Buffalo Outdoor Center — Hotel in Harrison

Recently, my family did a 2 day, 21 mile trip which I have mixed feelings about.

We called several times before arrival with questions, and every time the woman on the phone was so amazing and helpful!!

We brought one of our own kyaks and had to rented 2 tandomn kyaks. The checkin process upon arrival the night before was amazing and so was the launch day.

All the staff was so helpful and friendly to include the launch crew. Whatever we needed they were Johnny on the spot. The first day went great!

We made it to the first half of the trip well before night and then we camped just about a mile down river from steely creek. We had no troubles. The river was low and a little more technical but even wth 3 children and ourselves no issues! Beautiful!

Second day was a nightmare. Not due to the preliminary staff but that was the day that the windstorm ripped through Arkansas. We knew about rain potentially in evening but not the wind!

Then the trees started crashing down during the storm. The river never opened up at Kyle's Landing like instructed so we had to drag the kyaks to miss all the fell trees and we got dragged under trees with my 7 year old, twice. WE WERE SHOOK.

We tried to stop once to call to see if we could arrange a new pick but no reception anywhere.

We got rained on and changed clothes until we had nothing dry. To avoid the newly fell trees we had to carry kyaks across rock bars... which is all part of it.

We were rapidly approaching dark and with the wind we never stopped paddling at all. All day.

Getting poured on and lightening and dusk we pulled up to what we thought was where we pull of. Just at the over pass. We didn't see our truck. No signage anywhere except we could see a launch area and Ponca landing sign wth bathrooms before overpass.

My husband, panicking with a soaking family left is at the rest area restrooms and hiked 2 miles to find car. No signage was visible to us but again it was storming. I hiked all Our gear up the steep muddy hill. My children 7, 10 and 14 took shelter in bathroom.

My husband returns with a man in a truck who he ran into and hapoened to work there who is willing to take our gear I drug up the hill to the stop on the other side of rapids where the actual unmarked landing was... under the bridge about a quarter mile down river. Pouring rain and so dim I could not see AND lightening we were told to get back in them and float the rest of the river.

With no option I loaded our kids in a dark river as instructed and went down the rapids. I should have declined. It was storming and dark. I would have hiked the kyaks up that hill at the ponca parking lot for him, but to tell us to get back in and float down river is incredibly irresponsible. I should have just declined and pay whatever fine I got. To comply was dangerous and I'll judgement on my part. We were soaked, scared and gassed.

Once we did my husband I pouring freezing 🥶 rain got lectured about how they don't pull people out after 6 and next time we need to paddle faster. What?? 80+ mph winds, hail and rain and down trees with a low river I'm confident we did what anyone could do to keep our family safe.

I'm grateful for the assistance but never every ask young children to get back in a dangerous situation. Also we saw no docking signage anywhere.

Thank you for everything. I'll leave a 5 star review as it doesn't reflect a worker that didn't seem to genuinely care about safety.

Also bigger signs world be helpful. The tornado sirens went off 10 minutes after our trip.

NEVER tell a family to get back in the water during a lighting, thunder storm in the dark. Ever. It is incredibly uncaring when other options are available, period. Thank you for...

I am extremely disappointed with our recent stay at Buffalo Outdoor Center RV Park in Ponca, Arkansas. After a 7.5-hour drive, we arrived on June 29, 2024, eager to enjoy a week-long stay. Unfortunately, our visit turned into a nightmare within just one hour of our arrival.||While setting up our 5th wheel trailer, there was a loud pop followed by smoke pouring out of our TV. Thankfully, my husband was able to unplug it before our trailer caught fire. To our dismay, none of the outlets on one side of our trailer were working, and our TV, microwave, and fan were all fried and non-functional.||We immediately contacted an employee who came to our site, inspected the outside meter post, and nonchalantly stated that since there was no smoke coming from it, the problem must be on our end. When my husband asked for immediate assistance, the employee told us we would have to wait two days, until Monday, and go to a nearby town to find someone to help us. This response was unacceptable and showed a complete lack of concern for our safety.||Moreover, the employee had the audacity to shame us by asking if we had a GFI power surge protector plugged into the meter. None of the other RV sites had this, and in our 23+ years of camping, we have never encountered such an issue.||Feeling unsafe and unsupported, we decided to pack up and drive the 7.5 hours back home, after being at the site for just one hour. The lack of assistance and options provided by the Buffalo Outdoor Center was disheartening, especially considering we were in a completely different state with no information on what we could do.||Upon arriving home, we hooked up our camper at our local campground, and everything worked fine. We also went on another camping trip to a local RV campground, and again, everything worked perfectly. This clearly indicated that the surge was on Buffalo Outdoor Center's end.||When we requested a refund, they refunded all but one day. This is unacceptable considering the distress, inconvenience, and financial loss we endured, including having to purchase a new TV, microwave, and fan.||Our experience at Buffalo Outdoor Center RV Park was nothing short of a disaster. The lack of customer service, concern for our safety, and willingness to provide immediate assistance was appalling. We will not be returning and cannot recommend this RV...

Hubby and I stayed at the Morning Glory this past week. Talk about an elaborate place! I didn’t want to leave! You walk in and see a wall of windows looking at a spectacular view! The cabin itself is amazingly beautiful and spacious and clean! The kitchen was very well equipped. Oh…the shower in the bathroom!! I can’t even explain the experience in that! You have to stay there to see for yourself! I spent the majority of my time on the deck! We totally enjoyed the hot tub while looking at the view! My husband wished for a gas grill, was his only complaint! Lol. I was out back holding a flashlight by the time the charcoals got hot enough for our burgers to cook, but we had to laugh! The staff was so nice. Hubby had some questions and the maintenance man was over immediately! What a nice kid!! The lights on the deck didn’t light up when we got there, and here they were on a sensor, so when it got dark enough they would! Duh! Lol. The light was on in the water heater closet also when we got there so he asked him about that and he had to look too for it, and it was tucked way behind someplace. But a very, very nice guy! They gals in the office were just as nice. Then, it was not their fault but, sadly, there was a water line leak and the cabins were loosing water and were going to run out (probably because I took such a long shower! Lol) so we had to move to different cabins. The staff hated it as much as we did, but they were very accommodating and made if very right with us. We thank Shay again, for working with us so hard, finding us a cabin, and adjusting our time and making it very fair with us!! We appreciate it since things like that are beyond your control. We moved to Water Falls cabin for the last night and that was a cute cabin! We felt like we were roughing it after being in the Morning Glory Cabin, although the Water Falls cabin was very nice also! It didn’t have a dishwasher! Lol. No big deal at all! It also had a nice big deck with a beautiful view. Both cabins were so private!! We enjoyed our time at Buffalo Outdoor Center Cabins so much….we are booking another stay in a couple months! We are fortunate to only be about...