Four years ago we camped at Buffalo Point and hiked the Indian Rockhouse trail. (Buffalo Point with my daughter walking in the water is the background image on this blog.) Since then we have often said that it was our favorite campsite and favorite hike that we have done. We have camped and hiked a whole lot more in the meantime, and recently I have wondered whether or not that opinion would still hold up. Northwest Arkansas has spoiled us with so many great outdoor spots less than an hour away from home. With Buffalo Point being two and half hours away, we haven't felt compelled to get back out there.
Some old friends got us motivated. Before moving to NWA we lived in Little Rock which is also two and half hours from Buffalo Point. From Little Rock that distance to a great campsite is more normal, so when we decided to meet some old Little Rock friends for a camp trip, Buffalo Point it was. Let's start by saying our opinion of Indian Rockhouse as our favorite trail was confirmed.
The trailhead is located on highway 268 and is a three minute drive from the campground. It is well marked and there is plenty of parking. The wonders of this trail start soon. Within three minutes of starting the hike, we saw two men come in from the side of the trail. They said they had just been exploring a cave. A short shimmy through a tight spot opened up into big caverns. Since we had a lot of kids, who had already run ahead we didn't try to look into it, but apparently there are similar spots all along the trail. In plain sight along the way are more caves, an abandoned zinc mine, a sink hole, and a small waterfall. Even with no rain in recent memory, there was still a trickle. The rock wall along the waterfall begs kids to climb on it, which they did.
A long stretch of the trail follows a creek bed which was dry today. As you come to the end of the creek there is a split with one side looping back to the trailhead and the other a spur to the Rockhouse. This spur also has some great things to see including more caves and cascading pools that have created what is known as "Sculptured Bedrock."
The Indian Rockhouse is amazing. It is huge! It was once an enclosed cave and flowstone and stalactites are still visible. It takes zero imagination to see how it would make a perfect shelter for someone living in the woods. It is so spacious that someone could build a fire a big as they wanted and have no ventilation troubles. The main cavern could easily keep hundreds of people out of the weather. A clear running stream flows constantly out of the rock on one side and back into the rock on the water to provide water. Climbing the rocks across the creek, which we did, takes you into another back cavern that is less spacious, but still large enough to serve as several "rooms" for living, even a little niche that calls you to climb inside and take a nap. It is just amazing.
The hike back to the car has some more great sights with flowing water and places known as "natural bathtubs." However, the hike out is very strenuous. Last time we hiked it, it was over 100 degrees. Today it was 80, and still it took about all we had. To give pregnant momma a break, our ten year old, donned the baby in the backpack for the first time. He went from very excited to very tired, very quickly.
The trail itself is about 3.5 miles. By the time we included our extra steps exploring the rockhouse, we were up to 6.6 miles! This is definitely worth your trip to come see.
Travel time from home: 2.5 hours :(
Today's miles: 6.67
Remaining miles: 3.74
No comments:
Post a Comment