Eva Barnes Henderson better known as ‘Granny’ lived on a little farm
near the Buffalo River and Sneeds Creek most of her life. We have wanted to visit her old place for a
long time but didn’t consider it within our abilities due to the over 1100 feet
of elevation gain when returning to the Centerpoint Trailhead, doesn’t
sound like fun to me. I know, a lot of
people do this hike all the time, I’ve
driven past Centerpoint Trailhead many times to see the parking lot full, and
others parked on the highway. You
can even pay to park in the front yard across the highway from the
trailhead.
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low river level of early autumn
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Until recently I had resolved
we would only get to the Henderson house as a side trip while floating
downriver. Also,
I used to be one of those who wouldn’t even consider the
Old River Trail, I had dismissed this great trail as someplace for horseback
riders only. Admittedly the ORT is not
for hiking whenever the water is high, making crossing the river extremely
dangerous, but in early fall after a
relatively dry summer, now is a great time to explore the Old River Trail on
foot. |
after the first crossing
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We begin our hike in the small parking lot at the west end of
Kyle’s Campground next to a large BRT/ORT Trailhead sign. Here at the start the trail follows the old
road and almost immediately crosses dry Bear Creek. 100 feet past Bear Creek is a signed
intersection, left is the BRT going downstream toward Erbie, we stay on the
road straight ahead. Then another quarter mile to the next signed intersection, this is where the BRT (left)
heads upstream and eventually to Steele Creek, we stay straight on the Old
River Trail.
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underneath Arbaugh home
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At 100 yards is a small
trailside campsite on the left, and then 200 feet further the Buffalo River. This the first of ten river crossings we’ll make today, the water
temperature is quite comfortable so getting our feet wet is really
refreshing. On the downside it is going
to get really ‘old’ having to change shoes all day. We quickly develop a routine for these
crossings: first we try to locate the ORT on the other side of the
river.
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hidden in the jungle
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Occasionally the trail is obvious
across the river but usually we have no idea where the trail may be. Maybe someday the NPS will nail blazes on
trees at all the river crossings. Next,
we pace up and down the edge of the river looking for a shallow place to cross. The Buffalo River is so crystal clear, making
it easy to distinguish the shallows from the holes.
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views from rock patio
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Then we don our water sandals, hang the boots around our necks and with a ‘hiking pole’ for balance slowly make our way across trying to
avoid any deeper spots or slippery rocks. Naturally the fastest current will be across the shallow areas, Kat
has this irrational fear of getting swept off her feet, so she tends
to get into much deeper (gentle currents) water. Personally, I wouldn’t attempt any river
crossing over 4 feet deep, and only then if the current was dead calm.
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Arbaugh House
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Once across we head up the bank then uphill on the old road,
around a gentle turn to the left then a little farther south come to an old
farmhouse on the right. This is the
Arbaugh Farm consisting of the old house which the Park Service has obviously
done some work to stabilize, some overgrown ruins around back and an old rusty
hay-rake just south of the house. |
hay rake at the Arbaugh place
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On
down the road we soon curve around back to the right and in another 200 yards
leave the old road and enter an old overgrown field. Off to the right a bluff forms with pock-holes or small caves in its face.
Then another 100 feet is the next Buffalo River crossing. On the other side the ORT goes up through a
gully in the steep riverbank, at the top is a trail
intersection, the trail north is Slatey Place Trail going up the mountain to
the BRT at the Slatey Place (see: 107 Low Gap to Slatey Place), we keep going west on the ORT.
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every crossing is unique
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For almost a half mile the trail stays close
to the river, we pass by Coors Can Cascades across the river. Maybe with more water I would see the
resemblance but today Bear Cave Hollow only has enough water flow to give the
smooth rocks a shiny appearance. Just
beyond the cascades we cross paths with a solo hiker and an ice-chest on
wheels.
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early fall tranquility
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Having just seen ‘Coors Can’
Cascades I must have beer on the brain, as I ask him if he has any cold beer in
the cooler. He answers “Sorry, it’s
empty.” And goes on to explain, he has
been on a ‘sabbatical’ camping and communing with nature for the past week and
is now on his way back to ‘civilization’.
Everyone continues on their way, and we arrive at river crossing three.
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bedrock river crossing
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This crossing consists mostly of bedrock, which is slick but not too
bad, we make the crossing without incident.
Around 100 feet from the crossing we come to Dome Shelter just north of
the trail. We don’t enter but this domed
ceiling shelter type cave appears to have a ‘deeper’ cave at the east end, I
regret not taking a closer look, although it gives us another reason to come
back. |
the scene at crossing 4
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Another quarter mile through the
woods brings us once again to the banks of the Buffalo. Before crossing I explore upstream about 200
yards, I’m looking up on the hillside hoping to spot the remains of the
Seamster Cabin, but I can’t find it, the trees haven’t really started dropping
their summer foliage yet making it hard to find anything under the canopy. Returning to the crossing, I do however spot a barn up on the bluff top.
