Buffalo National River: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:21, 25 February 2005

Revision as of 14:56, 11 March 2005

Line 1:

The '''Buffalo National River''' is the [[United States|US's]]'s first federally-protected [[river]] and one of America's great natural treasures. The Nationalentire Park[[Buffalo HeadquartersRiver]] areis Locatedabout 144.2 miles in [[Harrisonlength, Arkansas]].of Thewhich 130 miles sit within the boundries of the [[BuffaloNational RiverPark (Arkansas)|Buffalo RiverService]]. It meanders through the heart of the [[Ozark Mountains]] in northern [[Arkansas]] for 150 miles before joining the [[White River (Arkansas)|White River]]. The preserve covers 135 miles of the river and is home to the state's only [[elk]] herd.

The Buffalo River became the Buffalo National River by an [[Act of Congress]] on March 1, 1972. The designation as a [[National River]] protects natural rivers from industrial uses, dams, empoundments and other obstructions that change the character of the river and disrupt the natural land and water life that flourishes there.

==External links==

*[http://www.nps.gov/buff/ National Park Service Buffalo River webpage]

Beginning as a trickle 15 miles above the park boundary, the Buffalo River begins as the [[Hailstone River]] in the [[Boston Mountains]] of Newton County. The Buffalo National River forms at the confluence of Reeves Fork and Big Buffalo Creek just northeast of Fallsville, then flows north through Boxley to Ponca, where it begins a west-to-east trek across northern Arkansas to its confluence with the [[White River]] on the Marion-Baxter County Line just south of [[Bull Shoals Lake]].

*[http://data2.itc.nps.gov/parks/buff/ppMaps/BUFFmap%2Epdf Map of the Buffalo National River, PDF format, 226KB]

*[http://www.recreation.gov/detail.cfm?ID=2602 Buffalo National River information]

Along the upper river, the gradient is steep and the water is fast, leveling and slowing as the river runs its course. The upper section of the river has most of the whitewater rapids to be found along the river, but also features some very beautiful topography, among which are [[sink hole]]s and [[cave]]s, [[spring]]s and [[waterfall]]s, 500-700 foot tall [[limestone]] bluffs overlooking the river, and many interesting [[Rock (geology)|rock]] formations. At one point, a half-mile hike off the river up a narrow, dead-end canyon leads to a 200-foot waterfall, the highest of its kind between the Southern [[Appalachians]] and the [[Rockies]]. The river's ancient current also gives life to well over 300 species of [[fish]], [[insect]]s, freshwater [[mussel]]s, and aquatic [[plant]]s.

The National Park Headquarters are Located in [[Harrison, Arkansas]].

== External links and References ==

* [http://www.nps.gov/buff/ National Park Service Buffalo River webpage]

* [http://www.canoekayak.com/destinations/southernu.s./buffalo/ Where the Buffalo Runs, by Larry Rice]

* [http://data2.itc.nps.gov/parks/buff/ppMaps/BUFFmap%2Epdf Map of the Buffalo National River, PDF format, 226KB]

* [http://www.recreation.gov/detail.cfm?ID=2602 Buffalo National River information]

[[Category:Arkansas rivers]]