The Old River Trail along the Buffalo River is essentially an historic pioneer road that used to connect little towns and homesteads of settlers that settled along the Buffalo River. It runs 13.2 miles along the river and is sometimes used by hikers, but more often by horseback riders in the area.
I've spent a fair amount of time on the Old River Trail -- but have mostly viewed as a functional trail to get you from one place to another or to connect various trails. It has only been recently that I've found the joy of actually hiking the trail for the sake of hiking the trail. And wow have I been missing out.
While the Buffalo River Trail generally takes the high road -- in the woods, with sweeping views of the valley below, the Old River Trail runs along the river. There is little elevation change, and it has frequent looks at the river at river level and at the bluffs from below.
However, hiking the Old River Trail comes with a few challenges. First, it crosses the river regularly -- 20x in total. So when the river is high, it isn't safe to cross (and thus, not safe to hike the trail). The river will generally be too high to cross through much of the late winter and springtime. Secondly, in the summer, the trail can become very overgrown - making it a little less fun to hike and making bug spray a must. And even when you catch it in relatively good trail conditions, it still makes for wet water crossings which will typically mean hiking with wet feet (and it can be very cold in winter). But when you hike it, it really is a great trail with a lot of amazing scenery.
For this hike, I decided to take the best of both by hiking the Buffalo River Trail from Steel Creek and returning via the Old River Trail in a big, 10.3 mile loop hike. Along the way we visit three of the best birds-eye views of the Buffalo River, have 6 river crossings, and a lot of spectacular scenery along the way. I highly recommend this as a pretty epic day hike, or even a nice overnight hike.
Getting There
The trail starts from the Steel Creek canoe access point along the Buffalo River. Take Highway 74 south from Ponca. At the top of the winding hill (about 1.5 from Ponca), turn left onto the Steel Creek access road (very well marked), and then wind down the hill to the Steel Creek area. At the fork in the road, turn right and park drive to the end of the road. There is a parking area here, as well as some nice bathrooms. The Buffalo River trail starts right at the bottom of the hill just above the fork in the road you came down. Turn LEFT onto the trail to start the hike.
The Hike - Buffalo River Trail Portion
The first four miles of the hike follow the Buffalo River Trail from Steel Creek to Kyles Landing. The trail follows behind the Steel Creek Horse Camp for awhile - gradually climbing.
It then eventually turns away from the camp and heads up in the Steel Creek drainage. It dips back down the hill and crosses Steel Creek at .6 miles. There is almost always water here, but if the river is low enough that you plan to hike the Old River Trail back, you should be able to cross without getting your feet wet. There are some great views of the creek both up and down stream here.
The trail crosses the creek and continues upstream and up hill for a bit before turning back to the left and continuing up the hill. It's about a 400 foot climb from here to the overlook but the view is worth the climb! The trail passes by a couple of drainages and just keeps climbing but is a nice hike throughout.
The Trail passes through some interesting pancake rocks and at 1.4 you've reached the Steel Creek Overlook. This is the first of three great vistas you'll see on this hike and if you're into a short day hike, I recommend this section as a stand-alone.
From here, you can see Roark Bluff, the Steel Creek area, and some wonderful views both up and down stream. Enjoy the view before continuing on.
Beyond the overlook, the trail continues up the hill for a bit with a few nice looks back at the Steel Creek area. The trail eventually levels out and then starts heading downhill. The trail curves into a couple of drainages and just keeps descending downhill at a gentle clip. If you hiking during leaf-off, you will start seeing Big Bluff come into view in the distance on your left. There are a couple of nice views of it from the trail. If you have a pair of binoculars (or really good eyesight!) you can sometimes see people on the trail of Big Bluff about 2/3 of the way up the bluff. You'll be joining them soon!
The trail continues down the hill and starts moving away from the river. To your left is the Beech Creek drainage. The trail keeps heading mostly down the hill toward the creek although with a few minor ups and downs within a couple of small drainages. At 4.0, just before getting to Beech Creek, the trail crosses a another trail. It is marked with a small sign that says "primitive trail". If you take the trail to the right, it follows Beech Creek upstream and then eventually to the Low Gap area. We're going to turn left onto the primitive trail and head downstream toward the river.
Primitive Trail and Getting to Big Bluff
The primitive trail drops down the hill and toward Beech Creek. At about 4.2, the trail crosses over Beech Creek. There will be water here, but again, if you're planning on crossing the Buffalo River later, it will probably be crossable without getting wet feet. This crossing has a really nice spring area, and a nice rock bluff. There is a campsite here too that would be a really nice place to spend the night.
In the Buffalo River area, a lot of the "primitive trails" are old horse trails that can be quite rough for hiking. But this is a really nice route all the way to the river.
