21 of 40: buffalo river trail ~ steel creek to kyle's landing (a portion)

huge deer rub - exciting our hunters

The Buffalo River Trail (BRT) is, of course, a trail specifically following the river. It is not currently a continuous trail along the entire river, but that is the desired end result.

Two years ago we hiked the BRT from the city of Ponca to Steel Creek where there is a campground and many wondrous bluffs on view.  I remember that hike fondly as it was snowing when we first set out, the woods were quite sparse being November and with the cold temperatures it felt like a winter wonderland.

This year, we decided to begin at the campground of Steel Creek and hike towards Kyle's Landing (another campground with trail heads). After hiking Whitaker's Point in the morning, we came here,  ate a picnic lunch, then set out. The idea for these hikes was not to be intensive (as our trip here in May is now fondly described), but to just be casual, enjoyable. So we set out knowing we wouldn't hike very far. We made it past the campground, horse ranch and into a bit of wilderness and then turned back. It was a nice hike , but we just weren't "feeling it" to do much more. If you hike far enough in (about two hours uphill) you can turn back towards the Steel Creek campground and get an amazing view on high of the bluffs pictured above (I only know this from research, not experience).

The BRT, although not the entire length of the river, is developed enough that there many miles of trail enabling the hiker to camp overnight along the trail, which is common. I do think it would be fun to one day back pack into an area and camp overnight. Jesse has experience with this, which is probably why he hasn't pursued this for us as a family! I keep requesting tent camping, but he prefers to enjoy the outdoor adventures during the day putting our energy to that pursuit rather than setting up camp. It's such a good system for us, currently, that we probably won't add camping to hiking any time soon.