Day 38 - Buffalo National River & Blanchard Springs, AR

After leaving the comfort of Eureka Springs, we were headed to Blanchard Springs Recreation Area in Mountain View where we would be camping for the night.

The drive was awesome over the Ozark Mountains. Lots of hills, windy roads and it was paved, the type of roads Lee likes driving!

En route, we stopped off a Buffalo National River, the first ever National River.

We didn't really know what to do or see here so we headed to the visitors center where a lovely park ranger gave us a map and told us that give the heat, the best option was two short hikes.

The first hike was to the Collier Homestead where we could view some old buildings and then onto River Overlooks where we could look at the river from above.

The next hike was more of a drive than a hike, we drove down to the bottom of the river where you could paddle or canoe or just sit in the sun and enjoy the really calm waters.

After Buffalo River, we headed back into the car towards our campsite.

Half the campsite was closed due to flood damage but after going over a ford, we found an area that was open.

It was a First Come First Served campsite but we didn't need to worry about not finding a pitch, even with half the campsite closed there were only 4 other campers in the entire site which must have had room for about 30.

We chose a campsite away from the water edge, up on a hill. I think subconciously we were thinking about the flood damaged area and wanting to be on higher ground, we also wanted to be away from the frogs at the waters edge just to get a decent nights sleep!

Lee said find firewood so I brought him an entire tree!

With the tent pitched, we took our chairs and a couple of cold drinks down to the little river that runs through the campsite. There were a number of families and couples here playing in the water which was really clear and warm. The water seemed to trickle along making it safe to wade out into although the stones were a little slippery for the person in flip flops!

We had another awesome dinner cooked by Lee on the fire and then as the evening drew in, I thought it was a good idea to go for a run around the campsite. It felt like it had cooled down but the humidity was horrible, after a couple of laps, I looked like I had had a shower already! I think I might save the exercise for airconditioned gyms going forward!