At 4.8, the trail meets the Buffalo River. This is the first of 6 crossings of the Buffalo River and all of them will be wet crossings. You can pack water shoes and change shoes back and forth after the crossings and keep dry feet. We decided that was going to be a pain and just hiked the remainder with wet feet. As always, if the river level is high and you cannot see the bottom, it is best to not cross the Buffalo River and live to hike another day. But if the river is low and clear, it is often about knee or calf deep to cross.
After crossing the river, the trail goes up the river bank and into the woods a bit before hitting the Old River Trail. The trail to the right goes to Jim Bluff (and onto Kyles Landing), turn LEFT here. After a few hundred hards, there is a volunteer trail that comes in at your right. There is usually some type of cairn or rock marker here to point the way. Turn RIGHT and take this volunteer trail. This is the way up to Big Bluff. You'll be coming back this way.
The trail takes you up about 350 feet to Big Bluff. You'll pass through a nice little pine forest, and some rocky climbs, but it's generally easy to follow. At about 6.3, there is a nice overlook over the Buffalo River area, and then after a rock climb, another view at 6.5.
The trail then turns left and runs along a ledge -- on the right is a sheer bluff and to the left is an increasingly steep drop to the river. This part of the trail also runs beside some ancient mountain junipers. These old trees are rugged and have been here for centuries. They're incredibly beautiful and please respect & protect them.
At 6.8 you are out onto Big Bluff with incredible views both up and down stream of the Buffalo River. The hike to Big Bluff is a very popular hike from the Centerpoint trailhead and this can be a pretty popular spot on busy weekends. But it's popular for good reason! The views here are just incredible. This is your second major vista on this hike (and it's a good one!).
Sit and enjoy for as long as you want. (Note: like all bluff areas in Arkansas, be VERY CAREFUL along the bluff. It is a 350 foot drop down and fall here would mean almost certain death. There are not hand rails, no chains, just you and nature. So be respectful and safe and know your limits).
When you are done here, you will take the trail back down the hill the way you came to the Old River Trail. You will rejoin the Old River Trail at about 7.6.
Old River Trail Back to Steel Creek
Turn RIGHT onto the Old River Trail and head back to Steel Creek. There are 5 river crossings in the next 3.3 miles. At each of these crossings are amazing views of the river both up and down stream and past some of the nicest bluffs along the Buffalo.
At 7.9, is the first of the river crossings. To the right is Big Bluff -- you can see the ledge that you were just standing on awhile ago. It's an incredible look at this amazing bluff.
At 8.4, there is another river crossing -- if you look downstream this time, it has another great view of Big Bluff from the opposite direction. In between these two crossings we noticed some substantial activity from the wild boars that are living in this area. So be aware and on the look-out for them. In my previous hike here I came across a couple of boars in this area so be aware.
At 8.8, there is another crossing ---- and again, amazing views both up and down stream.
At about 9.2, there is an old house site up to your left. There isn't a lot standing still, but there is an old cellar there where settlers would have kept food cool during the summers and an old shed. There is also an old homestead up this way if you look around to find it.
And another crossing at 9.5. I encourage you to take a lot of time and explore and enjoy the river. The Buffalo River is the first national river for good reason -- it contains amazing scenery and is just beautiful.
At 10.2, there is another side spur trail that comes in from the right. This is the volunteer trail up to the Roark Bluff Overlook. This is the third vista view along this epic journey. We didn't hike up there on this day as we were tired and chasing daylight a bit, but you can follow these directions to that overlook. If you go up there, at about 2 miles to your mileage for this hike.
At 10.25 is the final river crossing. Upstream from here is Roark Bluff, one of the more popularly photographed places in Arkansas. If you made the hike up to that overlook, you can see what was below you from that ledge. If you look downstream, this is the bluff of the first vista that you encountered from below.
From there you'll climb up the river bank to the Steel Creek area and back to your car.
We hiked this trail on a warm day in early November -- and there was a lot of great fall color and the water was pretty low.
Trail Details
Distance: 10.3 miles roundtrip -- included some exploring. Add 2 miles if you visit the Roark Bluff Overlook.
Difficulty: Very Difficult - it's a long hike with two big climbs and 6 wet water crossings. Be sure you are physically fit, prepared, and have good navigation skills.
Footwear: Sturdy hiking boots. And bring along water shoes is you want to change out during crossings (we didn't).
Kid Friendly: Not young children.
Trail Guide: The best guide here is the National Geographic Trails Illustrated map -- but directions of the Buffalo River Trail and Old River Trail (and the climb to Roark Bluff) can now be found in Tim Ernst's Buffalo River Hiking Trails book.
Star Rating: A solid 5 out of 5
Other hikes nearby:
Buffalo River Trail - Ponca to Steel Creek
