The Ride, Part 7 "Ponca to Home"

After leaving Kingston and following Hwy 21 to Hwy 43, I made a left and continued on to Ponca, Ar. Talk about a beautiful place to live, this is it. As I make a turn onto 43 there's mountain on the left with a few houses, some look like they've been around for many years. On the right is pasture land with the Buffalo River and Mountains beyond that. Its not a wide valley with alot of arcreage, but it is eye pleasing. I would give my left little finger to be retired living in one of those houses.

As you follow 43 North, taking in all the scenary, don't miss the turn off to Lost Valley State Park http://www.stateparks.com/lost_valley.html . You won't regret it. I would suggest visiting in the fall or spring, be sure to take canteens and a if its warm enough, wear a bathing suit underneath your clothes. There are some pools to get in and waterfalls to get under. If you enjoy spelunking, there are some good caves. I've only explored one, I had to squeeze in between some bolders, crawl through mud and water and finally I ended up at a huge room with a small water fall. I think it was Bat Cave. They do have primitive camping spots available.

After passing Lost Valley, there's a parking area on the right where you can see Elk if your lucky. There used to be an overlook near Ponca but I think it was destroyed by flooding and never rebuilt. You can still look for Elk there though, its on the right as you turn into the Buffalo River Ponca Access point. http://www.buffalonationalriver.com/

This is the Buffalo River Bridge on Hwy 74. The picture was taken from the low water bridge at the Ponca Access Point. Later you'll see a video where I cross this bridge.
This is a picture of John G., a good friend of mine. We were riding in the area a year or so ago. This is at the Ponca Access Point.

Across the road from the entrance to the access point is an old cabin with out buildings. Its a historical spot and a good place to stop, look around and take a few pics. I'm sure I've posted pics of the cabin in the past but I can't seem to find the posting.

I rode on into Ponca. There was'nt much going on there, actually there was nothing going on there. I saw no one in town. After I left Ponca, I took Hwy 74 back to Jasper and then Hwy 7 South to home. All in all it was a wonderful, fantastic, great, slow day of riding and mind healing. Like I've said before, riding is my meditation, I tried Yoga, I like riding better.

Below is a video of the ride out of Ponca. My camera battery died just when I was reaching the Steel Creek Access Point. Please, turn down your sound, I promise I'll fix this problem if I have to JB Weld the Mic.