Pedestal Rocks Caves and Hoodoos, Ozarks near Ben Hur, Arkansas

1/19/2018 - Caves and Hoodoos "down under" at Pedestal Rocks

GPS Coordinates: (Latitude, Longitude, Elevation)
  Parking:  35.72376,  93.01567,  1877 feet
  PR Bluffline Break #1:  35.71095   -93.02263

  Vista Cave:  35.71125   -93.02293

  Cave #26:  35.71083   -93.02287

  Cave #25:  35.71095   -93.02261

  Red Heart Tunnel:  35.71063   -93.02247

  Elephant Cave:  35.71052   -93.02238
  The Big Room:  35.71043   -93.02222
  PR Bluffline Break #2:  35.71037   -93.02181

  Silhouette Room:  35.71002   -93.02155

  Leaning Tree Room:  35.70993   -93.02083

  The Uppers:  35.71000   -93.02073
  Pedestal Rock:  35.70998   -93.02060
  The Double:  35.71012   -93.02045
  Large Grotto:  35.71055   -93.02013
  PR Bluffline Break #3:  35.71112   -93.02014
  Pedestal #13:  35.71150   -93.01915
  Sundae Pedestal:  35.71157   -93.01910
  Wet Grotto:  35.71182   -93.01902

  PR Bluffline Break #4:  35.71189   -93.01863
  Cave Rock:  35.71355   -93.01728

  Arch Rock:  35.71395   -93.01693

  PR Bluffline Break #5:  35.71404   -93.01712

  Bear Crack Rock:  35.71447   -93.01545

  Thone Trees pointing to cave below bluff:  35.71050   -93.02467

  Twin Arched Pedestal:  35.71022   -93.02483

  Cave 38:  35.71610   -93.02668

  m waterfall and cave site:  35.71742   -93.02587

  n waterfall:  35.71527   -93.02587

  Midway Falls:  35.71727   -93.01405

  Double Spigot Falls:  35.71718   -93.01335

  Morris Ridge Falls:  35.71755   -93.01340

  Tripet Falls:  35.71540   -93.01332

  Pool Falls:  35.71283   -93.01408

  Pedestal Rock Falls:  35.71422   -93.01323

Pet Friendly: Yes.  Easy for dogs on or off leash.  I saw no signage to have dogs on a leash, so Boomer was free ranging today.  It should be noted this is a popular hiking location.  If your dog does not play well with strangers, it is best to keep it on a leash. 

Motorcycle Friendly: Yes! The parking area is right off Highway 16.  

Hiking Statistics: Although it doesn't look like it on the map at the bottom of this post, today's hike was about half on the Pedestal Rocks trail and half below the bluff.  Today we hiked about 4.54 miles in total with a highest-to-lowest difference of 487 feet.  About 2.2 miles was a bushwhack below the bluffline, and the rest was on the Pedestal Rocks trail.  The trail part is an easy hike and overall I would rate the bushwhack part of the hike a moderate bushwhack.

GPS files:
    King's Bluff and Pedestal Rocks area waypoints
    Pedestal Rocks Below Bluff Track
    Pedestal Rocks and King's Bluff Trails track

Related Blog posts:
    King's Bluff Caves and Hoodoos Down Under
    King's Bluff and Pedestal Rocks Trails

One of the Pedestal Rocks

A little over a week ago, Boomer (our German Shepherd) and I hiked the King's Bluff area below the bluff.  You can check out that hike here.   It didn't rain between then and now, so there is still no water in the waterfalls and we were still going out for hikes on the "no water needed" list.  Pedestal Rocks SIA (Special Interest Area) is situated right next to King's Bluff to the west. Just like King's Bluff, it has a loop trail that runs along the top of the bluff with views of some great vistas and fantastic rock formations.  Also just like King's Bluff, most of the really cool stuff is off the trail below the bluff, and most folks have no idea it is there.  Today, Boomer and I needed to get out somewhere, and the hike to King's Bluff was very enjoyable and still fresh in my mind, so I decided to head back out to the same area and hike the Pedestal Rocks side.

Inside the back room of The Uppers

The two hiking loops at King's Bluff and Pedestal Rocks are frequented by hikers of all ages, as the hiking trails are well maintained, right off the highway, and easy hikes.   For more information on this area, I highly recommend my friend Danny Hale's TAKAHIK book Hiking the Arkansas Ozarks.  Danny heads up the local TAKAHIK hiking group and has spent a great deal of time documenting this area.  He has already named a bazillion features in the area and charted coordinates for them, saving me a great deal of effort.  With his permission, I'll be using the same names and coordinates, except Danny uses "shelter" where I use "cave".

