Roark Bluff
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| | Difficulty:3B II (v3a2 II) Raps:4-6, max ↨140ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:Optional 12 min drive. Much longer hike. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Best season: | Year round, but hot and buggy in summer months.
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36.0463, -93.3484
36.0415, -93.3526
36.0403, -93.3458
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Introduction[edit]
Above Roark Bluff is a series of shorter rappels ultimately leading to the 140 ft drop down the bluff.
Approach[edit]
Park car on side of road just north of Ponca. Hike the Chimney Rock Trail to the start of the wash.
Descent[edit]
Hike in wash. Rappel down drops. A couple are taller, while a few are lower angled but slippery. A few tree anchors have webbing present. Use retrievable tree anchors otherwise as needed.
Once at the top of Roark Bluff, up along the cliff edge RDC is a pine tree 15-20 feet from the edge slung with webbing. Rappel from here to the river bottom and ford the river. NB! A tagline will be necessary for most common rope lengths to pull down.
Also, a guided rappel is possible crossing above the river from the top of the bluff. This is requires a single 200 m rope blocked in the middle and anchoring at the bottom of a tree on the other side of the river.
Exit[edit]
500 ft walk to your shuttle car.
Red tape[edit]
Beta sites[edit]
Trip reports and media[edit]
Background[edit]
I explored this in February 2024 and subsequently set up a guided rappel over the Buffalo River. I was not the first person down this hollow. A couple webbing tree anchors were encountered up canyon, though I could not determine where they ultimately rappelled Roark Bluff.