ALERT: Visitors should be aware of the new trash policy in the Buffalo River Park

From the Springfield News Leader

Jane Goodall once said, “It is individual efforts, collectively, that make a noticeable difference — all the difference in the world!”

Managers at Buffalo National River in Arkansas will put this theory to the test this spring as they implement a new solid waste management strategy that relies on park visitors to dispose of their own trash.

The new “Give Us a Hand” policy Read More at http://www.news-leader.com/article/20140213/LIFE06/302130051/Buffalo-River-trash?nclick_check=1

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National Park Radio to appear at Ozark Mountain Music Festival

Ozark Mountain Music Festival set for Eureka Springs January 24/25/26

January might be a little chilly outside, but it is not too cold for the First Annual Ozark Mountain Music Festival to be held INDOORS at the Basin Park Hotel on the last weekend of January.

Touted as Eureka Springs’ next great festival, the Ozark Mountain Music Festival will focus around Bluegrass / Indie Folk with a festival lineup that includes multiple stages and lively music all day long, just indoors. Jack Moyer, Manager of the Basin Park since 1996 commented, “The Basin Park Hotel has always been at the edge of all great music start ups from the Eureka Springs Blues Festival, New Years Eve with Jimmy Thackery, Eureka Springs Mardi Gras, The Cate Brothers, Chris Duarte or when the “the Band” reunited to play a ten-year reunion show in the Barefoot Ballroom. We are excited to host this ‘next great thing’ with the start of the Ozark Mountain Music Festival to which we expect will be an annual event for many years to come.” Moyer went on to say a key to establishing the event will be both in providing great music on multiple stages, using regional talent whose genre is Indie Folk and inventing a path where the festival style atmosphere makes the Basin Park Hotel abuzz with activity while attendees enjoy all access passes, overnight at the hotel and a have an atmosphere that encourages eating, drinking and dancing in one central location, an indoor festival grounds per se.

The Ozark Mountain Music Festival will begin Friday, January 25th at 6PM and will continue with at least 11 acts until Sunday’s Bloody Mary Morning Show. Passes will be affordable and will feature regional favorites HonkySuckle, 3Penny Acre, National Park Radio, and SxRex as well as other acts contacted and to be announced soon.

Room bundles for two attendees include two-nights lodging and two (2) all access passes and begin at $275. Festival All Access Passes are $45. For further information or online room sales guests are encouraged to visit www.EurekaSpringsOnline.com.

Line-up Includes:

Friday – January 24, 2014
6PM-Ballroom-HonkySuckle (Springfield)
8PM-Ozark Room-Wink (Tulsa)
10PM-Ballroom-3 Penny Acre

Saturday – January 25, 2014
Noon – Balcony- Hogscalders-
2PM-Ozark Room-Pearl Brick (Fayetteville)
4PM-Ozark Room Tyrannosaurus Chicken (Fort Smith)
6PM-Ballroom- (Eureka Springs) SX Rex
8PM-Ozark Room- Ben Miller Band (Joplin)
10PM-Ballroom-National Park Radio (Harrison)
Midnight Jam-Ron Landis and Chuck

Sunday – January 26,2014
Noon- Ozark Room – Handmade Moments(Conway/Fayetteville)

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Todays THV reports on Buffalo River Fees

HARRISON, Arkansas (National Park Service) – Buffalo National River is increasing the fee at five developed campgrounds. Effective November 15, the fee for drive-in sites at Buffalo Point (which include electrical service) will increase from $17 to $22 per night. The fee for walk-in sites at Buffalo Point and Tyler Bend will increase from $12 to $16 per night. The fee for sites at Kyles Landing, Ozark, and Steel Creek will increase from $10 to $12 per night. The fee for group sites will remain the same: $3 per person/per night.

This is the first fee increase at Buffalo National River in ten years, made necessary by rising operational costs. Read More at http://www.thv11.com/news/article/287103/2/Buffalo-National-River-fees-at-5-campgrounds-to-increase-Nov-15

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National Geographic: Road Trip: The Ozarks, Arkansas

For more of the world’s greatest driving tours, get National Geographic’s new book Drives of a Lifetime.

Plan your drive around this celebrated corner of Arkansas for October, and you’ll find yourself immersed in fall colors. Enveloping the twisting roads that interlace the northern part of Arkansas are deciduous forests that, in autumn, create a kaleidoscopic palette of crimsons, saffrons and ochres.
Read More at http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/road-trips/ozarks-arkansas-road-trip/

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Buffalo River – Boxley Mill Open

BOXLEY — The historic Boxley grist mill will be open this weekend, not to farmers wanting to grind corn and wheat, but for inspection by residents and visitors.

