North Prong Cow Creek Polyfoss area, Ozarks near Limestone, Arkansas

2/28/2019 -  North prong of Cow Creek waterfalls

GPS Coordinates:  (Latitude,  Longitude,  Elevation)
North prong of Cow Creek
  Park - North Prong Cow Creek #3(today's):  35.744255,-93.289655,  1459 ft.
  Trace road intersects ATV trail:  35.745896,-93.293187,  1189 ft.
  Falls #15:  35.746097,-93.293924,  1179 ft. 
  Hi Cow Falls:  35.745691,-93.294798,
  Cow Tipping Falls: 35.745624,-93.295279,  1167 ft.
  Achelous Falls:  35.745553,-93.295694 
  Yvonne Falls:  35.745311,-93.296907
  Nandini Falls:  35.745958,-93.297011,  1022 ft.
  Falls #21:  35.746397,-93.297133
  Falls #22:  35.748052,-93.296934
  Mooley Wooly Falls:  35.74909   -93.29723, 1310 ft.
  Maudine Falls:  35.749350,-93.296445
  Pauline Falls:  35.74788   -93.29817, 1465 ft.
  Cow Creek UNF #12:  35.74907   -93.29737, 1324 ft.
  Bessie Falls:  35.75230   -93.29744, 1460 ft.
  Bluffline Break:  35.74954   -93.29808, 1392 ft.
  Cow Creek UNF #10:  35.75257   -93.29733, 1454 ft.
  Cow Creek UNF #9:  35.75292   -93.29613, 1521 ft.

  Falls #24:  35.749528,-93.295171

  Falls #25:  35.749414,-93.295048,  1206 ft.
  Old Car Remains:  35.745049,-93.290528

Pet Friendly: Dogs off leash should be OK.  If your dog needs to be on a leash, it will be highly inadvisable because of the steepness and ruggedness of the terrain.  Boomer will have no problem with the bluffline breaks along this route, but other dogs may.

Hiking Statistics:  The north prong of the Cow Creek basin is fairly large drainage in area, and is 918 feet from top to bottom.  On my first hike here, I hiked a total of 5.56 miles, with a highest-to-lowest elevation change of 796 feet. Today's route, which visits all the major features of the north prong worthy of seeing, is only 3.86 miles long with a highest-to-lowest elevation change of 574 feet.  Also, I hiked all the way down to the confluence with Cow Creek today.  If you only hike to the lowest waterfalls in the north prong, you can cut a half mile and a hundred feet of elevation change off the hike.  About a third of the hike is along an old road, but the rest is a complete bushwhack in some rough and rugged terrain.  The stuff that bothers me most on bushwhacks, the undergrowth, was not all that bad but will be worse in the "leaves on" season.  I would rate this as a moderately difficult bushwhack.

GPS files (.gpx format) - See maps at the bottom of this blog post
  Cow Creek Basin Waypoints
  North Prong Cow Creek GPS track (today's hike)
  Road Track - Highway 123 to parking location #3

Links to blog posts for other sections of Cow Creek:

  Piney Bowl Falls
  Bull Falls, Mrs. O'Leary's Falls, Sprinkler Falls, and other Cow Creek waterfalls
  Cincinnati Freedom Falls and the Little Cow Creek Polyfoss
  East and Southeast Prongs of Middle Cow Creek 5/5/2017

  Southwest Prongs of Middle Cow Creek 4/1/2017

  Middle Cow Creek valley waterfalls 3/9/2017

Nindini Falls - with Rick

I had been to the north prong of Cow Creek a little over a year ago, in February of 2018.  On that trip, I explored all of the upper reaches of this major prong to Cow Creek, which in itself is a major tributary of Big Piney Creek.  On that trip, I covered a lot of territories and found relatively easy ways to get around, but the major water features were all on the main creek, and all were in about a half-mile span of the midsection of the north prong.  About three months later, my friend Dan Frew made a trip to the north prong and found a number of other nice waterfalls in the big side drainage on the west side.  I had explored the side drainages on the east side and found a few small waterfalls, but these were fairly large waterfalls that were really spectacular that day after a good rain.  I put Dan's route on my "go explore" list and was finally getting around to doing just that.  I remembered from my previous trip here that Boomer (our German Shepherd) had struggled a little with some of the steep bluffline breaks, so I decided to leave him at home with Bethany today while I scoped out this route.

