Driving DirectionsFrom Versailles, take Highway 52 west 10 miles, then Route FF south 8 miles to the end of the blacktop, turn on Big Buffalo Road west, and watch for area signs.From Cole Camp, take Route B south 13 miles, then Route WW east to the end of the blacktop. On Big Buffalo Road turn north and go 1.25 miles to the area.
HighlightsThe area is mostly forest. Facilities/features: primitive camping, three interconnected hiking trails, Big Buffalo Lake (six acres), three springs and two permanent streams (Big Buffalo Creek and Pole Hollow Creek). There is one Natural Area: Big Buffalo Fen (40 acres of calcereous wet meadow, deep muck fen and sedge meadow shrub fen with associated upland watershed to buffer the fen).
About This AreaBig Buffalo Creek Conservation Area is in east-central Benton and west-central Morgan counties. This 1,977-acre, mostly forested area contains one fishing pond, three springs and 1.50 miles of Big Buffalo Creek.Big Buffalo Creek Conservation Area was acquired in 1964 with Sport Fish Restoration Funds for the purposes of fisheries research in the hatchery ponds and for smallmouth bass habitat research on Big Buffalo Creek. Stream-flow dynamics research is still on-going, but all original fisheries research projects have been finished.Currently, the area is managed for the long-term health and sustainability of the diverse forest resources. Forest management activities that can be observed on the area include timber stand improvement, tree planting, commercial thinning, even-aged and uneven-aged commercial harvests, woodland restoration, and glade/savanna restoration. All of these practices are implemented using best management practices to protect the soil and water resources of the watershed. Management also includes the preservation of several old growth areas. All practices are carried out in such a way to provide a variety of wildlife habitats to allow the area to support diverse and vibrant wildlife populations.Big Buffalo Creek Conservation Area has one designated natural area, Big Buffalo Creek Fen Natural Area. The fen is a 40-acre portion of the conservation area with natural features that include a small, spring-fed fen, a spring branch and creek, dolomite glades, and forest. Sedges dominate the fen vegetation, and blue flag, marsh coneflower, Riddell's goldenrod, willow, and the rare bushy aster are found here.
