It has cooled off considerably since that blistering day back in early July when we last went to Arnold Hole, (see: 122 Arnold Hole), in fact the entire month of August has been quite nice with highs in the
eighties and nineties. We thought we
should give Arnold Hole (at river mile 91) another chance, today though we're trying to reach the
hole from the other side of the river.
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exit shoal across placid Arnold Hole
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We turn west onto Hwy. 374 in St. Joe, at the sign for ‘Woolum’ and
‘Baker Ford’. The paved highway soon
curves around to the south and at the fork in front of a church we turn left off
the pavement onto Baker Ford Road. This
gravel road has lots of small potholes and washboard, so we go slow, passing
the north end of Fantail Drive then turn left at the other end of Fantail Drive, maybe a half mile further. East on
Fantail isn’t bad for a dirt road, in just a half mile is a right
turn onto Gladiator Road. |
in the shade at Arnold Hole
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Gladiator
isn’t much of a road more like a driveway, and in a few
places complete with gates and ‘private property’ signs. We stick with it though, first heading south
for maybe a quarter mile to a 90° turn east. Another quarter mile to a second gate (by
the way all these gates are open), 100 feet past the gate the road
appears to curve to the south, this is actually the driveway to the nice house
in the big clearing on the ridge 200 yards south. |
Arnold Hole
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Continue straight (east) on the faint grassy ‘road’
which soon curves south passing a grown over old homesite on the right then
another 100 yards enter the woods near another gate, this one with a ‘please
don’t litter’ sign. Here the road begins
to gradually head down the hill and soon passes another nice place. Continuing down Gladiator Road
now very narrow and getting rougher as we go, we pass (to our left) a clearing
on a small ridge with a couple ‘deer stands’ where our road (straight ahead)
gets even fainter. |
Arnold Bluff beyond the beach
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We soon cross the
Buffalo National River boundary marked by some hot-pink, fluorescent ribbon tied
in trees on both sides of the road. No
one has drove down this road in a while judging by all the dead branches
littering the road, we soon find ourselves ‘riding’ the ridge atop Smart
Bluff. Catching glimpses of the
Buffalo far below to our right, we keep
heading down and soon arrive at the ‘end of the line’ in a small mowed clearing, a fairly level spot in the woods, our parking
spot. |
at the west channel around Arnold Island
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Wow we made it... the entire length of Gladiator Road is right at two
miles and while not a ‘good’ road I wouldn’t say it’s ‘bad’ either, but you will
want some good ground clearance in whatever you’re driving, and you can count on
some Arkansas pin-stripping as the road gets pretty narrow in places. The little cleared ‘parking area’ has room
for three or four vehicles, a good place to get turned around is at the little trail leading east about 150 feet to the gravel bar. |
wet section of west channel
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On the gravel bar we turn north
(downstream) towards the top of Arnold Island and a big sandy area. We pick a spot under a leaning tree with plenty of shade, this is the spot I scouted back on that hundred-degree day. With sand and shade a-plenty, this is the real deal at
Arnold Hole unlike our pathetic little day-camp across the river. I could just sit here for hours enjoying the
beautiful view of Arnold Hole with huge, rounded boulders the bluffline
upstream and Arnold Island downstream, but first we hit
the water. |
easy hike in the mostly dry west channel
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The first thing we notice as we approach the edge of the river is the
green algae which I call ‘Sand Hole Slim’ since that’s where it was first
brought to our attention (see: 61 Sand Hole). The algae is a late
summer plant which occurs when the
current slows and the water warms, here at Arnold Hole it’s only growing along
the edge of the river to about five feet out.
The grade is pretty gradual getting out to ‘swimmable’ water, it takes
about 12-15 steps before the water is waist deep. |
dry gully
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The hole does get deep especially
out near the bluffline where my estimate is around 15 feet. That’s deeper than my previous
estimate out away from the bluff at the submerged boulders. Arnold Hole is a great
swimming area, it’s big, has a lot of shallow room for kids and waders along the long curving gravel bar, and a ‘deep end’ out closer to the bluffs. Some of the many big boulders in the river
can be used as diving platforms but of course always check water depth before you
dive to be sure it’s safe. |
scattered bones at north side of channel
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Did I
mention it’s BIG, I swim upstream under Arnold Bluff first past what may
be three or four small caves up above the waterline about twenty feet. Beyond that is a steep rugged break in the
bluff which probably contains a seasonal
creek, past that another fifty or sixty yards is a wide water-streaked wet
weather waterfall at the highest area of Arnold Bluff maybe a hundred feet
high. The hole keeps going, still plenty deep here under the dry waterfall where I turn around and
float back downstream.
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Goat Bluff across the channel from Arnold Island
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Back at the ‘real deal day-camp’ with the awesome scenery stretching up
and down the beach Kat nonchalantly mentions “this is a very nice place”, which is high praise coming from her who
isn’t easily impressed. I must agree a
very nice place indeed, we sit in silence for a while listening to the birds
and drift in and out of a state of utopia until I decide it’s time to go for a
walk. |
down river north of Arnold Island
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I head north on the west side of
Arnold Island hiking in the mostly shady and dry west channel. This is completely flat easy going even
though I’m in water sandals, which is good since I do have to cross a
couple long stretches of foot deep crystal-clear standing water. In these ‘pools’ are lots of trapped fish
and quite a few frogs. Before
getting to the north end of the island a rock bottomed creek enters from
the west through a deep cut gully where I begin curving to the east around the
bottom of Arnold Island.
 |
east channel (Buffalo River) looking back upstream
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Above me north
of the island is Goat Bluff which isn’t your typical flat faced bluffline, Goat
Bluff has four distinct protruding abutments resulting in a ‘wavy’ appearance
to the face of the bluff, one abutment has a small cave near the top. Where Goat Bluff ends marks the end of Arnold
Island as well, and this mostly dry west channel is ‘re-united’ with the
Buffalo River close to the bottom of a long shoal. |
Goat Bluff
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I find an easy route up the bank hoping to
cross back to the south end of the island through the ‘heart’ of the
island. Seasonal flooding keeps the
island fairly clear of undergrowth
but walking back across the island would involve a maze of back-and-forth
meandering, I quickly change my mind and make my way back down to the west
channel and back to our day-camp. So,
Arnold Island must be about ¾ of a mile long, judging from the 1.5 miles I hiked from
one end to the other and back.
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back at Arnold Hole
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After another long swim we kick back
relax and dry out before the drive back home, and I contemplate a score for
Arnold Hole. Popularity rates 5
since we haven't seen anyone all day, and a 5 for amenities as
well, after all the swimming hole and beach are both top notch. Like I
said, the drive in wasn’t bad, but wasn’t good either, we’ll say 2 for accessibility. The beautiful bluffs (Arnold and Goat) along
with the easy scenic hike around the west side of the island, all make Arnold
Hole a special place, so a total score for today at Arnold Hole: 12+.
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