Paddling near Ponca, AR

Ponca sits in the Ozark Mountains of Newton County, Arkansas, at the headwaters of the Buffalo National River — the first national river designated in the United States. The upper Buffalo here is widely regarded as the finest canoeing in Arkansas and among the best paddling in mid-America, drawing paddlers to narrow, fast-moving water flanked by towering bluffs, including the iconic Roark Bluff and Big Bluff.