Discovering the Ozark Mountains
Enrich the lives of your family, friends and children. Take quiet walks through the 100,000-acre wood of the Sylamore National Forest or the 30,000 acres of the Lower Buffalo Wilderness Area. Deer, turkey, squirrels & chipmunk are abundant and can be seen from the porch of your cabin or while boating or hiking.
Fishing skills improve by watching fish feed on aquatic and terrestrial insects. Butterflies gracefully soar through the breeze and sip nectar from wildflowers. Songbirds fill the air with sounds of the seasons. Bats hurry from their caves at dusk, in their erratic flight, feeding on insects.
Watch turtles and snakes basking in the sun while quietly floating & fishing the rivers. Otters, mink and raccoon work the riverbanks searching for crawdads and minnows. Staying at Riley’s has been compared to staying right outside the gates of the zoo. Who needs cable when you can stay in the Animal Planet or Discovery Channel!
WHITE RIVER
“La Riviere Blanche” (White River), named by the first French traders who first explored this 720-mile river, whose origin is from a spring in the Boston Mountains of Madison County, AR.
The Corp of Engineers has constructed 4 Dams along its course, which destroyed the warm water habitat and replaced it with cold tailwaters suitable for trout.
Bull Shoals Lake is the largest impoundment on the White River system (62,000 acres) and its hydroelectric dam, having 8 generators, is the 5th largest in the nation. The crystal clear water of the White flows thru a series of deep pools, gravel bars, and shoals (shallow, rocky structure).
Bull Shoals tailwater is one of the longest tailwaters in the nation and is stocked with close to a million trout a year from the Norfork National Fish Hatchery.
Riley’s at Buffalo City is located 32 miles downstream from Bull Shoals Dam. When the Dam is generating, it takes approximately 12 hours for water to reach Buffalo City.
BUFFALO NATIONAL RIVER
The Buffalo River also originates from the same spring as the White River, in the Boston Mountains and flows 150 miles east thru the Ozark’s and ends at the White River (Buffalo City) in front of Riley’s. 135 miles of the Buffalo is wild & protected by the National Park Service.
It’s Americas First National River. Being a free-flowing river, its temperatures and water levels can change drastically with the seasons.
This beautiful and rugged landscape was the home of Ozark pioneers, settlers and miners. It is now uninhabited and protected for your pleasure.
The Lower Buffalo Wilderness Area offers solitude, scenery & the best smallmouth bass fishing in the Ozark’s.
Warm weather conditions allow you to feel the immediate temperature change as you leave the 50-degree water of the White, crossing over into the warm water of the Buffalo. We can help you enjoy a piece of America at its finest!
The first access point upstream from Riley’s is 24 miles at the abandoned zinc-mining town of Rush.
History Tours
“La Riviere Blanche” (White River), named by the first French traders who first explored this 720 mile river, whose origin is in the Boston Mountains of Madison County. There is an abundance of history, culture & folklore surrounding these hills.
Cherokee, Delaware, Shawnee, Miamis & Peorias were the Native Americans that made their homes in the Ozarks. The “Trail of Tears” crossed the White River just north of Riley’s. The Confederate Army took their stand on the Buffalo River and drove the Yankee’s back to the North.
Enjoy the many civil war sites and museums in Arkansas. Zinc mines, old homesteads & ghost towns make up some of the historical landscapes of this region.
Wildlife Viewing
Watch Ozark Mountain wildlife from your cabin, river or on hikes through the forest. An exciting sport for all ages. Watch for minutes or hours. Recommended equipment includes: camera, spotting scope, birding field guide, checklist & 7×35 binoculars.
Observing wildlife requires several key skills for success: be patient, slowdown & be quiet. All are qualities of a disciplined sportsman and hunter. Habitat signs and tracking are learned as you spend time tuning in to the surrounding environment. Wildlife and humanity are both creatures of habit.
Plants & Wildflowers
Wild burst of floral display. Alluvial soils of the White & Buffalo River banks display many species, much of the year. Mountain soil rich with limestone can offer flowering encounters with species not commonly seen in other places.
White, purple, lavender, green, red, orange, pink and yellow. A full spectrum to behold from deep valleys to wooded slopes and streamside to sharp ledges.
Cedar glades, oak groves, flowering wild cactus, 100 year old grape vines scatter the landscape. Meander along the trails of protected forests in fern covered gullies and appreciate the magnificent work of God. Cameras and field guides are a must!
Bird Watching
Watching birds is a year-round activity. It can be done anytime, anywhere. Costs absolutely nothing! No skills are needed & everyone enjoys watching birds. Arkansas is home to 365 species of resident and migratory birds.
This area offers excellent mid-winter bald eagle watching. There are many of these patriotic birds that successfully nest on the White River during their winter migration.
Other common river birds include; the Great Blue Heron, Green Herons, King Fishers and several species of ducks and geese. Also found along the river system are over 90 species of song birds (migratory & resident). Look for giant Pileated Woodpeckers, fearless and pugnacious Hummingbirds, or the flight silent Owl.
Kid & Critter Wilderness Adventures
The purity of a child’s soul interacting with nature always seems to strike a harmony! Whether watching a child catch their first fish, flipping rocks for crawdads or chasing minnows with a net, life will be full of enrichment for parent and child.
Swimming with goggles on the Buffalo River takes kids to a new underwater world. Children exploring nature is more fulfilling than watching nature itself.
Let your kids teach you something. Go back to Never-Never land in the Ozarks!
Photography
Ozark wilderness allows for texture, panoramic majesty, wildlife character, eye-catching composition and lighting, so many rewarding images waiting to be captured! Traditional & digital cameras are a must for a trip to Riley’s. Exploit all photo opportunities. Natural history, landscapes, critters, still life, and don’t forget friends, family & fish.
All skill levels of photographers can find endless subject matter. Hints & Tips Wide-angle lenses or short standard lenses will help show the environment and setting behind your subject. 85mm to 200mm zoom lenses are the most useful in animal pictures.
Kneepads and a small tripod will help you get on the ground to shoot small subjects on their plane. In the mountains, shoot early or late for best lighting.
Photo by: ETX Wedding Videography