The mill has been a landmark in Boxley Valley for more than 100 years.

The National Park Service and Buffalo National River Partners will conduct tours from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, and Sunday, Oct. 27.

Read the full story at the Harrison Daily TImes

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Buffalo National River – Junior Ranger Program

Learn how to become a Buffalo River Junior Park Ranger Click Here

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TWO-WHEELS, TWO-REASONS, TWO SEASONS: A EUREKA SPRINGS MOTORCYCLE ADVENTURE

(EUREKA SPRINGS, AR) — All over the “lower 48”, men and woman who love their motorcycles are marking days off of their calendars as they count down to when they will pull on their leathers, fire up their bikes and start their adventurous ride to the Arkansas Ozarks and one of “America’s Distinctive Destinations”, Eureka Springs.  The reasons are two-fold and it all centers on “pork” …The Pig Trail and Bikes Blues & BBQ.

            The Pig Trail is a not-so-straight ribbon of asphalt; in fact, the ribbon that looks like someone has scraped it across the edge of a scissor blade.  It stretches, for all practical and awesome purposes, from Interstate 40 near Ozark (AR) north along State Highway 23 to Eureka Springs, the gateway to northwest Arkansas.  This 80-mile route is universally praised in motorcycle magazines, on biker websites, and even by The Discovery Channel for being one of the best in America.  For example, MotorycleRoads.com has elevated the Pig Trail to the number eight position in their most recent “top 100” poll.  BikerBudz.com gives it a “highly recommend” while Motorcycle-USA.com refers to it as “my new favorite ride”.  The Discovery Channel has given the Pig Trail its highest mark yet: number two in the nation.

The official National Scenic Byways’ 19-mile portion of the Pig Trail starts as you enter the Ozark National Forest from the south and ends near Brashears (AR) as you exit the national forest to the north.  This route, which crosses both the Mulberry and the White rivers, has so many S-curves that motorcyclists are forced to make dozens of ultra-quick right-to-left-to-right and back again leans; perfect first-gear switchbacks.  But riders should not think the challenge of the ride is limited to “the forest”.  It starts once you exit Interstate 40 heading north and doesn’t end until you put down your kickstand for the night in Eureka Springs.

“The Scenic Byways section of the Pig Trail may be like the most thrilling point in a roller coaster ride,” one biker explained, “but like a roller coaster, the runs on either side (11 miles to the south; 50 miles to the north) are pretty exciting too.  For me, every year between late August and the Hunter’s Moon is when I enjoy the full 80-mile ride.  ‘Cuz if you’re gonna ride the Pig Trail, ya gotta go whole hog.”

“The highway going up to Eureka Springs and all those around that town,” he continued, “are one exhilarating rush.  I hub out of Eureka, a funky, biker-friendly mountain town with lots of places to stay, lots of places to play.  I’ll spend four or five days searching out new Ozark roads with new crazy curves and new breathtaking sights.  It’s like a rally every day.  Plus Eureka’s only about 45 minutes from Fayetteville and the ‘triple-B’, Bikes Blues & BBQ.”

For Bikes Blues & BBQ the aforementioned “whole hog” is dressed, seasoned, grilled till tender, slathered with sauce, and then served up razorback-style when more than 400,000 bikers converge on Fayetteville (AR) for the four fabulous days of this event in September.  This year this awesome fall festival goes from September 18th through the 21st.

“One of the best parts of Bikes Blues & BBQ,” a biker from Central Texas, who has not missed any one of the previous 13 annual events, proudly stated, “is that you don’t just get a festival, you get the Pig Trail and all of its Ozark side-roads.  Me and my group like to arrive a couple days early or stay a couple days late to make sure we have plenty of time for day rides to and around Eureka on their fantastically freaky yellow-striped trails.  We only wish we had routes like this back in Texas.”

To make it easy for those who attend Bikes Blues & BBQ to find new, thrilling nearby routes, both the event and Eureka Springs have online sites for maps and directions: http://www.bikesbluesandbbq.org/rally-info/maps-directions/ and http://www.eurekaspringsmotorcycleroutes.com/ .

If you are unable to attend the “triple-B event” do not despair, because “does Mother Nature have a deal for you” in October and often through early November!  There is no more lovely autumn color than the reds, oranges, golds and violets of the Ozarks when fall falls.  To help you with perfect timing, the State of Arkansas, beginning in September each year, has a “fall color updates” page on their very popular Arkansas.com website.

