Post by charliewoods on Oct 21, 2018 8:00:47 GMT -8
I am new here. Please forgive me for posting so quickly. I did browse a couple of areas and did not find what I was looking for. It's like a needle in a haystack. I will also create a post in the NEW forums. I have also tried some other discussion groups and forums with no luck so far.
In the early 90's my dad took me and my brother to this hiking/campsite in the Ozark Mountains. I have no idea where it is exactly. I was just a kid. It looks sort of like the image I posted, but the butte/grotto isn't quite as big. I remember having to hike for most of a day to get there. Me and my brother were young, so for some this might have only taken half a day or so. We parked in the woods, threw camo burlap over the vehicle, hiked down one side of a mountain, waded a creek which I have always assumed fed into the Buffalo but now I second guess myself, and then hiked up the other side of the valley probably a few hundred feet or maybe more in elevation to get to the rock outcropping/grotto. We camped for a few days with sleeping bags, no tent. It was spring time. There was a trickle of ice cold water dripping into a little pool where we kept our perishables.
The campsite had been used previously by other people. There were little sleeping areas outlined by rocks and filled with leaves. There were large stones that had been placed around a fire ring. Not far from the sleeping area there was also a large "stone throne" that I remember sitting in.
I started looking a few weeks ago because it's been 25+ years since I have been there but I have great memories and a fondness for visiting again. Both my father and brother are gone now so I cannot ask them. I know that you are not supposed to camp in the grottos or rock shelters within Buffalo National River area, but like I said, I'm not sure if we were actually in that area or not. It could be private land, or maybe some very well-kept dispersed camping location, I have no idea. All I know is that I would at least like to know where it was and try to plan a trip with my own family. There were no trails or roads in the area, except for the old dirt road where we parked before starting the hike.
Topographic maps of the area did not help me. It has to be a location near a large creek/tiny river with no roads, a bluff/grotto on one side with steep elevation, and a slow elevation on the side we hiked down to get there. There was no trail, we simply cut through the wilderness. All of the trails and campsites that I have been able to find lead to areas you're not supposed to camp at, and the pictures have not revealed the location yet.
AllTrails was pretty helpful because it helped me weed out places like Pam's Grotto and tons of other places. Most, if not all the locations in that app have a trail leading to it. I did look at nearly everything in Buffalo, Francis St. Ozark, and all surrounding areas and did not find it. If it helps, I do not remember any large significant sites (like Forked Mountain), bridges, or towns, that can help. It was very off the beaten path.
Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
In the early 90's my dad took me and my brother to this hiking/campsite in the Ozark Mountains. I have no idea where it is exactly. I was just a kid. It looks sort of like the image I posted, but the butte/grotto isn't quite as big. I remember having to hike for most of a day to get there. Me and my brother were young, so for some this might have only taken half a day or so. We parked in the woods, threw camo burlap over the vehicle, hiked down one side of a mountain, waded a creek which I have always assumed fed into the Buffalo but now I second guess myself, and then hiked up the other side of the valley probably a few hundred feet or maybe more in elevation to get to the rock outcropping/grotto. We camped for a few days with sleeping bags, no tent. It was spring time. There was a trickle of ice cold water dripping into a little pool where we kept our perishables.
The campsite had been used previously by other people. There were little sleeping areas outlined by rocks and filled with leaves. There were large stones that had been placed around a fire ring. Not far from the sleeping area there was also a large "stone throne" that I remember sitting in.
I started looking a few weeks ago because it's been 25+ years since I have been there but I have great memories and a fondness for visiting again. Both my father and brother are gone now so I cannot ask them. I know that you are not supposed to camp in the grottos or rock shelters within Buffalo National River area, but like I said, I'm not sure if we were actually in that area or not. It could be private land, or maybe some very well-kept dispersed camping location, I have no idea. All I know is that I would at least like to know where it was and try to plan a trip with my own family. There were no trails or roads in the area, except for the old dirt road where we parked before starting the hike.
Topographic maps of the area did not help me. It has to be a location near a large creek/tiny river with no roads, a bluff/grotto on one side with steep elevation, and a slow elevation on the side we hiked down to get there. There was no trail, we simply cut through the wilderness. All of the trails and campsites that I have been able to find lead to areas you're not supposed to camp at, and the pictures have not revealed the location yet.
AllTrails was pretty helpful because it helped me weed out places like Pam's Grotto and tons of other places. Most, if not all the locations in that app have a trail leading to it. I did look at nearly everything in Buffalo, Francis St. Ozark, and all surrounding areas and did not find it. If it helps, I do not remember any large significant sites (like Forked Mountain), bridges, or towns, that can help. It was very off the beaten path.
Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
