A cold front slipped through last night and highs today are only
forecast to reach 60, should be a good day to do some hiking. So, we’re going back to Big Buffalo Creek to explore
more of the Upper Buffalo Mountain Bike Trails (UBMBT) of the Buffalo River headwaters inside Ozark National Forest.
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Big Buffalo Falls above lovely pool
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Since our hike here last month, (see: 45 Big Buffalo Creek & Little Buffalo Falls) I have
researched the UBMBT a little online and
found that the system consists of 35 miles of 19 interconnected trails. Some of these trails are on old roads, and
about nine miles of the trail system utilizes roads still open to vehicular traffic including Cave Mountain Rd., Kapark Rd. and Nuckles Creek
Rd.
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Big Buffalo Creek
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Today’s loop route will take us
on portions of four of the trails. We park
right at the intersection of Cave Mountain Road and Highway 16. Cave Mountain Road has a wide apron here at the intersection with the highway, and plenty of room for
a couple cars to park, although this is not a 'designated' parking area. |
near the intersection of Hwy. 16 and Cave Mountain Road
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The hike downhill begins right here at the intersection on an old road
that is now ‘Red Star Trail’. Just 50
yards down the hill is a Forest Service cable gate across the road and a UBMBT
trail map, this spot is designated intersection #32. We continue downhill, Red Star Trail is just
under a mile and downhill all the way.
A little steep in places but not too bad, as we get closer to the bottom is a little feeder creek to our
left down toward Big Buffalo Creek.
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many views of creek along Buffalo Creek Trail
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Getting near the bottom the trail swings to the left (east) and levels out
a little, the scenery gets prettier, and we cross the little creek twice. At the bottom is trail intersection #3 the
end of Red Star Trail, we turn right (south) on Buffalo Creek Trail. Crossing the little creek one more time, then
another little feeder this one a steep dry gully. Further along we hear someone approaching
behind us, we step off the trail allowing two mountain bikes to pass.
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fern fireworks
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When I ask if they have ever seen hikers on the bike trails, the answer ‘yes, but not very often.’ Not far afterwards we come to a wet crossing
over Big Buffalo Creek, then trail intersection #5 where we leave Buffalo Creek
Trail and turn left (northeast) onto Twisted Hickory Trail. In just 100 feet or less another
intersection, straight ahead is Wildcat Trail we turn right (southeast) staying
on Twisted Hickory Trail.
Now
off the old road Twisted Hickory is pure trail, but a good one and easy to
follow. After a half mile we cross a dry
side drainage then start uphill away from Big Buffalo Creek, and around
another side drainage. The trail
continues uphill with some zigzags until we reach the next intersection #13. |
first and fourth Buffalo Creek crossing
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Twisted Hickory ends here where we turn right (west) on Zeester
Trail. This trail zigzags its way
downhill and soon we come to Big Buffalo Creek and another wet crossing. Just on the other side of the creek is an old
rock wall at the end of Zeester Trail and intersection #6. This is the spot where we first realized last
month that we were in the Upper Buffalo Mountain Bike Trails area.
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good trails and well marked
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Today
we turn north on Buffalo Creek Trail, on the west side of the trail is a large
flat area with evidence of a couple old campsites.
A quarter mile further up the trail we hear a splashing waterfall, and
just 20 feet off the trail we come to the bank of Big Buffalo Creek at Big
Buffalo Falls.
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Little Buffalo Falls (April 2020)
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A lovely waterfall, Big Buffalo Falls is low and wide at about 8 feet tall and 12-15 feet wide flowing off a sharp bedrock ledge then cascading down more rounded smooth bedrock. We linger a while here taking it all in. This is the first waterfall of any
significance and one of only a handful on the entire 153-mile Buffalo River. Big Buffalo Falls is for us the highlight of
today’s hike. |
Big Buffalo Falls
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Half a mile past the falls we cross Big Buffalo Creek again, then a
quarter mile more to intersection #5 and our last crossing today. Almost half a mile past that is intersection
#3 where we start uphill on Red Star Trail to end today’s hike back at the car
parked on Cave Mt. Rd. Today we had a
great hike on some wonderful easy trails of the UBMBT in the ONF. The hike was 6.1 miles with 753 feet of altitude gain.
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Roberts Gap church
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Big Buffalo Falls: Statistics Chart 49 Our parking area today (U3), couldn't be easier to find. Right at the intersection of Highway 16 and Cave Mountain Road, although not an 'official' parking area, there is plenty of room along the side of the road for a couple vehicles. Red Star Trail heads south off the berm of the road and downhill.
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