153 Devil's Tea Table

     When looking at any map of the Buffalo River the distinctive ‘duck head’ is easy to spot, naturally I’ve been drawn to this area, and have wanted to explore the region for quite some time.  I know, ‘you never know until you go’ but I had heard the road to the trailhead was pretty bad.  Then a month ago I drove up Cozahome Road about halfway, on my way to Big Creek Trail, (see: 149 Big Creek Trail) and the road was in pretty good shape.  So today I’m back and going all the way to the end of the road at the Buffalo National River boundary.

beautiful view from Devils Tea Table

    I believe ‘Duck Head’ is a nickname given by river floaters back in the 60’s for ‘7-Mile Bend’ and the trailhead for trails on the Duck Head is officially known as Jackson Ridge Trailhead, located just west of the parking area with an old billboard to mark the spot.  I won’t be hiking from here though, I’m going south to Devil’s Tea Table and the ‘trailhead’ for what I’ll call Devil’s Tea Table Trail is south of road’s end marked by a white plastic wilderness boundary ‘stake’.

Cozahome Road

    Starting out southwest on the trail that in places looks like it may have been a road a long time ago, but now just a trail and not a very good one, at least here at the beginning.  After a couple downed trees, the trail improves before arriving at private property postings.  Here the mowed path continues southwest, obviously onto private property but a second trail veers off to the right due west and is also on mowed grass, I go right.

at the base of the bluffline

    I only follow this trail between bluff top and the BNR boundary for less than 200 yards, when I see an obvious break in the bluff in the form of a steep hill I head down to the base of the bluffs.  Now off-trail I learn quickly to stay up next to the bluffline for the best route ahead.  Not exactly ‘easy’ but easier than down the slope further in the woods, continuing west this bluffline varies quite a bit in height and its face is rugged.

pedestal along bluffline

    There are many small shelters, cracks and crevices and what appear to be tight subterranean cave entrances.  And a couple ‘pedestals’ where sections of bluff have separated from the bluffline.  This continues for over half a mile with three or four places along the way to climb out back to the top.  I end up back on top after finding and following a faint trail with orange ribbon blazes tied in trees.

rugged rock face

    Still going west, I soon come to the top edge of the bluffline that has circled around and is now heading south.  Here at the edge of the tree line is a nice vista on a narrow rock ledge, with the Buffalo far below and 430 foot tall Toney Bluff on the other side in the distance.  The trail also turns south and in just 200 feet I arrive at the ‘premier’ vista on a large rock jutting out over the abyss.

Toney Bluff

    Here with the fantastic view, I stop for a snack break and take a few pictures, then when I’m about to head out I spot Devil’s Tea Table down about three quarters of a mile to the south.  Climbing up the fairly steep hillside and about 150 yards is another smaller vista rock with more great views both up and down river, and yes, the Tea Table is getting a little clearer.

premier vista rock

    Somewhere after the vista I lose the trail but head east and gradually uphill, eventually I notice more orange flagging in trees but don’t really see a trail.  I keep going through clean open woods and finally land on the trail now headed south.  I’m on a ridge that gets narrower as it goes downhill.  Soon cedar takes over this ridge and all the crunching dead leaves are gone, this trail is now easy to follow and easy on the feet too with green moss everywhere.

sunny south facing slope

    The cedars only last for maybe 250 yards then where the ridge suddenly becomes littered with rocks the trail turns to the east and heads down off the ridge and back into the crunchy dead leaves of the oak and hickory forest.  Curling back to the south pretty much all downhill I soon come to a tree across the trail right at the steepest part of the descent.

cacti ridge

    After this short steep hillside, the woods sort of give way to a rocky south facing grassy meadow at the end of the ridge.  Here on this very dry hillside are some small, stunted cedars mixed in the abundant rocks along with plenty of dry grass and loads of prickly pear cactus.  This landscape continues as I head down often over solid bedrock then around a little corner...the Devil’s Tea Table.

Devil's Tea Table

    Wow, the Devil’s Tea Table... is really just a big flat rock, sitting out on a point with fantastic views up and down the river.  A landmark for canoes and kayaks that can see it from almost a mile away.  I look around the point a little wondering if the trail might continue on down off the ridge, but I don’t see anything.  So, I have lunch here sitting in the shade on the north side of Devil’s Tea Table, then before heading back I take more pictures.

Buffalo River below Devil's Tea Table

    Going back, I make a point of sticking to the trail, mostly north for over half a mile, but not far after the trail veers to the east I know it must now be on private property, there are no signs or purple flagging coming this direction.  The trail skirts along the north edge of a pretty big field before hitting the intersection where earlier I encountered all the ‘private property’ signage.  Now back in the ‘park’ it’s less than half a mile further back to the parking area.

Devil's Tea Table

    Today I hiked 4.8 miles with 708 feet of altitude change, you could make the hike just to the tea table with a little less mileage and a lot less elevation change, but I feel the rugged base of the bluffline and then the fantastic vistas is what makes this a great adventure in the outdoor Ozarks, and was well worth a little extra effort.

    Jackson Ridge Trailhead aka Duck Head parking area is easier to get to than I thought, just continue north then west on Cozahome Road 3 miles past Big Spring Road, passing Elm Springs Cemetery at 2 miles.  Parking is at the end of the road with room for maybe 6-7 vehicles.  See: (149 Big Creek Trail) for details on how to get to Cozahome Rd.

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