Buzzard Roost Rocks
February 5, 2005
I’ve told this story here before, and
hope to tell it many times in the future, about the map of the
Ozark National Forest I’ve had for almost 20 years now.
Highlighted on the map are a dozen “special interest
areas” that I’ve always been curious about, yet
rarely made the effort to see for myself. Last winter Tim Ernst
visited one of those sites, Buzzard Roost Rocks, and published
some great photos on his Cloudland web
site. Ever since then, the scenic spot has been high on my
list.
Joey and I had plans to go mountain bike
riding (Stacey and the boys got me a bike for my birthday) but
when the weather forecast changed to mostly cloudy I talked
Joey into adding a hiking/photography trip to the itinerary.
To get to the parking area, which is about
25 miles north of Russellville, we drove a complicated route
that included over 9 miles of dirt road. On the way we pulled
off Maupin Flat Road at a scenic overlook my topographic map
names The Narrows. The enormous view included the horseshoe
bend in Big Piney Creek just upstream from Longpool Campground,
and Waldo Mountain rising above it.
Once at the parking area we hiked east a
mile and a half down an unmarked logging road. The road forked
once, then forked a second time, and just about the time we
were thinking of turning around for lack of any signs telling
us we were on the right path, we came to a brown plastic Forest
Service sign that read “Foot Travel Welcome”. A
faint trail went downhill to what was obviously the Buzzard
Roost Rocks. This cluster of lichen-covered, weathered
sandstone towers only covered a small area, but I still could
have stayed all day and explored. We had to watch our step
because one wrong move could have sent us falling at least 30
feet. We were running short on time so we didn’t venture
to the bottom of the rocks.
North along the mountainside, maybe two
hundred yards away, was another group of rock formations barely
visible through the tress. We walked back uphill to the logging
road then took the other fork which led to the other
formations. I never told Joey there was a natural bridge here,
and he was quite surprised.
I found one spot above the east end of the
bridge where I was able to carefully slide down onto it. A
cautious climb from there got me on top of the bridge. Just
about the time I started to snap some photos from on top of the
bridge, the sun emerged from behind the thin cloud cover to
wreck my shots. The upwards scramble from the end of the bridge
back on to the mountainside was the scarriest, and not
something I would attempt if things were wet.
Back at the truck I snapped a picture of
the parking area, for my own reference and anyone else’s.
We took a different route going home; we drove the same dirt
road north all the way to Highway 123, a distance of almost
seven miles, then took the highway southwest to Clarksville
where we got on the Interstate.
Since there are no published directions to
Buzzard Roost Rocks that I know of, here are mine from the
north:
1. Find the intersection of Forest Road
1802 with Highway 123. This intersection is approx. 4.6 miles
west of Highway 7 at Sand Gap/Pelsor, or 6.3 miles east of the
Big Piney Creek bridge at Fort Douglas.
2. Drive south on Forest road 1802 for 3.1
miles, where the road forks.
3. Take the left fork, which is Forest Road
1805, Maupin Flat Road.
4. Drive south on Forest Road 1805,
Maupin Flat Road for 3.5 miles. There will be a house on the
right, and the logging road will be on the left. Next to the
logging road is the gate and barn pictured below.
5. Park here and walk down the logging road
approx. 1.5 miles. Buzzard Roost Rocks will be on the right
side of the logging road. If you encounter any forks in the
logging road, simply go right.