The Big Room

Boomer and I loaded up the FJ Cruiser and set out.  To get there, go north on Hwy 7 to Pelsor (aka Sand Gap), and turn right (east) on Hwy 16.  Go 5.9 miles and look for the National Forest sign for Pedestal Rocks on the left.  Take the short loop off Hwy 16 to the parking area.  There is plenty of parking and a primitive toilet there. There was no one else there when we arrived, and we had the place all to ourselves all afternoon.  Even when others are here, we rarely encounter them because there are two loops with several miles of trail, and most of our hiking time is off the trail anyway. 

Red Heart Tunnel

The King's Bluff trail and Pedestal Rocks trail are two separate loop trails, both starting out from this trailhead.  We went over the little rock bridge at the parking area and kept straight to go counter-clockwise around the Pedestal Rocks loop.  You could hike this in either direction, but Boomer had the lead and he just happened to go this direction, so counter-clockwise it was.  At the intersection of the two loop trails, we went straight to stay on the Pedestal Rocks Trail.  A little less than a mile from the parking lot the trail turns to the right, and soon makes a hairpin turn to the left to lead out along the top of the bluff.  

The Silhouette Room

We broke away from the trail at the hairpin curve and proceeded down at the top of the drainage there to get below the bluffline.  Today, I just wanted to get off the trail and get out in the woods, but I wouldn't recommend breaking off the trail here.  There was a good deal of briers that have grown up along the creek, and there isn't really much to see until you get to Uno Pedestal and Vista Rock anyway.  I have marked Bluffline Break #1 in the list of coordinates above, about 150 yards from the hairpin curve in the trail.  This break will allow you to get below the bluff just before Vista Cave and then you can hike around the base of the bluff.  This is a very tall and precipitous bluff, so if you have children with you, be careful and keep an eye on them.  I marked five different locations where you can get from the path down to the base of the bluff.

Inside Vista Cave - small side window

Vista Cave is a small cave with two entrances, unfortunately, neither of which is very easy to get into.  The front entrance is right under the crag that tops the rock the cave is inside of and faces out over the bluff.  This requires a little climbing on some steep rock to get into, with a very thin ledge below and a big drop-off below that.  The other entrance is more of a window in the north side, which would be difficult for most of us to get into or out of as it is small and about five feet above the floor of the cave.  It is only about 15 to 20 feet deep so it is not much of a cave.  The "vista" can be better seen from the ledge below at any rate, so other than being a cool cave I'm not sure it is worth the climb up to it and inside.

Cave #25
For scale, that black blob in the back is Boomer

Near Vista cave, as you make your way around the base of the bluff is one of the famous Pedestal Rocks the area is named for.  There are a couple of caves close together, Cave #26 is about 20 feet deep, and Cave #25 is about 35 feet deep.  Neither has any real distinguishing features, which is probably why Danny never gave them a name.  Just around the bluff from the entrance to Cave #25 is a double arch called Red Heart Tunnel.  It was here that I had a little problem with Boomer.  He couldn't get up to climb through either of the arches and below it is a rather steep section of rock with a high drop off just below it.  Boomer wisely refused to go this route.  I scooched around below the arches, but Boomer wouldn't do it.  He's not at all afraid of heights, as I am, but he is very smart about knowing what is safe and what isn't.  I ended up going up through Bluffline Break #2, where there are some old steps off the trail, coming back to the break before Vista Cave and calling him to come back to that point and up on the trail.  Then we went back down Bluffline Break #2 and around the bluff to the south side of Red Heart Tunnel.  When you hike this, that would certainly be the safest route to take.  Be like Boomer, not like Rick.

The Elephant Room

Just past Red Heart Tunnel is a cave called The Elephant Room.  It's a small cave with an entrance you can easily hike up and into, and a large window on one side of the entrance.  Around the bluff further east is The Big Room, which is more of a big tunnel-like area with open arches you can wander through.  Just east of this is where Bluffline Break #2 is, the one with the old steps off the trail.  On the other side of the break, the bluff rises again with the west entrance to The Silhouette Room high on the cliff face.  The Silhouette Room and Leaning Tree Room are part of the same cave system, with a couple more entrances to The Silhouette Room around the bluff to the east, and the entrance to The Leaning Tree Room next to that.  There is a large pillar between them at the entrances.  If you are confused about which cave is which, The Leaning Tree Room is the one with the big tree leaning up to the top of the bluff.  Someday, that big old tree will be gone and our great-grandkids will really be confused.  

