Although the Buffalo National River is known for its good canoeing, Arkansas is frequently besieged by drout in the summer, and at the time [Oct. 2000], the river was much lower than it appears in this shot.    The little riffle at the entrance to this Beaver-built backup was only 8 ft. wide.

There is a shady grove of trees to park under making this a little oasis in an otherwise shadeless stretch of the river.    I got here by driving up an abandoned arm of the river on the sand and gravel.    The river was generally extremely low that summer, and this was the deepest water for miles, at the time.