The area we choose to hike today takes us upstream above
Dixon Ford, into the headwaters of the Buffalo River. Most maps and documentation agree that the
Buffalo River begins at the confluence of Big Buffalo Creek and Reeves Fork,
from there upstream to the Upper Buffalo Mountain Bike Trails (UBMBT) is the
area we’re out to explore today. This is
just a small part of the headwater's region, the 'bottom' of the headwaters.
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Reeves Fork at crossing
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But before we start, we have to get down to Dixon Ford, and unless you’re looking for a serious 4X4
adventure, there’s only one way to get there; north on Dixon Ridge Road off Highway 16. Our last time here, (March 2019) the
last half mile down Dixon Ridge Road was terrible, with huge washed-out ruts big loose rocks hairpin curves and very steep. It’s still steep and the hairpins
haven’t gone away but the road is in really good shape, the drive down is a
‘piece of cake’. Kudos to the county
road crew for a job well done. |
Campsite Hole
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At the bottom of the hill is what has evolved into Dixon Ford Campground,
there are five or more well-spaced campsites but no facilities. Today with recent rains the road down here at the bottom is one mud hole after the next, we find a ‘dry’ spot west
of the road on an old road trace before reaching the actual Dixon Ford. This old road trace will be our trail today, in fact none of this route is on a designated trail,
and a couple areas will be pure bushwhack. Many of these old roads are now popular ATV
trails. |
clean waters of the Upper Buffalo
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We start out west on the old
road 200 yards to a wet weather waterfall north of the trail, then another 200 yards is Reeves
Fork. We cross the creek and stay on the road soon passing an intersection with another road heading south. About 0.4 miles further is another trail
intersection this one right (north) about 100 feet to a nice campsite on top
the bank of Big Buffalo Creek and an inviting swimming hole named ‘Campsite Hole’. The campsite is pretty big and the swimming hole, just beautiful. |
Nuckles Creek
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Beyond the campsite another quarter mile up
the road we come to Big Buffalo Creek our second wet crossing of the day, and
an intersection to the left with another old road, just up the hill 100 feet
are a couple side-by-side 4 wheelers, we go up to say ‘Hi’. They live near-by and are just out for a
ride, a father and three of his teenage kids, we are offered a ride across
the creek. Although we appreciate the
offer we decline, after all we’re on a ‘hike’, no cheating. |
shallow shelter under Tall Bluff
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Big Buffalo Creek is at least twice as wide as the crossing back at
Reeves Fork but no problem with creek waders slipped over our boots. Up the
bank on the other side, it takes a few minutes to locate the old road, which takes us north about 0.2
miles to the banks of Nuckles Creek just upstream of its confluence with Big
Buffalo. We leave the road here at a narrow spot to cross Nuckles, on the other side is a very nice campsite in a
beautiful location.
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even the small creeks have plenty of flow
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The campsite is within
20 feet of the creek with a bluff behind named ‘Tall Bluff’, at the base of
the bluff a shallow shelter in which someone has made a make-shift table and
chairs. Leaving the campsite, we
follow the base of Tall Bluff south then west with no old road or any trail
this is now a bushwhack on rocky ground between bluff and creek, soon we run
out of ground all together as the creek curves right up against the bluff.
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Big Buffalo Creek
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Back to the south side of Big Buffalo and
soon a faint old road trace, then an intersection with another road going east
up the hill to our left, we go straight (west) to another creek
crossing. This is a little feeder stream and easy to rock-hop across. Just past the
crossing is ‘Cinnamon Bear Hole’ under a low overhanging bluff forcing us to
also cross Big Buffalo Creek, now back on the north side of the creek. A little confusing, we have made three wet
crossings in less than 100 yards, Cinnamon Bear Hole and all the
other ‘named’ features along this hike were given their monikers by John Moore. |
trail marker in the UBMBT
|
The next quarter mile is all bushwhack, some of it easy but some
is along the steep hillside which we try to maintain a level path above the
creek. It’s hard to pick a good path, eventually down near the creek after crossing a small side drainage
we stumble onto what appears to be an old road in a dry wash. The road improves quick making it easy
going the last 0.2 miles where we arrive at a signed trail intersection.
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washtubs near old homesite
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This is intersection #8, we have made it to
the UBMBT, the sign marks the east end of Buffalo Creek Trail and south
end of Southern Slide Trail. Rock
walls nearby suggest there may have been a home here once, well it is a nice
place to live for sure. We decide to
head back from here since we have now found a route along Big Buffalo Creek from
Dixon Ford to the Upper Buffalo Mountain Bike Trails which was the
incentive for our hike today. |
old homesite in the woods
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Back to the east, the way we came starts out easy on the old road, then the quarter mile bushwhack before crossing Big Buffalo Creek and
the feeder stream after Cinnamon Bear Hole. At the intersection that heads east up the
hill we decide to ‘give it a try’ it does go the direction we want, and if it saves us from a few of the wet crossings it'll be worth
it. Up the hill we go, not too steep
this old road is pretty overgrown and there is no evidence of any ATV use or
even hikers, we may be on an old road, but this is ‘all bushwhack’.
 |
one of many rock walls
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At about a tenth of a mile up the hill is an
old homesite on our right, with a rock wall out in front of the house and four
or five old rusty washtubs scattered around.
All that remains of the house is a stone foundation with fireplace and
chimney. From the homesite we make
our way gradually up the hill first going east then curving to the south for
about 0.3 miles, finding more rock walls here and there along the way. For bushwhacking it’s not bad, through open woods we soon arrive on another old road.
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an easier crossing
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Any old road is usually a big improvement over bushwhacking, this
one is no exception we head southeast down the road. With no evidence of ATV use but some recent
horse traffic it’s easy going,
mostly level with little undergrowth.
One spot about 50 feet long through a muddy ‘pig wallow’ is about the
only rough spot. After half a mile the
road turns to the south and starts downhill, then a sharp curve left back
to the north.
 |
typical terrain encountered in woods
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With Reeves Fork below us
on our right we continue downhill to three intersections closely spaced, the
first is to the right back to the southwest along Reeves Fork, the second is a
left to the northwest between the low bluffs on the left and an old field on
the right. And at the third, where the road
we’re on ends, we turn right on the road we started on, that takes us
back across Reeves Fork and a quarter mile later the truck at the end of this
great hike. Yes, we did have a great time on this very satisfying hike.
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where Dixon Ridge Rd. reaches the bottom
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Big Buffalo Creek: Statistics Chart 80 Besides
finding a route between Dixon Ford and the UBMBT, we found a beautiful
campsite on Nuckles Creek in front of an unexpected shelter cave, an old
homesite and many old rock walls. A high sense of discovery, the icing on the cake you could say. Today we hiked a total of 5.8 miles and 361 feet of altitude gain. For directions how to get here, read: (8 Dixon Ford).
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