Arkansas trails · Buffalo River Trail
Buffalo River Trail
A 27.9-mile point-to-point in Arkansas, with 474 ft of climbing. Reaches Bear Creek Vista and other viewpoint destinations.
Elevation profile
The climbing is spread fairly evenly along the route. It gives back about 3,966 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Bear Creek Vista (viewpoint)
- Pileated Point (viewpoint)
Heads up
Getting there
Buffalo River Trail access — parking nearby. About 1 h 08 min drive (46 mi) from Harrison. 36.06622, -92.57792 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:50 a.m., the sun rises at 7:16 a.m. and sets at 6:36 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 7:01 p.m. (CDT) — 11 h 20 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 27.9-mile route takes roughly 10 h 34 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 5:49 p.m. — 46 min before sunset.
Loop options
- Buffalo River + Buffalo River Trail + Ozark Highlands Trail — 6.6 mi loop, 1,036 ft gain
- Spring Hollow Trail + Buffalo River + Buffalo River Trail — 7.2 mi loop, 1,197 ft gain
- Buffalo River Trail + connector (Buffalo National River) + Old River Trail — 10.1 mi loop, 1,618 ft gain
Nearby trails
- North Lower Wilderness Trails — 7.7 mi
- Cow Creek Trail — 8.8 mi
- Oht Sylamore Section — 12.8 mi
- North Sylamore Creek Trail — 14.5 mi