Buffalo

The Buffalo is suited for all canoeing abilities. You can find whitewater in the upper stretches of the river to satisfy the adventurer and long, lazy floats on the lower river for those folks seeking quiet solitude. Bring your own canoe or make arrangements to rent a canoe, kayak, or raft from one of the park’s many concessioners. Jonboats are also for rent.

Water levels will vary during the year based on rainfall activity. Visit the interactive river map to receive the latest information on river flow and levels.

The Buffalo National River, which runs through Newton, Searcy, Marion, and Baxter counties, became the first national river in the United States on March 1, 1972. It is one of the few remaining unpolluted, free-flowing rivers in the lower forty-eight states. The Buffalo National River, administered by the National Park Service, encompasses 135 miles of the 150-mile long river.

President Richard M. Nixon signed Public Law 92-237 to put the river under the protection of the National Park Service 100 years after the establishment of Yellowstone National Park, the first national park. The law begins, “That for the purposes of conserving and interpreting an area containing unique scenic and scientific features, and preserving as a free-flowing stream an important segment of the Buffalo River in Arkansas for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations, the Secretary of the Interior… may establish and administer the Buffalo National River.” Behind that sentence, which set the mission for the park, were decades of debate and discussion regarding the use, ownership and management of the Buffalo River.

The Buffalo River originates in the Boston Mountains of the Ozark Plateau. Flowing generally from west to east, the river traverses Newton, Searcy, and Marion counties before flowing into the White River just inside the border of Baxter County. Although termed a national river, the park includes lands (such as private lands under easement) surrounding the river, as well as the river itself, for a total acreage of 94,293.

Access Points

To get to the Buffalo River, Arkansas highways 21, 74, 7, 123, 333, 14, and 268 as well as U.S. Highway 65 all provide easy access. In addition, a good many county roads provide access to points between the highway crossings.

Fishing

Image by: Seth James

To many anglers, the hordes of visitors attracted to the Buffalo destroy the peaceful, aesthetic values that are the reason for going fishing in the first place. But this spirited colt of a stream has a remarkable capacity for swallowing up people in a maze of bluffs and canyons. And the Buffalo is a gem among Arkansas’s float fishing streams.

Considered a model smallmouth bass stream, the Buffalo has fast, clear, oxygen rich water with the kind of gravel bottom and boulder beds smallmouth bass love. Floating in a jonboat or canoe is the accepted method of fishing, but during spring, try beaching your craft at the head of a deep, swift chute and drifting a lure near a boulder in the fast water. Many fishermen make the mistake of working the holes where the bass aren’t and floating through the swift water where they are. The knowing locals often work surface lures at night for the big ones, and they catch them regularly.

Photo By: Seth James

The Buffalo’s cool, clean waters also provide perfect habitat for channel catfish, green and longear sunfish and spotted bass. Veterans frequently rely on natural baits–crayfish, minnows and worms–in their efforts to entice a keeper.