Yvonne Falls

Dan and I had actually set out to hike the north prong of Cow Creek three weeks ago when we had received a good deal of rain and figured the waterfalls would be really showing off.  We were probably correct about that, but as sometimes happen, those plans changed.  When we got out on Preston Ridge Road, there was a large oak tree across the road, and of course, I didn't bring a chain saw.  Instead of hiking the north prong, we went to nearby Little Cow Creek and hiked through it.  Today, I came back by myself, but I was well armed with a chain saw this time.  Of course, now that I had it, I didn't need it.  Someone else, maybe the Forest Service, had already cut the tree on both sides of the road and dragged the log off to the side.  I continued on to the parking spot, parking location #3 for this area, and found the Jeep road still fairly wet, even though we had not had much rain in the last three weeks.

Getting to this parking location means going up and around the entire Cow 
Creek basin since there are no roads that actually across it.  Our road route will be from Highway 123 between Pelsor and Hagerville, up to the old Rosetta community area, and around the west and north sides of Cow Creek to where we park, which is actually between Big Piney Creek and Cow Creek.  To get there; 

• From the community of Pelsor (Sand Gap), go 16.2 miles south on Highway 123, then turn right onto FR-1003 (aka Johnson County CR-5741).  This is 3.3 miles past the Haw Creek Campground.  If you are coming from the other direction on Highway 123, this junction is 10.5 miles north of Hagerville  
• Go north on CR-5741 for 5.7 miles, then turn left on Pine Ridge Road (aka CR-5680).
• Go 2.1 miles on Pine Ridge Road, and turn right on CR-5661 (aka Rosetta Road).
• Go 5.7 miles on CR-5661 (note that after 1.6 miles you enter Newton County and the road name becomes NC-7460), then turn right onto NC-7490 (aka Preston Ridge Road).
• IF you have a good 4WD vehicle, Go 2.3 miles on NC-7490 and park at the small clearing.  This is parking location #3, the one I used today and the best location to hike the North Prong from. 

NOTE - IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A GOOD 4WD vehicle with good clearance, Go 1.8 miles after you turn onto NC-7490 and park where you see a gate on the left.  This is the parking location for Piney Bowl Falls.  It is also as far as I would advise going if you don't have a good 4WD vehicle.  After this point, it becomes a local Jeep road and a non-4WD vehicle will probably not do well.  There is one large mudhole, in particular, to be aware of and be careful going through it.  My FJ Cruiser did not have any problems getting through, but the mud in this hole came up over the top of the tires on the side down in the hole.  The rest of this road downhill from the big mudhole is slippery, but with smaller mudholes.  Know the limitations of your vehicle and use your best judgment.  If you have doubts, just park at the Piney Bowl Falls parking location and hike the extra 0.5 miles along the Jeep road.

Yvonne Falls

From the parking location, there is a faint trace road leading toward and down into the hollow.  This trace road is overgrown in a couple of spots with young beech trees, but for the most part, is easily discernable and can be followed down to the top of the major side drainage on the east side.  Since we hike down this drainage to get to the main creek in the north prong, I'll just refer to it as "the hike-down drainage".  Just before the top of the hike-down drainage, the old trace road intersects an ATV trail.  This ATV trail is in fairly good shape.  On my first visit here, I found an ATV trail that cut around the bowl at the top of the north prong, at the very top of the forks.  There was also an ATV trail cutting across those forks a little lower down, just above where the forks flowed together to form the main creek in the north prong.  The main creek in the north prong doesn't have a name, but I'll just refer to it as "North Prong Creek" or "the main creek".  I determined the ATV trail we had just hiked to was, in fact, that lower ATV trail I had found on my first visit.  That will make the hike out much easier and simpler.

