BLANCHARD SPRINGS CABIN CRACK

We couldn’t help but drive up the road to Camp Orr, a boy scout camp featured in Boys’ Life Magazine. Then we took the dirt road down to Kyles Landing, another canoe launch and camping site. Besides the fish, we had quite a few animal encounters here, including crawfish and several snakes winding their way across the water. We headed toward Ponca and Steel Creek Campground, pulling the fishing poles out for a morning in the river under the shadow of Roark Bluff. The next morning, we awoke with the Buffalo calling us back. Imagine walking through an underground castle built by nature over thousand of years-one drip at a time. And then others were so slight, you felt like if you breathed on them, they would break in half. Some were so massive, you couldn’t quite understand their size until you were standing right next to them. This trail goes through two of the large, upper rooms of the cavern, and every curve of the path revealed new formations.

The tour begins with everyone piling into an elevator and heading deep underground. And with the average temperature in the caverns being at 58 degrees, we had to make a quick detour by the gift shop for some dry clothes. Fortunately, he came out fairly unscathed, but soaking wet. In our race back to the caverns to make our tour slot, our oldest fell off the path and rolled down the bumpy hillside to the creek below.

BLANCHARD SPRINGS CABIN CRACK

Here the water gushes out of a large crack in a rock wall, forming a creek that eventually flows to Mirror Lake. We had time to kill before the tour started, so we took a short drive and small hike to Blanchard Springs. Nearly a two-hour drive from our Airbnb in Gaither, Blanchard Springs Caverns was definitely worth the time in the car. Meanwhile, the rest of us sat by the deep pool at the bottom of Eden Falls, watching a rather large salamander make his way across the rocks. My husband and our oldest son continued up the hill to another small cave (flashlights needed) and an indoor waterfall. It was not more than a trickle when we visited, but grows in size after a good rain. The shelter leads you on to 53-foot-high Eden Falls. It’s a large bluff shelter-a good spot to hide from the rain and with many nooks and crannies for exploring. We had a few falls and bruises, but it didn’t deter from the fun.Ĭontinuing on, we passed some great boulders for climbing on our way to Cob Cave, so named from the corn cobs left behind by Native Americans and later found here by archaeologists. The boys immediately threw off their shoes and splashed in the water. About halfway to the falls, we came to Natural Bridge, where a small waterfall fell into a shallow pool (pictured above). We started on the west side of the river in Lost Valley, taking a short 2-mile round trip hike to Eden Falls. The kids played for hours by the shallow edge and fished in the deeper waters by the bluff. It was May, and the weather here was already sweltering. Much of it is dominated by large bluffs, a beautiful backdrop to the river itself. The Buffalo, America’s first national river, runs wild and undammed for 135 miles. It was a great location, though, for a quick drive to several of the river’s access points. We booked a little cabin in Gaither, just north of the Buffalo National River where cattle seemed to outnumber the people. When the invitation arrived to my nephew’s wedding in rural Arkansas, we immediately decided to extend our stay and do some exploring.

Blanchard springs cabin