Shine Eye (Buffalo National River, Middle District)

public land records

Researched — The record is detailed and internally consistent, and the coordinates land where the managing agency says this site is.

NPS Buffalo National River. FEE: nps.gov/buff/planyourvisit/camping.htm read 2026-08-16 says of the Middle District, verbatim: "No fees are charged for any camping area in the Middle District except for the Tyler Bend Campground." STAY LIMIT: nps.gov/buff/planyourvisit/backcountry-camping.htm, read the same day: "No person or party is allowed to camp at Buffalo National River for more than 30 days in a calendar year" and "A backcountry permit is not required within the Buffalo National River." Also: "No camping is allowed within 1/2 mile (805 meters) of any National Park Service developed area unless it is in a designated campsite", and camping is barred in historic areas, hayfields, pastures, abandoned buildings and all Boxley Valley fields. COORDINATE PROVENANCE: the latitude and longitude on this row are the GPS coordinates NPS itself prints for this site on camping.htm -- not a geocode, not OpenStreetMap. FLOOD WARNING: NPS notes the river "regularly floods so some areas may be too soft for vehicles" and advises campers on gravel bars to "be sure you have an escape route to higher ground in case the river comes up at night." WATER: NO POTABLE WATER IS CLAIMED AT ANY OF THESE SITES. The Buffalo River is NOT a claimed potable source. THIS SITE, NPS verbatim: "Primitive camping is available year-round on a first-come, first-served basis. It has one designated site with a picnic table, fire ring and lantern post. No potable water is available. Camping on the gravel bar is walk-in or float-in only. Limited parking is available near the vault toilet. Driving and camping are not permitted in the agricultural lease fields. A vault toilet is open year round with limited servicing. This is a pack in/pack out facility with no trash service provided. No fees charged." NOTE: ONE designated site only -- this is a single-party spot, and it is walk-in/float-in, not a drive-up. Nearest town: Saint Joe ~5.1 mi. 'Nearest town' is STRAIGHT-LINE distance to the nearest OpenStreetMap place=city/town/village and is NOT a driving distance; in the Delta bottoms and the Ouachitas the road in can be far longer. Ingest 2026-08-16. STATUS=pending: this is a lead for review, not published. --- NIGHT-SHIFT REVIEW 2026-08-18 (reviewer=nightshift-verified) --- RE-CHECKED 2026-08-18. I re-fetched https://www.nps.gov/buff/planyourvisit/camping.htm today and the page still carries this site under 'Middle District -- Mount Hersey to South Maumee' / 'Other Middle District Campgrounds', verbatim: "No fees are charged for any camping area in the Middle District except for the Tyler Bend Campground." The per-site paragraph is still present and still says "Primitive camping is available year-round on a first-come, first-served basis" and "No fees charged". The GPS coordinates PRINTED ON THE NPS PAGE match the lat/lon on this row to seven decimal places, so the coordinates are the agency's own and are unchanged. No closure alert is posted for it. NPS still states that no potable water is available at this site, and nothing on this row claims water. NOT A DUPLICATE: compared on coordinates against every camp we already publish or have approved nationwide -- nearest is far more than half a mile away. VERDICT: approved -- the source says today what we recorded.

Read from the agency's own season / closure text in this record (data/conditions.py) and checked against the calendar. The words we read are printed under the verdict at the top of the page.

US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.

On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.