Buffalo National River

Address:	170 Ranger Road, St Joe, AR 72675, USA
Phone:	+1 870-439-2502
Site:	nps.gov
Rating:	4.8

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 20

snoboardz1972

The Buffalo River is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Take a few days off from your hectic life (yes you), travel to Ponca, AR and rent a canoe or bring your own. Drop in at Ponca with enough supplies for at least two nights on the river. Camp anywhere you like between Ponca and Pruitt. Leave no trace. Take your time. Go slow. Let the river take you as it sees fit. Use existing fire pits or better yet use none at all. Go in late March to early May for your best shot at ideal floating conditions. Check river conditions with local outfitters to make sure water levels are good. Take an onion sack or get one from a local outfitter to store your trash while on the river. Please leave this place as you found it. Its too special of a river to leave it anything but pristine. Be careful and have fun. Side trip to Lost Valley before or after your float. Short day hike, but thats another review.

Dustie Meads

What a beautiful experience. The National Buffalo river is the only Nationally Recognized protected River Eco System in the country and once there youll see why it was chosen to be protected. Its truely breathtaking along its length. You can canoe, kayak and camp along a river eco system thats hardly changed from the days Native Americans lived and hunted along its River Banks. Its a National Park also, meaning you can float and camp wherever you like along its length. Or search Google for many of the camping areas along the river. And, dont forget to hunt for Elk as the Buffalo River is prime Elk habitat! They can commonly be seen in Boxley Valley along Ark. 43 and Ark. 21 and the vicinity of the Erbie campground. Just do a search of Elk in Arkansas... They are magnificent beasts! So make the Buffalo National River a destination if you want a unique experience.

TheRayMaynard

The Buffalo River is one of the cleanest rivers in the US, and is the first National River. There are hundreds of miles of hiking and horse trails for your outdoor adventures. The river is great for floating, as it has great beaches and campgrounds along the way. The scenery is breathtaking, with massive bluffs and small caves. If you are horseback riding, I recommend your horse be shod or wear boots as the trails are very rocky. If you love the outdoors, you will love the Buffalo.

Terri Mcdonald

The scenery is beautiful no doubt however the water is VERY low and unless everything including your canoe weigh less than 250 you will carry it a lot. Very difficult to navigate through Rapids in some places due to the low water. I would recommend a shorter trip as the last half was the most frustrating. We went from steel Creek to Kyles landing. Next time would only do first half unless the water was 3 feet higher.

Brenda White

Great place to swim, float, or camp. Campsite was $22 a night and has electric and water hookups and showers and bathrooms. Well kept facilities and friendly and helpful park rangers. A great way to enjoy a break from ringing phones. There is no phone service until you drive back up towards the ranger stations and Wild Bills Outfitters.

Parker Bomar

Love this place. Had a blast here. If you are looking for rental lone river had better prices. Be advised that the sections from Ponca to steel Creek tend to be too low but steel Creek to Kyles is more then enough for most people. If its sunny bring sunscreen! And definitely make the hike to lone Valley you wont regret it.

Drew Snodgrass

There are so many wonderful things to say about this place. Fishing is spectacular, the views are amazing, the water is as clear as you can imagine, and you can camp pretty much anywhere along the river. You can also do long distance backpacking along the gorgeous trial that rubs adjacent to the river. This park is worth the drive.

Trevor Stilwell

A national treasure. The upper Buffalo is beautifully scenic wilderness setting for enjoying the great outdoors. Enjoy picturesque bluffs like those wrapping around Steel Creek, canoe or kayak to Kyles landing. I recommend stopping mid-float for an easy one-mile hike from the river to the waterfall in Hemmed-In Hollow.

Tim Bailey

No matter what your style of kayaking or canoeing is, this is a bucket list river! The water is clear and the scenery is, at times, breathtaking. Although the summer months often see an unpleasant amount of traffic, late fall through early spring are great times to experience the Buffalo with relative solitude.

Wendy Shields

We always camp with a large group. Call early for this outstanding destination or you wont get a spot. Clean restrooms/showers The campground is clean and well cared for. They have water, electricity and sewer dump of needed. They also have tent camping for there outdoorsy person

David Jones

One of the most beautiful places in the entire country, not just Arkansas. Absolutely a must visit for any nature lover. The water is clean, cold, and clear just about every day of the year. There are just too many positive things to list them. Just go if you get the chance.

alaina poulsen

One of the best places I have been to in America. We camped along the river and then rented a canoe with our dog and child and set out for a memorable day. Breathtaking views. The water looked like the key west ocean, not river water! We will definitely visit again.

Kimberly Noble Winslow

Beautiful! We didnt know what to expect, but it was beautiful. The ranger at the visitor center was so helpful and had so much knowledge to share with us. The campground had really nice facilities as well as showers! Camping while we were there (Feb 2017) was free.

Lawson Mcintire

It would be five stars but someone in my group got two tickets. One for loud music, and the second for dogs off leash while in our campground. There were no other campers in the whole campground so we werent bothering anyone, except the ranger apparently.

Otis Fine

Camping in a private facility allowed us to avoid first-come-first-served hassles. Rate was ~$5/night. River was perfect for all us rookie canoers. Mainly easy water but enough rapids that 80% of our group wound up in the drink. Lots of fun.

Richard Duerr

Its the best place in the state for extended camping. Though there are many beautiful places in the state I personally prefer places without atvs and meth officianados which unfortunately a lot of Arkansas natural areas are filled with.

Travis Greenlee

Amazing views, pretty peaceful, plenty of great places to stop off to relax, or swim, or fish. Remember to leave no trace when you go, and make sure you remember to take your life jackets! Lots of options for length of floats too!

James McGovern

When we visit the Jasper, AR. area, its such an adventure to walk the trails and do some trout fishing along the Buffalo National River. Scenic Hi-Way 7 is one of the most relaxing drives to enjoy and we do it as often as possible.

James Cox

I would not recommend hiking the buffalo river trail in spring or summer. We went over Memorial day and it was brutally hot with lots of ticks. That said, it was otherwise a fun hike and we want to kayak the river in the future.

Nile Smith

Are you kidding me...Just check out some photos of the gorgeous river. I floated a small section with my family and all loved the day from my 3 year old up. Swimming off the shores during stops to fishing for small mouth bass.