Missouri/Arkansas Backpacking Trip

[Johnsfolly]

1 hour ago, tangledup said:

https://goo.gl/maps/bmwvJpzn3iBQ7BYFA

Is this the bridge you're referring to?

SIO3 already replied that it is the bridge that I was referring too. All of the water above that bridge up to Montauk is the blue ribbon trout section of the river. In my opinion one of the most scenic Ozark rivers. Good luck if you get to fish there.

[Al Agnew]

Either the Buffalo or the Current will give you plenty of hiking opportunities along the river.  The Eleven Point has opportunities as well.  But I think the Buffalo gives you a lot more good options.  The Old River Trail goes from Ponca to Pruitt, and stays in the river bottom so you're never far from the river.  But it has drawbacks...it requires several river crossings, and if the river is up they may not even be doable.  And as noted above, the fishing leaves a bit to be desired.  A better choice for possibly wet weather is the Buffalo River Trail, which doesn't go completely from Ponca to the White River but has various completed sections.  There are good sections from Woolum to Tyler Bend, 11 plus miles.  Drawback is that this trail stays up on the ridges and bluffs on the south side of the river, but the fishing is a lot better in this section.  If I was doing it I'd study Google Earth and pick out good gravel bars on the south side, and bushwhack off the trail down to the river to do my fishing and camp on good gravel bars, then get back on the trail the next morning and carry on...if you spend a good portion of time fishing, you could easily stretch that trip to three days even though the trail itself is only 11 miles.

On the other hand, if you want to do a long backpacking trip with fishing being incidental, you could combine the upper portions of the Buffalo River Trail (runs from Boxley to Pruitt) with other trails that connect with it.  The entire upper Buffalo River Trail is 37 miles, but you can break it up into different sections...the Steel Creek to Kyles Landing section is spectacular, and you can take trails off it that will get you to the river across from Hemmed In Hollow, for instance, or bushwhack down to the river opposite Big Bluff and the Goat Trail, where you could cross the river if it isn't too high and go to those two places.  In my opinion, there is no other hiking area in the Ozarks that even comes close to the upper Buffalo River country.

 

[tangledup]

On 1/3/2020 at 6:35 PM, Al Agnew said:

Either the Buffalo or the Current will give you plenty of hiking opportunities along the river.  The Eleven Point has opportunities as well.  But I think the Buffalo gives you a lot more good options.  The Old River Trail goes from Ponca to Pruitt, and stays in the river bottom so you're never far from the river.  But it has drawbacks...it requires several river crossings, and if the river is up they may not even be doable.  And as noted above, the fishing leaves a bit to be desired.  A better choice for possibly wet weather is the Buffalo River Trail, which doesn't go completely from Ponca to the White River but has various completed sections.  There are good sections from Woolum to Tyler Bend, 11 plus miles.  Drawback is that this trail stays up on the ridges and bluffs on the south side of the river, but the fishing is a lot better in this section.  If I was doing it I'd study Google Earth and pick out good gravel bars on the south side, and bushwhack off the trail down to the river to do my fishing and camp on good gravel bars, then get back on the trail the next morning and carry on...if you spend a good portion of time fishing, you could easily stretch that trip to three days even though the trail itself is only 11 miles.

On the other hand, if you want to do a long backpacking trip with fishing being incidental, you could combine the upper portions of the Buffalo River Trail (runs from Boxley to Pruitt) with other trails that connect with it.  The entire upper Buffalo River Trail is 37 miles, but you can break it up into different sections...the Steel Creek to Kyles Landing section is spectacular, and you can take trails off it that will get you to the river across from Hemmed In Hollow, for instance, or bushwhack down to the river opposite Big Bluff and the Goat Trail, where you could cross the river if it isn't too high and go to those two places.  In my opinion, there is no other hiking area in the Ozarks that even comes close to the upper Buffalo River country.

 

Thanks for all the great responses! Most of my fishing experience on the Buffalo is smallmouth fishing on the lower end (which was awesome the last time I went) but I think I'm going to give a hike on the upper end a try. So my plan is a solo trip to the Buffalo in February with my route of either the Buffalo River Trail or Old River Trail being dependent on water conditions when I go. I'll have routes planned for both for a three day trip then watch the forecast and call an outfitter right before I go. Then in March my son and I will go to the Current for a second trip. I need to do a little more research but what I'm thinking for that trip is to camp at the park the first night then get up and hike and fish down the river as far as we can, camp the second night, then hike and fish our way back to the truck.