The Middle District of Buffalo National River (BNR) is the area roughly between Carver and South Maumee. The Lower District is roughly from South Maumee to the east boundary near the White River and Sylamore area. Since part of the Buffalo River Trail (BRT) spans both districts I thought it might be simplest to combine discussion of both on one page. Information for trails in the Upper District is elsewhere.

Ken Smith’s Buffalo River Handbook is the definitive source of information for the river, trails, and surrounding area.  Make sure you get the second edition, published Dec 2018. Tim Ernst’s Buffalo River Hiking Trails has lots of information for all the trails along the river.

I have divided trail information into 3 groups:

• Buffalo River Trail
• Tyler Bend area
• Buffalo Point area

Shuttle Services

• Buffalo River Outfitters
• Silver Hill Float Service
• Wild Bill’s Outfitters

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Buffalo River Trail

The Buffalo River Trail (BRT) in the middle and lower river area runs about 43 miles along the south side from the Richland Valley near the Woolum ford to AR-14/Dillard’s Ferry near Buffalo Point.  White blazes are for the hiking trail, blue blazes are spurs, and yellow blazes indicate equestrian use.  From Richland Creek to just past the Old Arnold Cemetery, much of the trail is blazed both white and yellow – indicating mixed use – with a few short hiker-only areas.  The Park Service does not allow dogs on any trail or in backcountry areas within the BNR.  All coordinates below use the WGS84 datum.

The Ozark Highlands Trail (OHT) shares much of this route, so this section of the BRT is sometimes called the BRT/OHT. Combining these trails is an easy way to extend a hike. Someday these might be part of the Trans-Ozark Trail – a trail system stretching from Lake Fort Smith to St Louis.

There is a section of the BRT in the upper river area running about 37 miles from Boxley to Pruitt Arkansas, leaving a 30-mile gap between Pruitt and the Richland Valley.  The folks at Buffalo National River are interested in having a trail to fill that gap and preliminary planning is underway. This and the up-river segment were built by an Ozark Society crew that is still active, though currently doing maintenance in the upper river area pending clearance to resume construction.

A common theme for the BRT in the middle and lower river area is that old roads and horse trails can lead one astray.  Have a map and know how to use it!  There are several big creek crossings where you are likely to get your feet wet so be prepared for that.  East of Tyler Bend, parking areas are generally crude, limited, and often unmarked.  I hope this changes soon.

Maintenance and trail reports

The Ozark Highlands Trail Association (OHTA) has overall responsibility for maintenance of this part of the BRT, per an agreement with the National Park Service. Contact OHTmaintenance@gmail.com to report problems like trees down, vandalism, excessive brush, etc.

The OHTA has divided the trail into small sections that are available for adoption by people and groups interested in helping to keep this trail great.  Details and contact information.

Maps

My maps are in a 6-page PDF and use GPS data collected mostly in 2015 and 2016 but include more recent changes so they are fresh. Each page will be 1:24,000 scale when printed on 11×17 paper. Here’s some general info about my maps. Every time I update the map the file will have a different name so if you want to bookmark or share it, link to this page – not the file.

Jan 27 ’25: Minor styling updates.

Nov 8 2023: An all-new base layer replaces the old scanned USGS topo maps. Much nicer looking and probably more legible.

Mar 11 2023 update: Added symbols for boat launches, improved road data, added trails at Buffalo Point, minor style tweaks.

April 7 2021 update: The final construction near Little Rocky Creek (between Red Bluff and South Maumee roads) is complete so the actual path is now shown.  The entire 28-mile extension between US-65 and AR-14 is now considered by the National Park Service to be open.

The Ozark Highlands Trail Association sells a map that shows this section of trail and more.

None of this trail east of US-65 appears on the current Trails Illustrated map #233. Note that it shows parts of the Ozark Highlands Trail (OHT) and BRT north of the Buffalo River in the Tyler Bend and Gilbert areas.  These are not the OHT and BRT, it’s a horse trail and an old railroad bed respectively.  A new edition (copyright 2019) of this map is available but does not include the new trail data, nor have they corrected the old errors. An even newer map that does include the “new” trail was in the proofreading stage in April ’24 and should be available at retail about late June ’25.

Main trail heads

• Woolum Ford: 35.9704°N 92.8866°W.  You must cross the Buffalo River and Richland Creek if starting here.  Don’t cross the Buffalo at the “historic” ford – go 50 yards upstream where it is shallower.  Don’t cross Richland Creek near its mouth – go about 200 yards upstream where a shallower crossing is marked.  Crossing the Buffalo can be a problem when water levels are up.  My notes say that when the crossing was about knee-deep, the Carver gauge was at 6.2 feet.  I need to collect some more data points. South Woolum Rd is closed where it runs alongside the river in the High Bank area. If coming from St Joe, detour NW on Moscow Love Rd to the intersection with North Woolum Rd, then head south to the trail head.
• Dave Manes Bluff: 35.9578°N 92.8543°W.  Parking for 2 cars.
• Tyler Bend (Collier Homestead): 35.9754°N 92.7654°W.  Ample parking.
• Grinders Ferry (US-65): 35.9843°N 92.7443°W.  Ample parking.  The trail crosses the road on the stone bridge.  There is also a short spur from near the toilet leading south to the trail.
• Zack Ridge Road: 35.9908°N 92.6958°W.  Limited parking in the yard of an old home site.
• Red Bluff Road: 36.0162°N 92.6571°W.  Limited parking on the side of the road.
• South Maumee Road: 36.0234°N 92.6169°W.  Limited parking on the side of the road.
• Spring Creek Road: 36.0286°N 92.5798°W.  Limited parking on the side of the road.
• AR-14 (Dillard’s Ferry): 36.0652°N 92.5783°W.  Ample parking.

