Outdoor Adventures in the Ozarks

     Lately I have been looking for options for entry into some of 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.  There are also 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. Buffalo River      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 and seem to have some nice big parking areas.  Gene Rush WMA is the one bordering BNR with lots of potential to reach some remote areas in the national river. green info-board at parking area ...

     Today is predicted to be the pick day this week for outside activities, tomorrow winter returns for at least a week so I had better get outside for some activities while the weather agrees.  Looking for a hike without much elevation change, I zoom-in on some more ‘old roads’ and hay fields.  The area I’m headed to is just northeast of Dickey Junction outside Richland Creek Wilderness in the Ozark National Forest. green fields and tall pines      After parking near the locked gate across Forest Road 93756C, I head north through the gate into a long narrow field (1) of tall dry grass.  This field doesn’t appear to have been cut this year, the road continues north through the field, I turn right (east) on another road.  Maybe ‘road’ is the wrong word, this is more of a ‘farmer’s lane’ between fields.  For all intents and purposes it still looks like a road, these unofficial farmer’s lanes tie together fields all over this are...

       This morning I’m going back to Gene Rush WMA, after last weeks exploration of some of the many firelanes I thought I’d check out more (see: 210 Firelanes and Lick Creek ) .  Another adventure in the Wildlife Management Area many years ago took us through Gene Rush all the way to Hensley Cemetery at the end of NC 4251 inside BNR.  We were able to drive to within 100 feet of the little cemetery but the last few miles were pretty rough. scenic Cave Creek      Another fond memory of that day, is of driving over Cave Creek on a water-damaged old low-water bridge and the nearby campsite on the banks of Cave Creek.  This is where I decide to do some hiking today, from the campsite/parking down Cave Creek to the Buffalo River.  All the way through Gene Rush WMA the roads are in great shape and it doesn’t take long to get to the new Cave Creek bridge. bridge over beautiful Cave Creek      I don’t know when this bridge ...