Ozark Wilderness Adventures at Riley's Station!
Wildlife Viewing
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.
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!
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.
(see Guided Photography Trips)
Birding
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.
Watch 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 & 7x35 binoculars.
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!
(Click to visit Guided Nature trips)
last updated 1/14/08