The Double

Around the bluff from The Leaning Tree Room is a huge rock leaning against the bluff overhang that Danny called The Leaner.  A short distance around the bluff is The Uppers, another fairly large cave that has another tall Pedestal Rock right outside the entrance.  Further around the bluff is The Double, which to get into you have to stick close to the base of the bluff and climb up a path of sorts to the entrance.  From this entrance, there is a roomy, open cave to the left with some big windows at the end looking out over the valley.  To the right of the entrance is a narrow tunnel, connecting to the other big room and the north entrance of this cave system.  It's dark in this tunnel, and at the end, there is a big drop off into the north room, so be very careful if you venture through it.   

Pedestal #13 seen from under Sundae Pedestal

Going back out the entrance of The Double and continuing, the bluff turns north and rises to a much taller cliff.  Going along the base of this awesome towering bluff, you pass through Large Grotto and come to a point where the large cliff gives way to a slope; this is Bluffline Break #3, and you can climb here up to the trail.  Above you at this point is a large slab of rock at the top of the cliff with a railing around it that is barely visible from the base of the bluff below.  Continuing on, Boomer and I came to a couple of other pedestals.  Sundae Pedestal is attached to the corner of the bluff, and Pedestal #13 is a few yards from the bluff right in front of it.  Further down the bluff is Wet Grotto, and just past that is another access up to the trail at Bluffline Break #4.

Boomer at west entrance to Cave Rock
The larger east entrance is about 20 feet behind him

Whether you go up along the trail from this point to Bluffline Break #5 or stay below the bluff and bushwhack, you can't help but notice a huge rock separated by a few yards from the bluff.  This is Cave Rock, so named, of course, because it has a cave in the middle of it with entrances on both sides of the rock.  On the bluff side of Cave Rock, the ground rises up to just below the west entrance, and you can climb inside it here.  On the downhill side, the ground falls away quite a bit and the entrance is a good 20 to 25 feet above the ground.  This is the much larger opening and is a sharp drop, so be careful!  Boomer was able to jump up and right inside the west entrance, but unfortunately, the floor of the cave is about a three-foot drop from this small opening.  Once inside, he wasn't able to jump up into the opening and I had to climb back in and give him a boost up.  He doesn't care for that much, and believe me, I could do without trying to lift a 105-pound dog up to a small opening as well.  He seemed pretty embarrassed, so I'm sure he'll remember this for our next visit and refuse to go in.

Arch Rock

Less than a hundred yards north along the bluff from Cave Rock is Arch Rock, and Bluffline Break #5 is also at this point.  Arch rock, as you might suspect is a big rock with an arch through the middle of it.  It is big enough to drive a small vehicle through, or more appropriately a wagon pulled by horses or mules.  If you go through the arch and look going down into the hollow to the right, you can see the contour of an old trace road going down the bank of the slope to the south.  We have a million acres or so of public lands in this section of the Ozarks now, but at one time people lived all through these hollows.  These people were of some pretty hardy stock.  My hats' off to the pioneers that made a living in these hollows a century and a half or so ago.

Entrance to Silhouette Room (left)
and Leaning Tree Room (right)

From Arch Rock, Boomer and I got on the trail and took it back to the parking area.  There are a couple of wet weather waterfalls next to the trail on the way out, but today they had nothing but a lot of ice.  Today they were winterfalls, not waterfalls.  There are also some waterfalls in the hollow below that are worth checking out, but not today.  I have not written a blog post for those yet, so perhaps I'll make a loop of the drainages on both sides of Pedestal Rocks and Kings Bluff when the creeks start flowing again.  This is a nice hike that you can do in just a couple three hours and see some awesome stuff.  Highly recommended for all, but be very careful with children around the high cliffs.

Pedestal Rocks GPS Tracks
Red - Pedestal Rocks Trail
Yellow - Below the Bluff bushwhack

Pedestal Rocks and King's Bluff GPS Tracks
Red - Loop Trails
Yellow - Below Pedestal Rocks bushwhack
Orange - Below King's Bluff bushwhack
Blue - Sporadic Exploration