Falls #15

Turning right onto the ATV trail, it is a short distance to the top of the hike-down drainage.  turning off the ATV trail at the drainage and following it downstream, I came to Falls #15 in less than a hundred yards from the ATV trail.  I wish this waterfall had more flow today, but you can tell it will be a really nice one when it does.  The water spills down about 18 feet into a gap, then flows sideways down the bluff to the south before continuing on down the mountain.  By the way, I didn't name any of the waterfalls in the north prong, but on their trip here last April, Dan and Shelly named some of the larger ones.  I'll be using their names and the rest will just be "Falls #xx for now.  I had found 14 unnamed waterfalls in the Cow Creek area previously, so this was just the next one I came to.  With literally hundreds of "photo-worthy" waterfalls I have visited in various Ozark hollows, this scheme helps me keep track of them all.  When and if they do finally get a name, I can just come back to my documentation and substitute a name for the number.  If you see numbers missing, it just means they have graduated to being named waterfalls.

Nandini Falls

Downstream from Falls #15, there were four more nice sized waterfalls, spaced out less than a hundred yards from each other all the way down to the main creek.  The first was Hi Cow Falls, a tall, classic, Ozark waterfall that I would estimate to be in the 32-36 foot range, spilling over a tall bluffline.  Below that, about 30 yards was a set of two waterfalls.   Cow Tipping Falls has an initial drop of about four feet, then goes into a wide, steep, cascade.  Dan's photo of this from last spring was spectacular.  The sloped part of this waterfall barely ends when it spills over another bluffline to form Achelous Falls.  You can get a good view of Cow Tipping Falls from the bluff on the right side (as you go downstream), but I believe the best view will be from below it, between it and Achelous Falls.  Getting into this hidden grotto is a little tricky, but you can go on the left side at the top and there is a break there to climb down and around the small bluff to get into the area between the two waterfalls.  The only way back out is to climb back up the way you climbed into the hidden grotto.

Nandini Falls

Continuing downstream, I went back over the top of Cow Tipping Falls and down the right side, finding a way down a few yards around the bluff on the right.  There are bluffline breaks on both sides of the grotto for Achelous Falls, but if you go down the left side, make sure you go around the large boulder at the top of the bluff.  The slope is very steep on the inside and falls off a long way down into the creek bed below. This time of year, you can get a decent view of both Cow Tipping Falls and Achelous Falls from below, but much of Cow Tipping Falls will be obscured by foliage in the "leaves on" season.  I still think the best view of Cow Tipping Falls will be at its base, just above the top of Achelous Falls.  Following the hike-down drainage a little over a hundred yards further downstream, I came to Yvonne Falls.  It falls over the last bluffline above the main creek, and I walked a lot of this bluffline looking for a way down before I finally decided to go upstream on North Prong Creek to Nandini Falls, which was clearly visible on the way down the lower end of the hike-down drainage to Yvonne Falls.  

Huge bluff with North Prong Creek on the left
and Yvonne Falls on the right

There is a break just downstream of Nandini Falls allowing access to the base of the waterfall.  This is on the main creek, as I mentioned, and is a really nice one, about 20+ feet tall.  Even with today's less than optimal water conditions, it looked great.  Hiking down the creek, it is not very far to Yvonne Falls, but there are some side-to-side pools in the creek here and I preferred to at least try to keep my feet dry inside my boots.  I hiked up the bluff on the other (west) side to go downstream, and I found a bluffline break exactly opposite of Yvonne Falls.  I think Boomer could have managed this access point, but I did find another one a short distance downstream as well that is more easily managed.  From the vantage point of the bluffline break I used, the bluff on the other side is very impressive.  North Prong Creek winds around it from the left, then around the front, then on down toward Cow Creek, and on the right side is Yvonne Falls.  This will be a fantastic photo composition in the spring or fall with more water.

