Since I live in live here in Arkansas in the foothill of the Ozarks and about 70 miles from the Buffalo... I have to admit the scenery is beautiful   but I will still drive 1100 miles north to "get away"   

While there are a lot of trips on the Buffalo that are nice and some of them extended, most of the time if you try to do a nearby or popular float when there is water, you encounter many, many intoxicated college student and adults who seem have a limited vocabulary of word other than four letter words and few if any morals or sense!  That is one reason I rarely go any more and if I do I drive up that morning and leave at daylight to get away from the "wild ones" coming later. 

Bruce

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When we lived down there we used to use the Buffalo Outdoor Center as our base.  They have nice cabins, and are very helpful regarding route information.  The Ozarks are absolutely brilliant.    (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

GFY

Do any of you guys have some good links to info on paddling the river? I've visited some of the outfitter sites, but they appear to focus on their local half-day float trips. It looks like given the length of the river, one could do a multi-day trip. I would be interested to find more info on this...

Ranger

Update:  6-8 October 2007, trying to find an alternative to the canoeing in the BWCAW (due to the distance from Tulsa, Oklahoma), my wife  and I floated the lower Buffalo River (23 miles).  THe scenery was unparalleled and there were very few on the river (saw 10 people spread among three groups) in three days on the river.  The only drawback to the trip was the water level.  There was only 2.5 feet at the gauge on Highway 14, and the water should have been at least 3.5 feet.  I will not float it again without at least the 3.5 feet level.  The fatique at the end of each day was magnified several times by the need to get out and push in the low water areas.  We had floated the Eleven Point River (Missouri) about six weeks ago, but the Buffalo is a better float.

I have never paddled the Buffalo RIver, but I have backpacked through that area. The colr of the water and the bluffs are breathtaking. we camped along the river most nights and were even able to make our way to a sand bar to camp for a night. We only saw a couple groups paddling, but it was mid-March.

It looks like a great place to paddle. It's a neat place to backpack too.

cool jimbo, very cool, small world huh! grey

Grey,

The Buffalo National River IS one of the prettiest places I've ever paddled.  It also features pretty nice Smallie water, just like several other rivers in that region.  The water has a chalky, milky look to it due to the rock it flows through.  Some of those bluffs go several hundred feet high.

Incidentally, they have re-introduced elk into that particular valley in Arkansas.  It is not uncommon to spot several as you drive along area roads.  The area makes for a very nice family-type trip.  We went horseback riding & spelunking in some of the numerous local parks.  Elk, deer, & other wildlife came to the field at the back of our cabin nearly every night at sundown.  The elk bugling was awesome.

Jimbo

my neighbor just got back from paddling this river a few days ago. he was on it for a week!
the scenery is incredible. it flows thru north mountainous hills, and incredible bluff and rock formations. camp anywhere, see no-one, until busy times in summer! grey