144 Grinders Ferry to McMahan Bluff

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     It has been way too long since the last time I went hiking, and today I have no excuses.    For almost a month now I’ve gotten reacquainted with my road bike which had been collecting dust for the last couple years.  After installing a new battery, the ole Beemer is running great once again, recently I have taken full advantage of the warm weather, putting some long overdue miles on the bike.

The combined OHT/BRT passes beneath Highway 65 through a concrete tunnel.
tunnel under Hwy. 65

    Today is forecast to be ‘much milder’ after yesterday’s cold front blew through, I put on a jacket and ride down to Grinders Ferry, paved roads all the way.  Almost two years ago, after a day hiking some of the trails of Tyler Bend, we stopped at Grinders Ferry and found a trailhead for the OHT/BRT that isn’t shown on any map I’ve ever seen (see: 94 Tyler Bend Loop).  Today I head out west on the white blazed OHT/BRT to sort of connect the dots so to speak and also check out McMahan Bluff.

'BRT/OHT' in yellow paint

   I quickly drop down below the road level between road and river, after only about 150 yards the trail crosses a wood foot bridge over a steep gully.  Now along a little creek another 100 yards brings me to the creek crossing on solid bedrock, and just beyond, a culvert going under Highway 65.  A concrete tunnel actually, the ‘culvert’ is square 8’x8’ and I’ll estimate its length to be 230’.  The creek today is flowing pretty good, there isn’t any dry areas heading through the tunnel.  But at only an inch deep my feet don’t get wet.

ruins next to trail

    At the west end of the tunnel, I notice a stenciled yellow spray-painted sign ‘BRT/OHT’ and an arrow pointing at the tunnel entrance.  The trail continues west along the lovely little creek soon passing a small concrete block foundation and a couple old rusty gas cans nearby.  Not very big, maybe this structure was once a pump house.  Looking up the hillside I notice more old rusty junk including a 55-gallon drum.  Just beyond the pump house the trail crosses the creek which is still solid bedrock.

May-apple blossom (white)

    Since starting out back at Grinders I have seen lots of little purple wildflowers and the Dogwood are in full bloom, here down near the creek I begin seeing some May-apple in bloom too.  Now the trail gradually heads uphill away from the creek and under the high-voltage lines far above.  Curving to the north and following another little feeder stream the trail continues to climb eventually to an intersection.

open valley under powerline

    This trail junction is where Rock Wall Trail ends at the OHT/BRT, I leave the Ozark Highlands Trail/Buffalo River Trail and head north on Rock Wall Trail.  The trail levels out some and in just over 200 yards where the trail turns to the west, I leave the trail and head northeast, uphill.  For a bushwhack it isn’t bad, the blackberries are starting to leaf-out and the poison-ivy is just coming out of the ground.  There are quite a few downed trees though up here on the rocky ridge.

Rock Wall Trail ends at the OHT/BRT

    Not very far maybe 200 feet I start getting glimpses through the trees of the Buffalo far below.  Continuing to the top I stop for some quick pics wherever there’s an opening in the foliage.  This is on a hill above McMahan Bluff, McMahan isn’t a very long bluff but about 200 feet tall and the dominant feature of the view for southbound motorists coming down the hill approaching the Hwy. 65 Buffalo River bridge.

There are many beautiful vistas overlooking the Buffalo River from bluff-tops.
Buffalo River from atop McMahan Bluff

    Although the views would have been better a month ago (before leaf-out), it’s still a fantastic sight.  The beautiful Buffalo flowing south past Tyler Bluff in the distance and off to the right busy highway 65.  I spot four brightly colored kayaks floating downriver, from up here 200 feet above the water, the Buffalo looks peaceful and serene.  At a spot where the bluff begins to taper off steeply to the east I find some nice moss-covered rock formations and rest on a flat boulder while enjoying the view.

at Rocky Vista

    From here I backtrack the way I came making my way down off the rocky ridge weaving through the many blown-over trees.  I overshoot the trail a little and find a game camera strapped on a tree, from there I head back uphill to the south about 50 feet to the trail.  The rest of the way back to Grinders Ferry goes by pretty quick since it’s just about all downhill, but never very steep.

McMahan Bluff: Statistics Chart 144     It really felt good to get out for a hike and this certainly was an easy hike at about 2 miles roundtrip with 290 feet of altitude gain.  The OHT/BRT and Rock Wall Trail are both in great shape and the off-trail portion of the hike to the top of McMahan Bluff is only 0.3 miles there and back, an easy bushwhack.  For details on getting to Grinders and our hike east on the OHT/BRT see: (104Grinders Ferry to Illinois Point).

base map before fair use alterations is property of USGS--licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 U.S. License

Location: Grinders Ferry parking: 35.9843, -92.7443

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