Education

Students walk and use wheelchairs on a paved path through the woods during a field trip at Buffalo National River.

T. Fondriest

The National Park Service offers many educational opportunities for students to experience the natural and cultural history of Buffalo National River. Park rangers are available for classroom visits and presentations about the river, its inhabitants, and the National Park Service.

If you would like a ranger to come to your classroom or assist you with a field trip, please call the area you would like to visit:

• Steel Creek Contact Station, Upper District: 870-861-2570
• Tyler Bend Visitor Center, Middle District: 870-439-2502
• Buffalo Point Contact Station, Lower District: 870-449-4311

Curriculum-Based Education Program

Wouldn't it be great if you could incorporate lessons from the classroom into a real world, hands-on experience? You can! Buffalo National River has a curriculum-based program aligned with Arkansas Standards called A Day By the Buffalo. The teacher's guide is available upon request at e-mail us. For brief descriptions of our most popular programs, scroll down.

We encourage you to review your curriculum schedules and include A Day by the Buffalo programming throughout the school year whenever you are teaching the appropriate concepts.

Reservations for Day by the Buffalo programs are accepted all year. Information and forms are sent to principals and teachers each fall as a reminder. Information and reservation forms may be requested at e-mail us. All reservations are first come first served.

 

Two students smile at us after discovering a crayfish in the river.

NPS

Upper River (Boxley Valley/Ponca area):

1. At The Water’s Edge
The Buffalo River teems with life. Investigate this habitat through first-hand exploration. The plentiful macroinvertebrates found in the underwater world reveal the quality of the water found within their environment. Students can use this knowledge in other streams they might explore.

2. Lost Valley Hike
The power of water continually cuts, carves and influences the ecology of this area. Hiking the box canyon of Lost Valley will offer students the chance to see, hear, and smell the ever changing landscape.

3. Beaver Jim’s Cabin
The Ozarks' earliest settlers were a determined and independent lot. A scavenger hunt and exploration of the James A. Villines cabin and grounds introduces students to the pioneering ways used to settle what was the most rugged and isolated pocket of the Ozarks.

4. Boxley Mill Tour
The first Boxley Mill was built in the 1840s, and it was replaced by a larger mill in 1870. Three generations of the Villines family ran the mill until 1950. Tour the first floor of the mill and learn the importance of this historic place to the Boxley area.

 

The historic Collier Homestead at Tyler Bend

NPS

Middle River (Tyler Bend Area)

1. At The Water’s Edge
The Buffalo River teems with life. Investigate this habitat through first-hand exploration. The plentiful macroinvertebrates found in the underwater world reveal the quality of the water found within their environment. Students can use this knowledge in other streams they might explore.

2. Collier Homestead Tour (Wheelchair accessible with assistance)
Change came slowly to the rugged Ozark Mountains. A tour of the Collier house and grounds -- one of the last places to be homesteaded in the Buffalo River Valley -- gives students insights to the things they have in common with their ancestors. This program can be modified to include an extra mile of hiking. The trail is not an accessible trail.

 

A park ranger discusses the geology and archeology of the Indian Rockhouse.

T. Fondriest

Lower River (Buffalo Point) - Yellville/Flippin Area

1. At The Water’s Edge
The Buffalo River teems with life. Investigate this habitat through first-hand exploration. The plentiful macroinvertebrates found in the underwater world reveal the quality of the water found within their environment. Students can use this knowledge in other streams they might explore.

2. Overlook Hike
The Ozarks have been called a biological crossroads, where species from the north mingle with those from the south and the southwest. On this hike, overlooking the river valley, students explore different environments and meet some of these interesting inhabitants.

3. The Indian Rockhouse (This program requires a minimum of four hours to complete. If selected, it will be the only activity available for the day.)
A moderately strenuous 3.5-mile hike to this massive bluff shelter gives the students an opportunity for an in-depth look at the Ozark environment and how humans have used the plants, animals and physical features of this land to survive. The group will hike to the Rockhouse, rest and eat lunch, and then return to the trailhead.

4. Rush Ghost Town
Rush was once the largest town in northern Arkansas. Today it stands deserted, but can still tell a story of its boom days as a zinc mining center. Students explore the remains of Rush on a short hike in the Morning Star area to learn about the "town that zinc built."