Cub Creek Falls, Ozark National Forest near Cowell, Arkansas

2/25/2018 - Cub Creek Falls and bushwhack of the entire hollow.

GPS Coordinates: (Latitude, Longitude, Elevation)
  Parking for Cub Creek Falls:  35.80897   -93.15819,  2010 feet  
  Parking today (near southwest prong):  35.79420   -93.15346
  Cub Creek Falls:  35.80727   -93.15299,   1740 feet
  Falls #4:  35.80897   -93.15281
  Falls #5:  35.80727   -93.15305

Pet-Friendly: Yes.  Dogs on or off leash should be OK.  I didn't see any areas that most dogs couldn't navigate on their own.

Motorcycle Friendly: Yes.  The Parking location is almost a mile down a dirt road, but at this part of the road, it is usually pretty well maintained.

Hiking Statistics:  The hike to Cub Creek Falls is only about 0.6 miles each way, with an elevation change of 357 feet.  About half of that is along an old ATV trail.  I would rate this as a moderate bushwhack, just due to the moderate climb out and the brush is a little thick at the top of the waterfall to get to the bluffline break.  

GPS files:
    Pelsor - Deer area waypoints
    Cub Creek GPS track
    Lonesome Hollow GPS track
    Cub Hollow Polyfoss GPS track (eastern prongs)

Related Blog posts:
    Cub Creek Exploration
    Lonesome Hollow Falls
    Cub Hollow Polyfoss

Cub Creek Falls

A couple of months ago, I explored the entire valley that Cub Creek flows through, and while it is one of the prettiest places on earth, it was also pretty rugged terrain.  I didn't find Cub Creek Falls until I had almost come to the top of the creek and found that the hike out from there was not that bad.  I told myself I would come back, get some photos with decent water flow, and write a blog post just to get to this waterfall and back.  Since this is very close to where you park for Lonesome Hollow Falls, another easy bushwhack, I thought these two hikes would go very well together as back-to-back hikes.  I put links to blog posts for the adjacent areas above, and the Lonesome Hollow Falls hike is featured in Tim Ernst's excellent guidebook Arkansas Waterfalls, as the Cub Hollow waterfalls are. If you don't have this guidebook, I highly recommend you get it. The "Cub Hollow" waterfalls are in the eastern prongs of Cub Hollow, and Cub Creek Falls is in the long western prong, the main creek for the hollow.  

Falls #5

My hiking partner today was Boomer, our German Shepherd.  Since he tends to be very friendly and will "accidentally" knock over tripods and cameras, he doesn't get to go hiking when I hike with other photographer friends.  He also doesn't go with me when I explore new areas that could be too rugged for him.  There isn't much he can't handle, but if I get in a spot where I have to climb up rocks to get above or below a bluffline, he clearly can't do that.  Three or four feet is about the limit of his jumping ability, and he needs a running start for that.  He was looking a little forlorn about being left home, so I decided today would be a Boomer day.  We loaded up for the "Cowell trifecta" - Cub Creek Falls, Lonesome Hollow Falls, and Hudson Shelter Falls, and headed north.

Parking Location

To get there, from the Dover town square (intersection of Hwy 7 and Hwy 27), go 39.2 miles north on Highway 7 to the Cowell Cemetery on the left.  This is about 0.2 miles south of Cowell.  The cemetery is on the west side of Highway 7.  Take the road that loops around the back of the cemetery halfway around the cemetery, and take FR-1253 (aka NC-7120, or Taylor Ridge Road) south.  There are two dirt roads at this point; FR-1253 is the south-most of these, and has signs that say 'Dead End' and 'One Lane Road with Turnouts'.  Follow FR-1253 for 0.8 miles, bearing left to stay on FR-1253 at about 0.4 miles, and park on the left where an old trace road leads off.  

Cub Creek Falls

After you park, take the old trace road to the east.  This looks like it was used as an ATV trail at one time, but hasn't seen any use for quite a while.  Today, we could hear the roar of Cub Creek Falls as soon as we started down the trail.  This trail will lead you around the top of a steep side drainage just downstream from Cub Creek Falls, and then take you down to a point that you can bushwhack down to Cub Creek upstream of the waterfall.  About 0.2 miles down the ATV trail (1000 feet), it forks and a trace goes off to the left.  Bear right and keep going straight here, down the hill toward the creek.  The ATV trail kind of disappears but keep going downhill toward the creek.  

Falls #4

You will either get to the creek or hit another trace of an old ATV trail running just above the creek.  Either way, head downstream, to your right.  Hiking on the old ATV trail is easy, and if you got to the creek instead, there is less brush and easier hiking on the other side.  As you go downstream, there is a small but pretty waterfall, Falls #4.  You need to be on the east side before you get to Cub Creek Falls, so if you have not crossed the creek yet, go ahead and cross over at Falls #4.  The top of the waterfall slopes toward the dropoff and is slippery rock wherever it is wet, so don't try to cross too close to the edge.  On the east side of the waterfall (left as you go downstream), there is a bluffline break you can hike down and around to the base of the waterfall.  There isn't a bluffline break on the west side of the grotto that I could find, which is why you need to be on the east side of the creek.

Falls #5

After getting to Cub Creek Falls, we found another pleasant surprise.  When we were here in January, the Ozarks was still gripped by a very prolonged drought.  The drainage we hiked around on the ATV trail actually drains right into the grotto with Cub Creek Falls, and today it had pretty good flow, making Falls #5 where it spills over into the west side of the grotto.  Boomer and I hung out here for a while, enjoying the Natural State goodness.  Heading back out, we hiked back the way we had hiked in.  Back at the FJ, it was a very short drive, just 0.2 miles down the road, to the parking spot for Lonesome Hollow Falls and the second part of our Cowell trifecta.  I would recommend this hike for anyone that can handle a little off-trail action.  As bushwhacks go, this one is about as easy as Lonesome Hollow Falls, but is just a tad longer.

Blue - Cub Creek Falls track
Red - Lonesome Hollow track

Cub Creek Area GPS Tracks
Orange - Cub Creek Falls
Yellow - Lonesome Hollow Falls
Red - Cub Hollow Polyfoss Falls
Blue - Cub Creek Hollow