Hiking conditions along North Prong Creek
"leaves off" season

There are a couple of other waterfalls on North Prong Creek here, one just upstream of where Yvonne Falls flows into the creek, the other just downstream.  I followed North Prong Creek downstream all the way to its confluence with Cow Creek.  While I didn't find any other water features or side drainages of any size, the creek itself is a nice hike, with little undergrowth, and there are some huge bluffs on the west side of the creek.  I saw some small caves in the bluffs but didn't spend any time exploring further as I wanted to make sure I had time to finish my loop of the larger waterfalls in the north prong.  Heading back upstream, I soon covered the quarter mile hike back upstream to Nandini Falls.  I continued upstream on the left side above Nandini Falls.  When I was here last year, I hiked down along the main creek, then climbed the bluff to the west to hike out.
  

Falls #22

This trip, I decided to hike alongside North Prong Creek again, sliding and stumbling down the steep bluff above Nandini Falls to get to the creek level.  That is doable, but it is pretty rough hiking.  I managed to slip into a pool amongst the many creek crossing this route required and got soaked almost waist high.  With temperatures in the mid-30s, it was a little chilly until I got dried out a little.  In retrospect, it would be much easier just staying up on the bench above the creek and walking the top of the bluff about a quarter mile upstream to Mooley Wooly Falls, a beautiful, long cascade on the main creek.  There are a couple of small waterfalls on the main creek, Falls #21 and Falls #22, that are picturesque now but maybe less so with the full flow on North Prong Creek.  There must be a lot of karst formation in the area because much of the flow seems to go underground in the quarter mile between Mooley Wooly Falls and Nandini Falls.  The photos I took of Falls #21 and Falls #22 are on the main creek but show only a small fraction of the flow in either Mooley Wooly Falls or Nandini Falls.  Next trip, I'll just hike up along the bluff above the creek. 

Mooley Wooly Falls

You can descend back to creek level on either side of North Prong Creek, but you probably want to end up on the right side (as you head upstream).  Just to the right of Mooley Wooly Falls is another side drainage with Pauline Falls spilling over the bluff just a few feet from the main creek.  Above Pauline Falls on this side drainage is Maudine Falls, less than a hundred yards up the side drainage at the next bluffline.  Coming around the bluffline from Maudine Falls, there is a small but cool cave at the base of the bluff.  Across North Prong Creek, slightly upstream of Mooley Wooly Falls, is another side drainage coming in from that side.  Where that one flows over the creekside bluff you will find Falls #12.  This is a slightly larger drainage, so with any kind of good water, it should look pretty good.  

Bessie Falls

Continuing upstream from Mooley Wooly Falls, it is approximately another quarter mile upstream to Bessie Falls.  North Prong Creek flows through a canyon of sorts here, with sheer bluffs above the banks on each side.  Again, there are no other waterfalls in between and no bluffline breaks on either side of that quarter mile of the canyon.  You could hike along the creek or up on top of the bluff.  If you choose to stay below the bluff, by far the easiest hiking will be along the base of the bluff.  Just a few yards downstream of Bessie Falls, you will find the only bluffline break on the right (as you face upstream).  If you are above the bluffline, you can hike down through the break here, and hook around to go under the large overhang and get to the base of Bessie Falls.
  

Falls #10

Ascending through the bluffline break, above Bessie Falls there is another relatively short but beautiful waterfall, Falls #10, a few yards upstream.  Speaking of the wonders that karst formations bring to the geology of the Ozarks,  when I was here a year ago, the flow in the creek was so low that there was no water coming over the top of Falls #10, and North Prong Creek was dry upstream of it.  There was a stream of water springing out of the middle of the face of Falls #10, constituting the entire headwaters of North Prong Creek. Upstream on the right is a fork of the main creek with Falls #9 about a hundred yards upstream on that fork.  Last year, there was some flow going over Falls #9, but all of that water disappeared underground, only to come out downstream in that spring in the middle of Falls #10.  Today, at least we had enough water upstream to provide some flow over Falls #10.

