Hemmed-in-Hollow Trail

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DSCN2166[This post was originally published on June 14, 2011 on "A Hiking We Will Go."]

This past weekend, we headed back to the Buffalo River to see the famed Hemmed-in-Hollow Falls. We had our friend Dan join us. Since there were two cars, we opted to park on at the Compton Trailhead and hike back to the other car at Steel Creek campground, thinking we would avoid the dreadfully steep climb back up to Compton.

To ensure an early start, we camped Friday night at Steel Creek. I went for a walk back up the road into the DSCN2167camp and got to spend some time watching a doe having a little dinner in the field.

After a rather sleepless night due to the raucous and rowdy behavior of other campers in the park, we were up at 4:30 a.m., and decided to grab a bite to eat in Ponca while the tent dried out from the dew condensation.

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Buffalo River Trail: Ponca to Kyle’s Landing

[This post was originally published on March 15, 2011 on "A Hiking We Will Go."]

DSCN1619The Buffalo River Trail (BRT) in the Buffalo National River is a 36.5-mile trail that goes from Boxley to Pruitt. The Buffalo National River was established as a National Park in 1972 and is administered by the National Park Service.

We decided to hike the BRT from Ponca to Kyle’s Landing, about 10 miles. Camping is allowed in the wilderness, so we broke the hike up and camped one night in the back-country. Dogs are not allowed on the trails, so Buster and Katie had to sit this one out.

We drove up on a Friday afternoon and camped the first night in the Steel Creek campground. Initially, we were going to stay at Lost Valley, but the campsites were so close together and the bathrooms were locked.

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Buffalo River Trail: Boxley to Ponca

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[This post was originally published on May 8, 2011 on "A Hiking We Will Go."]

This week we backpacked the first section of the Buffalo River Trail from Boxley to Ponca, a total of 11.1 miles. We had originally planned to do this hike with a couple of friends, but alas, Mother’s Day interfered with that plan.

Since we’d already tried twice before to hit this trail and been delayed by Easter (oops, thanks Denise) and the huge flooding (ugh, thanks Mother Nature), we went ahead and took off Saturday morning. DSCN1987The planned leave time was 5 a.m. Time I got out of bed? 6:30.

We still managed to make the drive and get to the Buffalo Outdoor Center by 10 and arranged for our car to be shuttled.

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Buffalo River – Buffalo Point Overlook Trail

View from Overlook Trail - Buffalo Point Campground - Buffalo National River

View from Overlook – Buffalo Point – Buffalo National River

Buffalo Point, formerly Buffalo River State Park, is a beautiful campground area built along a section of the Buffalo National River. Many of the rock and wood buildings in the campground were built during the Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

When you visit, be sure to check out the Overlook Trail. This 1.3-mile loop hike is not very long and features a great scenic view of the river.

Approximate Elevation Levels Based on GPS Data

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