I decided today to explore a little bit of the ‘long distance’ Ozark
Highlands Trail along Buck Branch. Most
of the ‘main’ trailheads for the OHT are spaced too far apart for casual day-hikes. So I’m always looking for a back road with
possible parking that crosses the trail, thereby breaking up a long section of
trail into manageable day-hike opportunities.
And the Buck Branch area where the OHT crosses NC 7050 seems to be a
likely candidate.
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Kiddie Pool on Buck Branch
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At Pelsor/Sand Gap I turn west on Highway 123 and in just half a mile
north on NC 7050, this south end of the county road is also known as Hurricane
Trail. Maybe I should have seen this as
a ‘red flag’ but the road is in great shape, I continue north oblivious to what
lies just a mile ahead. After passing 5-6
houses the road appears to abruptly end at a house with a pack of barking dogs
nipping at my tires.
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the road has fallen apart but not this bridge!
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Between the house on the right and the steep drop-off on the left the ‘road’
proceeds down the hill. Obviously all
road maintenance ends at the last house, it gets narrow and steep with more and
bigger rocks as I continue down. If not
for the vicious curs attacking my truck maybe I would have stopped and checked
out the road on foot before heading down the hill. Now with nowhere possible to turn around I
ride the brakes down this sorry excuse of a road crawling over one big rock
after another.
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nice campsite on Buck Branch
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From that house with the dogs it’s one mile to the bottom at the OHT,
steep rocky and narrow the whole way.
The only road I ever drove that’s worse would have to be City Road
311 south of Limestone to Rock Creek (see:
88 A Drive in the Country). But here
I am, with white knuckles and adrenaline flowing at an ample parking area
where the trail leaves the road heading east eventually up to Fairview
Trailhead.
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rocky Buck Branch
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After parking in an old driveway, to calm my nerves I walk east a short
way on the wide trail to a campsite above the bank of Buck Branch. This campsite is really nice with lots of
stonework including stone steps down to the creek, and just upstream a gorgeous
little swimming hole at the base of a wide smooth bedrock waterslide. Just beyond the ‘kiddie pool’ I’m calmed down
some and back on the OHT going west.
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| triangular boulder |
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Rock Garden Grotto
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My chosen piece of the Highlands Trail starts out west on the road for about
200 yards, which by the way is the best 200 yards I’ve seen on this road since
leaving pooch palace up on top. Right away the road/trail goes over an old well-made
stone bridge implying this road was once maintained. The OHT then leaves the road heading south at multiple white
blazes and starts up the rocky hill. Which is pretty steep but the trail
zig-zags as it climbs keeping the ascent manageable.
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| tree and rock get up close and personal |
About 120 feet higher the rocky trail levels out some, still climbing
but a much easier grade. I have however
worked up a sweat and now with the stiff cool breeze I’m feeling a bit of a
chill. It doesn’t last long thankfully,
soon a large downed tree across the trail requires a slightly dangerous detour
to get around and back on the OHT.
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| small trailside crevice |
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'sliding boulder' passage
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The still rocky trail stays
pretty flat for about a third of a mile to mile marker 121 then with the rocks
getting ever larger curves around to a creek crossing. This steep creek has no name on any map I’ve
seen, if it did I’m confident it would be ‘Boulder Creek’. At the crossing the trail climbs around, over
and through the big boulders covering this little drainage a hundred yards both
up and down the stream. Boulder Creek should
be spectacular after a big rain.
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today's turn around point
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Across Boulder Creek the trail climbs some more then levels out near
another downed tree, this one with an easy flagged detour marks the east end of the half mile long Rock Garden. It's called a ‘rock garden’ although ‘rock city’ may have been a more appropriate
moniker with boulders galore of all shapes and sizes, some sharp and jagged
others round and smooth. Up the steep hillside
above Rock Garden is a tall gray bluffline with overhangs pinnacles and
crevices.
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beech, near west end of Rock Garden
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Now headed south past Rock Garden the OHT is on a slow descent, still
rocky, in fact this entire hike is littered with mossy rocks everywhere, I
rarely get a break from walking on rocks.
Soon I arrive at mile marker 120 and decide to cut it short turning around here, I had planned to go further. But with the stress from thinking about the inevitable
drive out on Hurricane Trail, I
decide the sooner I get on with it the better.
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lots of impressive rocks
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The return hike first through Rock Garden then across Boulder Creek and
the steep zig-zagging descent to the road with the short walk along Buck Branch
to my little 4-WD truck, who is the real trooper on this particular
adventure. Staying pretty much completely
‘on-trail’ today I hiked 4.1 miles round-trip with 494 feet of elevation
gain. I wouldn’t say this section of the
OHT is ‘easy’ but it isn’t ‘difficult’ either.
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rocks stones and boulders everywhere
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Having decided I’m not going back up that hill the way I came unless I
absolutely have to, I drive out west along Buck Branch on (as mentioned
earlier) the best part of the road which lasts just long enough for me to get
my hopes up of an easy exit. But no such
luck, the rocks soon re-appear bigger and sharper than ever, worse than what I
encountered earlier. This continues for
about a mile, until just before crossing Buck Branch. The only thing making this ‘return’ route slightly
better than the ‘entry’ route is that it lacks the long steep hill.
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lovely Buck Branch
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After crossing Buck Branch on a concrete low water bridge NC 7050
improves steadily, soon with a powerline along the road I know I’m back to civilization. Up the road at the Chancel Trailhead (see: 84 OHT to Sexton...) a new house
is going in and I wonder what this will mean for the OHT trailhead and Hurricane
Creek Wilderness access? And still
farther up the road at the parking area for Chancel Arch (see: 75 Chancel Shelters) more alarming construction. What is going on, how long will it be before Arkansas
can no longer claim to be ‘The Natural State’?
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parking on old road or driveway
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Buck Branch to Rock Garden on the OHT:
Statistics Chart 186 How to get here? Read the story above, don't say I didn't warn you and good luck. I did it with a stock 4x4 Ranger but I won't be doing it again. Only a little over 2 miles of the 8 mile off pavement NC 7050 is rough requiring High clearance with 4-WD.
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base map before fair use alterations is property of USGS--licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 U.S. License
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