And speaking of the State of Arkansas, their Department of Parks & Tourism has developed a short movie that will whet your appetite and make you hungry for a motorcycle vacation to “The Natural State”.  It just so happens that a local motorcycle enthusiast who is also the Mayor of Eureka Springs, Morris Pate, narrates the movie.  His narration begins with him and his 2001 Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Classic parked in front of the “Little Golden Gate Bridge” just a few minutes west from downtown Eureka.

“The Beaver Bridge is a landmark that must not be missed,” bragged Mayor Pate.  “This beautiful old wooden suspension bridge was built in 1949 and is 554 feet long, only 11 feet wide and has been painted a bright yellow.  Because it is so narrow, traffic can only move one way at a time across the span.  So hold your breath and grip tight, this is one bumpy and thrilling ride on two wheels.”

So whether you ride the Ozarks in late summer, late fall or anytime in between, you will be glad you did.  “No matter how many other motorcycle routes you’ve been on,” concluded our Texas biker, “once you’ve conquered the Pig Trail and its web of side-roads, you’ll be happier than a hog in slop.”

Special packages just for bikers can be found at numerous web sites, such as EurekaSpringsMotorcycleRoutes.com and Arkansas.com/deals-coupons

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Buffalo River Outfitters Suffering from Park Closure

From OzarksFirst.com

http://www.ozarksfirst.com/story/buffalo-river-outfitters-suffering-from-park-closure/d/story/YwZygalEo0Ke-2XwQXHm1w

YELLVILLE, Ark. – Businesses that depend on the Buffalo National River for canoe rentals, camping tours and visitor traffic are suffering during the government shutdown.  Read More at http://www.ozarksfirst.com/story/buffalo-river-outfitters-suffering-from-park-closure/d/story/YwZygalEo0Ke-2XwQXHm1w

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Update on Government Shutdown and its effect on the Buffalo River

Buffalo National River essentially off limits to visitors during government shutdown
The government shutdown is impacting one of the Ozarks’ most pristine landscapes.

From KSPR
Posted by Chris Brewer, web editor / info from news release Email Chris / Follow Chris on Twitter

8:10 a.m. CDT, October 1, 2013
HARRISON, Ark. – The government shutdown is impacting one of the Ozarks’ most pristine landscapes, as the Buffalo National River is essentially shut down to all visitors until further notice.

View More at http://www.kspr.com/news/kspr-buffalo-national-river-essentially-off-limits-all-visitors-during-government-shutdown-20131001,0,5478629.story

==========================

Popular national park rivers closed to floating during shutdown

Written by
Wes Johnson

If you had plans to paddle the Buffalo National River or Ozark National Scenic Riverways this week, think again.

The Buffalo and sections of Jacks Fork River and Current River are closed to the public beginning today because of the federal government shutdown.

“I just turned two groups away today who wanted to float the river,” said Mike Smith, owner of Windy’s Canoe Rental that serves the Jacks Fork and Current rivers. “At this time of year with the season winding down there’s not really a lot of impact. But if they had done this shutdown in June it would have had a major, major effect on us and on the local economy. But any time the government shuts down it’s a worrisome event.”

Smith said he received an email several days ago from Ozark National Scenic Riverways detailing how ONSR would respond to the shutdown. As of today, all national parks are closed to the public, including rivers that flow through them.

“Basically they said don’t put anybody on the river during the shutdown,” Smith said. “They’d consider it a breach of contract if we did. They issue our permit and they could pull our permit if we did. I do not plan to put anybody on the river while this goes on.”

Read the Full Article at the Springfield News Leader

http://www.news-leader.com/article/20131001/NEWS01/310010077/Popular-national-park-rivers-closed-to-floating-during-shutdown?odyssey=nav|head&nclick_check=1

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Government Shutdown Effects Buffalo National River

Here are the Facebook posts from the staff of the Buffalo National River Prior to its Facebook and Twitter postings going off-line

Quoted from https://www.facebook.com/buffnatlriver
Because of the federal government shutdown this National Park Service Facebook page is inactive. We’ll start the conversation again when we get back.
——————
As you’re undoubtedly aware, there is potential for a government shutdown beginning at midnight if Congress is unable to pass a Continuing Resolution.

In the event of a shutdown, Buffalo National River will be closed to the public. Even our website and FB page will be disabled.

Visitors who are staying in park campgrounds will be notified of the shutdown (if it occurs) by noon tomorrow. They will be informed that they have 48 hours to vacate the park. All campers must leave the park by noon on Thursday. This 48-hour grace period only applies to visitors who are already staying in the park at the time the shutdown occurs.

We are keeping our fingers crossed that Congress will reach a last minute agreement and shutdown can be avoided. If shutdown occurs, it will hopefully be brief. We appreciate your patience, understanding, and support. [tmg]

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