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barn on the bluff
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We cross the river right next to a spring, the
Suck Hole’s outlet ‘boils’ up right at the edge of the river under a huge
boulder that is part of the bluff. The
trail heads south steeply up the bluff, I may not be giving horses enough credit, but the trail here looks more like a goat trail than a horse trail. Once
on top we curve back around to the north and the barn we had seen down
below before crossing the river.
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be careful inside old structures
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I
believe this is the Lockhead Farm, with some rocky remains of the house choked
with saplings and ivy to the northwest.
In front of the barn in a clearing is a campsite. The trail is back on the old road, and we come to
another trail intersection. This is
Horseshoe Bend Trail, it too heads up the mountain eventually ending at the
BRT and the Slatey Place. |
view from rock patio
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We keep going
on the old road through open woods for less than quarter of a mile to a
very nice large camping area on the left.
With room for five or more campsites, we notice three fire-rings spread
around in the open woods with a large rock patio just beyond the
campsites. Out on the rock patio we find
ourselves on top a low bluff overlooking the Buffalo. Back on the trail we continue downhill a little coming to a sharp turn
left at a trail intersection.
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typical river bank
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Here the
old road going right (north) is Horseshoe Bend Trail to a river
crossing at the mouth of Hemmed-in-Hollow, we turn left staying on the ORT and
in 100 feet come to the river at our fifth crossing. Here at river level,
we are near the base of the
low bluffline with the rock patio on top.
In under 200 yards after crossing the river we come to the Centerpoint Schoolhouse site on our right.
The building itself washed away during the big flood of 1961, all that
remains are the stone steps and foundation. |
Dome Shelter
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A hundred yards past the school we cross Sneeds Creek which today
is dry and
come to a trail intersection. I believe a right
turn here puts you on the Hemmed-in-Hollow Trail, we continue straight on the
old road/ORT. Off to our left, away from the road we spot a campsite out in the woods and in another quarter
mile the next intersection. Here we stay
on the old road leaving the Old River Trail which turns left here and goes
downhill to the river near Jim Bluff. |
Suck Hole Outlet at base of bluff
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We are now on
Sneeds Creek Trail (I think) and head up a pretty steep hill for about 200
yards to another major intersection.
Here we make a right to stay on Sneeds Creek Trail, a left turn here continues
uphill and is the Centerpoint Trail. Sneeds
Creek Trail levels out here and curves around a bend to the left before
arriving at the front porch of Granny Henderson’s house. |
Henderson House (back)
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Well we made it, Eva Barnes Henderson’s old home, we took the ‘low road’
to get here, the Old River Trail which is known as a ‘horse trail’ and we never
saw a single horse all the way here.
Until now, there are four of them munching on grass in Mrs. Henderson’s
front yard. We chit-chat with the horse
folk a little as they prepare to leave, it turns out they came in on the ORT
too, but from upstream at Steele Creek.
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remnants of Centerpoint Schoolhouse
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Talking about all the different routes to get here, someone pulls out an old, tattered
Trails Illustrated Map that must have been made
not long after the Buffalo National River was first established, I want to
compare this ‘antique’ to my map which is almost ten years old itself, but I decide that
would be pretty rude since they are getting ready to go. Kat and I instead have a nice long lunch
break on the front porch before exploring Granny’s house and property.
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remains of a chicken coop?
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Many times, I’ve seen Mrs. Henderson’s house
referred to as ‘Granny’s Cabin’, it is not a cabin, this is a clapboard house
complete with a kitchen and ‘sitting room’ downstairs and I assume bedrooms
upstairs. Around in the back are the
overgrown remains of a few outbuildings that appear to be a root cellar, and
maybe pigpen
and chicken coop. We take
our time here, maybe an hour total, to regain some energy for the trip back to Kyle’s Landing. |
the old Henderson place
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On the way back to Kyle’s we nix the multiple footwear changes to save time and
find that our soaking wet boots almost completely dry out between each
crossing. We do save almost an hour
going back but we’re not stopping to explore everything along the way
either. Of course this was a great
hike, of 7.5 miles with a total elevation gain under 300 feet, compared
to over 1100 feet on
the ‘high road’ (Centerpoint Trail) route, you
can see why the Old River Trail just became one of my favorites.
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in the woods
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Henderson House: Statistics Chart 70 Kyle’s Landing is easy enough to get
to, but the road is steep and reportedly gets pretty slippery when wet so go
slow and enjoy. Turn north off of
Highway 74 in Mt. Sherman onto NC 2650 Kyle’s Landing Road follow this all the
way to its end at the back of Kyle’s Landing Campground and park here at the
BRT/ORT trailhead. It’s about 2.7 miles
down the dirt road to the parking area.
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