill Crag/Whitaker Point:
Additional Photos from Lost Valley Trail:
Additional Photos from Centerpoint Trail to Big Bluff/Goat Trail:
Author
