Lost Valley

A secret valley, tucked along the country's first "national river"

The latest issue of Smithsonian Magazine, on newsstands now, features a spectacular photo essay by my friend Rory Doyle. This year is the fiftieth anniversary of the Buffalo National River in Arkansas, one of my favorite places in the South. I was honored to write the accompanying text.

So go read that! Here, briefly, I’ll give a few more details on a trail that I mention in the piece.

I’d been visiting the Buffalo River for a decade before I even heard of the Lost Valley Trail. Perhaps that’s because, unlike other Buffalo River hikes, this one doesn’t offer some Instagram-friendly of the mountains. That’s no reason to skip this hike.

Liz and I tried the trail last year, while I was researching the Smithsonian story. As we started, we were underwhelmped, wondering why the National Park Service would list it as a highlight: perhaps just because the path into …