Rough Falls, Arkansas Ozarks near Longpool

1/23/2016 -  Rough Falls

GPS Coordinates:  (Latitude,  Longitude,  Elevation)
  Park #1:  35.53233, -93.14661, 732 ft.
  Park #2:   35.53148  -93.14735,  688 ft.

  Rough Falls:  35.53339, -93.14486 640 ft.

  Rough Falls Access:  35.53257, -93.14438,  601 ft.

Pet Friendly: Yes, dogs off leash should be fine. Some of the terrain is very steep and rugged, particularly in the upper end of Rough Hollow, but most dogs should be able to make it through the bluff breaks.  Smaller dogs or dogs on leash would not be recommended.

Motorcycle Friendly: It depends on where you park.  Parking  right off Longpool Road and would be okay.  Parking locations #1, #2, are on a very rough Jeep road and are no place for a cruiser or street bike.

Files (.gpx format) - Map with GPS Tracks at bottom of this post
  Rough Hollow waypoints
  Rough Falls GPS track

Rough Falls

After finishing our hike through the Graves Creek canyon earlier today, my hiking companions and I decided to check out another waterfall in Rough Hollow.  After all, it was practically "right on the way" (excuse #2).  It was already afternoon, so we were not doing the grand tour of all the nice waterfalls in Rough Hollow, only a quick trip to Rough Falls.  You can see the blog post for ALL of the many waterfalls in Rough Hollow here.  

Rough Falls today

We were already in Bullfrog Valley, so we just made a short detour up Longpool Road.  For those not familiar with this area, I'll give more complete driving directions:  from the main square in Dover (Dover Supermarket), go north on Highway 7 for 5.5 miles, and turn left onto Highway 164.  Go 3.5 miles on Highway 164, then turn right onto Old Highway 7 (aka FR-1801).  Go 2.7 miles on Old Highway 7 and bear left onto Longpool Road (aka FR-1804).  Go 0.8 miles on Longpool Road, and turn right onto the dirt road.  This is FR-1803, Pearson Point Road.  There is an area just off Longpool Road where you can park, but depending on the capabilities of your vehicle, you can choose to go down FR-1803 another 0.1 mile to an area used as a campsite.  Continuing past this point is not advised unless you have a high clearance vehicle.  After another 0.1 mile on FR-1803, the road takes a sharp turn to the left.  This is parking location #2, and is the trailhead for access to the lower waterfalls in this hollow,  including Rough Falls. 

Rough Falls - May 2015

At this parking location, there is an old trace road that branches off to the right (east).  This is wide enough to drive your 4WD vehicle down to park a little closer to the waterfall, up to a berm across the trail a short distance off FR-1803.  This old road wraps around the hollow, crossing the creek just above Rough Falls.  There are access points listed above for bluffline breaks to access the base of Rough Falls, approximately 50 yards downstream on each side.  Today, Rough Falls did not have the flow it did on our last visit in May.  The difference in scenery between winter and late spring is also dramatic.

We took in the view, took some photos, and scrambled back up the bluffline break.  Once back on the old road the going is very easy,  and we soon made our way back to the vehicles.  Only going to Rough Falls makes this a short and quick hike, exactly what we had time for today.  David and Amber live over two hours away, so a hiking day for them is cut shorter on both ends.  This is a little over a half mile each way, and very little elevation change other than climbing down into the canyon and back up.  This is a great hollow to visit; I recommend planning on a full day of hiking and visiting all the waterfalls in Rough Hollow as we did last May.

GPS Track - Rough Falls