Buffalo

This is a long, remote, breathtaking run. The vast majority of the run, starting .5 miles past Dixon Ford, and continuing until 1 mile before the Boxley Bridge is inside the Upper Buffalo Wilderness Area. The first 10 miles of the wilderness are managed by the US Forest Service and the bottom 4 miles are managed by the National Park Service. The section of this run inside the National Forest is also managed as a part of the Wild and Scenic River system, one of 3 such rivers in Arkansas (along with Richland Creek and Hurricane Creek) with this designation. Finally, the 135 miles of the Buffalo from the National Forest border to the White River are managed as the Buffalo National River - America's first National River. The only sign of development in the gorge is high on the left bluff at Whitaker Creek (Mile 8.6). This is the former home of wilderness photographer Tim Ernst. His journal and photographs can be seen at timernst.com, and he also has a Facebook Page, Tim Ernst Photography of Arkansas and other wild places.

The first couple miles of the run consist of mainly shallow Class II bedrock shoals and small ledges, offering countless surf waves as the walls of the gorge begin to grow. Be careful of the numerous areas where this bedrock is undercut along the banks.The action picks up when boulders begin to appear in the stream creating several class III to III+ rapids for the next couple miles.The difficulty subsides after the 'Room of Doom' rapid, but regains intensity below Whitaker Creek. Large boulders again populate the streambed and create several rapi

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