65 Cane Branch and Robertson Hole

  The route to Cane Branch Hole starts out the same as when we went to Mt. Hersey, south off Highway 65 near Pindall, but stay straight (south) at the fork to Mt. Hersey.  From the fork the road stays up on the ridge and is good for about another mile.  Then as we head downhill into Sweet Gum Hollow the road gets pretty bad, and the last 100 feet or so ‘really bad’.

    This road ends in a tight spot right on the bank of the Buffalo River at the confluence of Cane Branch.  At one time this road turned here heading up Cane Branch, but the creek has washed-out the road, now just a narrow footpath above the steep bank into the creek.  Here right on the edge of the muddy banks of creek and river it isn’t easy to get turned around.  After a 3-point turn (more like 5) I get the truck pointed back up the steep rutted trail called a road, and we get out to have a look around.

  Here at the upstream end of Cane Branch Hole, which is just upstream of river mile 74, there is no beach or gravel-bar on this side, but across the river we see some patches of a small gravel-bar.  From here on the bank, it would be a steep muddy slide into the water.  We walk up the narrow trail that once was the road, and less than 50 feet come into a large flat open area used as a campsite and parking area.

    This is a real nice area with room for two or three campsites, and at the north end is a ‘driveway’ out to the road we came in on.  Had we known, we could have avoided the worst part of the ‘road’ and that ‘white knuckle’ turn around on the banks of the river by pulling in here and parking at this campsite.

    Oh well, anyway back at the river we look around for a safe way down to the water but don’t find anything resembling a trail in the thick brush around the mouth of Cane Branch and below the banks.  Since it’s only 50 or 60 feet to the south end of the camp area, that would make a good choice for a day-camp but without an easy access to Cane Branch Hole we give up and head for somewhere with easier access to the water.

    If you were to use the driveway into the campsite/parking area the drive in would still be bad, but not as bad but I’m still only giving a 1 for accessibility.  The camping area could be a nice place to set up a day-camp but with difficult access to the water along with unknown conditions of the hole itself, I feel the best I can do for amenities is a 1.

    This place isn’t very popular for obvious reasons but even a couple cars here would make it feel overcrowded.  I suppose the remoteness here is it’s only redeeming quality so for popularity a generous 4.  A total score for Cane Branch Hole: 6, with a caveat: the hole is un-tested, and this score is only this high due to its lack of popularity, which in itself makes it worth coming here, for camping or fishing but probably not swimming.

    From Cane Branch Hole we back-track out to the highway, then to the west edge of St. Joe and the road to Woolum.  This road is paved for the first mile or so to the fork, left for Baker Ford and right to Woolum.  Woolum Road gets a lot of use and is pretty good all the way down to Woolum about nine miles.

    Woolum consists of two areas, first the Woolum Ford area where there is a parking area with vault toilets and a short distance further down the road is the ford across the Buffalo and canoe launch.  The second area is the campground, at the parking area turn left (east) into a large field.  As you drive across this field for the next quarter mile on the right between the road and river are many campsites and a couple more vault toilets.

Robertson Hole

    Near the end of the campground at the last toilet a short road cuts down through the field onto the gravel-bar and Robertson Hole at river mile 79.  The gravel-bar is big with lots of direct sun, we find a small opening in a thicket of trees right at the edge of the hole, we back in here and park.  This is a great spot for our day-camp, just drop the tailgate unload and set-up camp in the shade at the edge of the water.

    Only about 15 feet from our chairs to the water's edge, the only downside is the mud as we enter Robertson Hole, walking in through the soft mud quickly stirs up a mucky mess near shore.  But once out 20-30 feet the water stays pretty clean and gets really deep, at least 15 foot deep as I can’t reach bottom.  Robertson Hole is big, over a quarter mile long and about 100 feet wide with a 40 to 50 foot bluff on the other side.

    This is a great swimming hole and Kat declares this the best ‘day-camp’ we have found yet.  I point out the muddy entry to the water, this doesn’t bother her a bit since she usually only takes a couple steps in the water before ‘plopping’ down in her ‘floaty’.  As she puts it ‘floating around this hole’, she is ‘as happy as a pig in mud’.

   Other than checking out a couple of the campsites we don’t really do any exploring today since we got here pretty late, but we definitely notice the lack of people around.  Woolum is a popular place and today is Friday so I thought the area would be crawling with people, but no, we almost have the place to ourselves.

    So, for popularity today anyway Robertson Hole scores a 5.  Accessibility is also good, another solid 4, the road coming in was better than most and we’re parked right at the swimming hole.  We have an almost perfect little day-camp in the shade only a few feet to the water and just past the mud a great swimming hole, a 3 for amenities (due to the mud).  That adds up to a total score for Robertson Hole: 12 not bad at all.