Landslide Falls, Richland Wilderness, Arkansas Ozarks

2/8/2015 -  Landslide Falls

GPS Coordinates:  (Latitude,  Longitude,  Elevation)
  Parking Location:  35.77353,  -92.93273,  1278 feet
  Landslide Falls:  35.78140,  -92.92160,  1452 feet

Pet Friendly: Yes, dogs on or off leash should be OK.

Motorcycle Friendly: No.  This is several miles down a dirt road that is not maintained well.  Past Falling Water Falls, this road normally has lots of potholes.

GPS files (.gpx format):

  Landslide Falls GPS Track

Landslide Falls

After Boomer and I finished our visit to the Twin Falls area today, we were beat and ready to go home after several miles of difficult bushwhacking.  I decided to go home via Falling Water Road just to vary the scenery a little.  It is an additional six miles and the road is rougher.  Pope county does not do as good a job maintaining this road as Newton County maintains the road we came into the area on.  That being said, the scenery along this road is top notch.

After passing the Richland campground entrance, we soon came to the area where a landslide had occurred years ago.  I noticed that the creek running under the road on the south side of the landslide area had water in it.  I thought this was a little unusual for the recent lack of rain, so I stopped to check it out.  Landslide Falls  is a nice little waterfall when it has decent flow.  I didn't really expect that today.  At any rate, it was a short enough hike, so I decided to check it out.

Parking Location

You can park right off the road where the creek flows under the road and into Falling Water Creek.  Hike up the landslide area on the left side of the creek.  There are tracks and it appears you can drive up into the area for a while.  Don't do that.  There is a berm that is hard to see until you get right up on it, and unless you have a vehicle with very high clearance you will drag the bottom of its chassis.  

The waterfall is less than a quarter of a mile from the road, and almost half of that is walking in the open at the edge of the landslide area.  At the top of the landslide area, cross over the creek and hike upstream.  The creek runs through a steep canyon below the waterfall, and it is easiest to just hike up the creek bed if water flow permits.  Today, the creek bed was dry at that point, but I could hear water falling from the waterfall.  Quite often, the water flow in Ozark creeks goes underground for a distance, emerging again downstream.

Today, it did not have much flow, but was still worth the hike.  Even with low flow, there is something just a little magical about waterfalls.  Boomer splashed around a little and I snapped some quick photos, then we headed back.  The good thing about this waterfall is the return trip is downhill.  In a few minutes we were back at the Explorer and on our way.  A very quick trip, but always good to chase another waterfall.  I'll come back to this one and Hidden Falls after we get some more rain.

GPS track - Landslide Falls