Accessing the Woolum, Dave Manes, Zack Ridge, Red Bluff, South Maumee, and Spring Creek Roads trail heads requires driving several miles of dirt road.  The roads are maintained and should be fine for any vehicle.

Section Information

The Woolum Ford/Richland Creek to US-65 segment was completed in 1991 and is 14.5 miles.  The trail does not cross the US-65 bridge – it stays on the south side of the river, going through a large culvert under the highway to a trail head in the upper parking area of Grinders Ferry.

The US-65 to Red Bluff Road segment was completed in October 2014 and is 11.1 miles, though there are still no trail head signs. Bear Creek is a major tributary and crossing it after even a moderate rain can be hazardous. Brush Creek is less of a problem.

The Red Bluff Road to South Maumee Road segment is about about 6.2 miles long.  The final bit of construction was completed April 1 2021 so this area is now open. Rocky Creek may require wading or be impassable after heavy rains.

The South Maumee Road to AR-14 segment was completed in 2010 and is 11.0 miles. Spring Creek may require wading or be impassable after heavy rains.

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Tyler Bend area

Tyler Bend is the most-developed recreation area on the middle river, featuring campgrounds, visitor center, day use area, boat launch, interpretive sites, and hiking trails. The BRT passes through and intersects these other trails:

• River View Trail, about 1.6 miles between Collier Homestead and the main campground.
• Return Trail, about 0.5 miles from Collier Homestead to its intersection with River View Trail.
• Spring Hollow Trail, about 1 miles from the trail head near the main campground to its intersection with the BRT.
• Buck Ridge Trail, about 0.9 miles from its intersection with the Spring Hollow Trail to its intersection with the BRT.
• Rock Wall Trail, about 0.9 miles from the trail head near the main campground to its intersection with the BRT.

Many combinations are possible to create hikes of various lengths. A map showing details of these trails and relevant points within Tyler Bend can be had on page 2 of the BRT map set above.

There is a spur trail from the BRT on the west side of US-65 that leads north up to the bridge. There is a pedestrian walkway on the west side of the bridge leading to the Shine Eye parking area on the east side of US-65. There is apparently a trail from there to Gilbert and then a bit further down river on the north side of the river. I still have not explored those.

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Buffalo Point area

Buffalo Point, a couple miles east of AR-14 on the north side of the river, is the most-developed recreation area on the lower river, featuring campgrounds, visitor center, day use areas, boat launch, amphitheater, cabins, restaurant (seasonal?), and hiking trails.

The BRT currently ends on the west side of AR-14 and on the south side of the river, so it does not pass through Buffalo Point. Trails within Buffalo Point include:

• Indian Rockhouse Trail (IRT), about 1.7 miles from the trail head just east of the visitor center to the “Indian Rockhouse” – a large rock shelter apparently used by indigenous peoples. This trail crosses Panther Creek 3 times so after heavy rains it might be impassable. The consolation prize in that case is that the waterfall 0.7 miles down would be spectacular.
• Return Trail (RT), about 1.25 miles from the trail head to its intersection with the IRT (just after IRT’s second crossing of Panther Creek). This route is more likely to be passable after heavy rains than IRT. It crosses Pather creek only once at the smaller upper crossing, just 100 yards before arriving at the rockhouse.
• Overlook Trail (OT), about 0.9 miles. From the parking area just east of the visitor center you can go west about 0.25 miles to the northern intersection with CT. Heading east, it’s about 0.35 miles to the overlook and another 0.3 miles to the southern intersection with CT. The view from the overlook is mostly up-river. Watch out for the abundant poison ivy on the wall.
• Forest Trail (FT), about 0.9 miles from its intersection with CT down to Campground A. A spur runs from the the parking lot at pavillion #1 to FT. From there you can go 0.3 miles to the CT or 0.6 miles to Campground A.
• Campground Trail (CT), about 1.25 miles from the visitor center down to the road near the walk-in camping area. Intersects the FT and both ends of the OT. Another part of CT runs from near the Campground A toilet 0.2 miles to the intersection of the main campground roads.

Many combinations are possible to create hikes of various lengths. A map showing these trails and some relevant points within Buffalo Point can be had on page 5 of the BRT map set above. I also have a more-detailed map, a 1-page PDF that will be 1:12000 scale when printed on 8.5×11″ paper.

There are also a couple short trails at the old town of Rush: the Mine Level Trail and Morning Star Interpretive Loop. They’re still on my to-do list.

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Last reviewed/updated: May 3 2025