Lately
I have been looking for options for entry into the more remote areas of
Buffalo National River. The park
consists of over 95,000 acres with access points along the state highways that
cross the river. Then there are lots of back
roads that will get you a little ‘deeper’ into the park, but with all the
private property around BNR, getting to the remote areas can be challenging for
day-hikers.
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Buffalo River
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I
guess the challenges vary for different usage groups, for example:
horseback riders have a much longer range than the typical day-hiker but they need access
points accessible to trucks with horse-trailers. Recently I’ve been investigating Wildlife
Management Areas, some of which share common boundaries with BNR. Gene Rush WMA is the big one bordering BNR
with lots of potential to reach some remote areas in the national river. |
green info-board at parking area
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There
are also a few smaller WMA’s around the Buffalo, today I’m going to check out
Loafers Glory WMA. Loafers Glory has two
separate units totaling 2,686 acres, the ‘south unit’ or Morning Star
Unit, and the ‘north unit’ or Cozahome Unit, both are similar in size. I’m heading to the Cozahome Unit of Loafers
Glory hoping I can hike into some ‘remote’ areas of the Buffalo River. |
note white sign at top
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I
pull in to the nice parking area at the big green WMA info board, it doesn’t
tell me much, just that Loafers Glory is administered by AGFC and all caves are
closed. West past the green sign is a
gate standing wide open, next to the gate up high on a tree is a small white
sign stating ‘no motor vehicles beyond this point’. I walk west on the nice wide and well used
road, this is the main road through the WMA, it stays mostly up on the ridge. |
first few firelanes have gates
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This
road cuts through Loafers Glory for over two miles before ending in the
northwest corner of the WMA. Along the
way is easy hiking up and down gentle hills, with lots of ‘firelanes’ branching
off both sides of the road. To start the
firelanes are marked by locked gates, but after the first third of a mile there
are no more gates. Even without a gate
the firelanes are easy to spot, basically a wide grassy path. |
even without gate, firelanes are obvious
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Other
than the occasional firelane there isn’t much happening up on this ridge, at
almost a mile in a big owl flies across the road right in front of me. Then in the dry grass on the north side of
the road is a family of feral hogs, 3-4 adults and 8-9 piglets, all are
black and when they notice my approach run off to the north down the steep
hillside. Also along this two mile
stretch is one tire with wheel, a washtub and lots of scattered deer bones. |
| deer skull |
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downed tree on road
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At
about a mile and a half is the first of two downed trees across the road, then
about 100 yards more is a dried-up pond at the north edge of the road. A little farther, about 100 yards past the
washtub is a trail west leaving the grassy firelane which continues
northwest beyond the boundary of the WMA.
I leave the road on the good trail which appears to continue on this
main ridge.
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| bearing tree |
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survey peg
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Right
away I come to bearing trees with yellow paint marking the boundary point where
Loafers Glory meets Buffalo National River.
The good trail continues west for about 400 yards to a survey peg along
with signs nailed to a tree. Now the
trail slowly fades away, leaving me on a bushwhack through the clean
woods. Where I turn to the north still
following the ridge, I spook a big flock of turkey with 15-20 birds. |
obstructed views down to Buffalo Point
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Further
north then a little west, in under half a mile I arrive above the top of
Painted Bluff over 300 feet above the Buffalo River. Across the river is Buffalo Point spread out
both up and downstream. The vertical
edge of Painted Bluff is about 100 feet below, down the very steep and thickly
wooded hillside. A faint trail or trails
meander back and forth along the steepness, but nothing really goes anywhere
except back up to the top of the ridge. |
views from top of Painted Bluff
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I
take a few shots down toward Buffalo Point, but can’t find a clear shot
anywhere so I head back southeast through the woods (more on Buffalo Point
see: 170 Rockhouse). Going back to
the road I stay down below the ridge a little, mainly just for some different
scenery. It’s still a bushwhack though,
nothing difficult I keep going south then east till I hit the faint trail about
200 yards west of the survey peg. From
there the trail gets much better back to the road. |
tree choked view
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Next
is the long walk up and down little hills for about two and a quarter miles
back to the trailhead/parking area. I
stayed on the ‘main’ road through Loafers Glory today, hoping for some great
vistas off Painted Bluff of Buffalo Point below, that didn’t turn out so well, you
never know until you go. Maybe some
of the firelanes will provide better access down into some remote area
of BNR, I’ll be back. |
above the survey peg
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Overall
this was a very easy hike if not all that interesting, my
distance today was 6.4 miles with 476 feet of altitude gain. Five and a half miles of that was on the road, and the
0.9 mile bushwhack wasn’t bad through the woods with some loose rock on the
slopes. I had a good time today on my first visit to Loafers Glory, even though the payoff
at the end was a little disappointing. |
easy hiking on the wide road
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Loafers Glory North: Statistics Chart 219 Getting to the
trailhead/parking area is easy. At the
SR 14 junction with Cozahome Road (SC 61), go east on Cozahome Rd. about 3.2
miles to ‘Cozyhome Church’ on the right, turn left on Honeycomb Lane. Veer right at the fork in just 0.1 mile on
Come Back Lane, there’s a ‘Loafers Glory’ sign here. Head 1.1 miles, north downhill then back up
west (4WD suggested) to the trailhead/parking.
Some past adventures provide more direction into Cozahome: (149 Big Creek), (153 Tea Table), and (198 Mystic).
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