Outdoor Adventures in the Ozarks

As October winds down, it’s shaping up to be one of the hottest on record and also one of the driest.   Evidently the lack of rain has an adverse effect on the fall colors , well they still seem pretty awesome to me, so we have decided to go for a ‘country drive’ to admire the autumnal display.   I have picked Richland Road for our little tour since the lack of rain should ensure easy crossings of both Buffalo River and Richland Creek. out on The Narrows We head for Woolum, planning to drive down North Richland Road (SC 14) from north to south.  Taking N. Woolum Road out of Pindall is the way to go since the S. Woolum Road out of Saint Joe has fallen victim to High Banks of the Buffalo.  If you do come down S. Woolum, detour around the road closure on Oakland Road, it’s a little rough with multiple creek crossings see: 129 Robertson Hole . N. Richland Rd. near Buffalo Richland confluence Passing through Woolum we see loads of horse trailers over in the campground, and after a quick ‘p

     Today is forecast to be the coolest day of the week at 77°, that is probably too hot to be hiking but I’m going anyway.   I tell myself, seventy seven isn’t all that hot I should be fine.   Well, the weatherman really missed the mark today, the high reaches 87° but of course I don’t know that when I hit the trail at 10:00 this morning. tranquil Richland Creek      I have chosen a short piece of the Ozark Highlands Trail heading west from the Ben Hur Trailhead, primarily because being the OHT the trail should be in good shape and clear of undergrowth.  It’s just too early in the season to even think about bushwhacking , I’ll wait for a good ‘killer frost’ before venturing off-trail.  See: ( 172 Upper Jack Jones Hollow ) for information on the OHT going east from this trailhead. OHT through the woods      The good trail heads out the back from the trailhead sort of in a northwest direction, at first on the level but this doesn’t last long.  It’s downhill all the way to Richland C