Falls #25

That ATV trail I hit just above the hike-down drainage crosses the fork just above the top of Falls #9.  I found the ATV trail and turned right on it to head back to the parking spot.  I could find no recent tracks on this old ATV trail, so I have no idea how long it has been since it has been used.  It is in pretty good condition and is easy hiking back around the east side of the north prong.  Along the way, it crosses over another small drainage, the one that feeds Maudine Falls and Pauline Falls.  There are a couple of small waterfalls, Falls #24 and Falls #25, just below the ATV trail, and you should be able to hear them if there is much flow at all.  Today, Falls #24 wasn't much to look at but Falls #25 is in a really pretty setting.  Even with the sub-par flow in the creek today, it was still worth swinging off the trail a little to check it out. 

A Relic of the Past

Further down the trail, after you cross over the top of the hike-down drainage, you need to be on the lookout for that old trace road you hiked down from the parking location.  The ATV trail is so well defined that if you tend to daydream as you hike, as I often do, it's easy to miss the turnoff and continue on down the ATV trail.  The old trace road climbs gradually back up the slope to the parking location.  Off to the left (north) of the trace road as you hike back is a silent reminder that at one time folks lived out in areas like this.  A couple hundred yards from the parking spot are the front end and one door of an old car.  All of the area of the north prong and almost all of the entire Cow Creek basin are now public land.  There is still a little privately owned land at the lower end of Cow Creek where it flows into Big Piney, but many decades ago, people lived all over this area.  I'm just grateful now to have this big, wonderful playground to get out and enjoy.  This hike isn't for everyone, but if you are capable of a bushwhack in some rugged country for a couple of miles, I would highly recommend this hike, preferably in wetter times. 

Red - Today's GPS track
Blue - GPS track from previous exploration

The Cow Creek Basin
Red/Blue/Yellow - Hiking GPS tracks
Orange - Road Routes
Green - Off road 4WD tracks

Train Trestle Falls, Ozarks near Cass, Arkansas

2/24/2019 - Train Trestle Falls

GPS Coordinates:  (Latitude,  Longitude,  Elevation)
  Park - Spirits Creek and Train Trestle:  35.684246,-93.897851, 1614 ft.
  Train Trestle Falls:  35.677577,-93.885941,  1438 ft.
  Falls #1:  35.676903,-93.892667,TT UNF #1
  Falls #2:  35.676877,-93.885218,TT UNF #2
  Falls #3:  35.676972,-93.885333,TT UNF #3
  Falls #4:  35.677222,-93.885429,TT UNF #4
  Falls #5:  35.677466,-93.885621,TT UNF #5
  Access A:  35.677049,-93.885461,1454 ft.
  Access B:  35.677660,-93.885340
  Access C:  35.678106,-93.885228
  Access D1:  35.678342,-93.885715
  Access D2 (bluffline break):  35.678415,-93.885781,  1408 ft.
  Bee Rocks:  35.67133, -93.86594

Pet-Friendly:  Dogs will be fine either on or off a leash.  Most of the hiking is on the Ozark Highlands Trail (OHT) so you may encounter other hikers.  If your dog doesn't play nice with others, leave it home or put it on a leash.  If you go to the base of Train Trestle Falls, it is very steep and sometimes slippery, so use your own judgment on your dog's abilities.

Hiking Statistics:  Today's hike to Train Trestle Falls was 3.51 miles round trip.  The minimum-to-maximum elevation difference was 405 feet, most of that being the last part of the hike, where the OHT drops down to Train Trestle Falls.  The bushwhack from the OHT to the top of the waterfall is not too bad, but the bushwhack through the bluffline break to the base of the waterfall is steep and rugged.  We took 2:14 (hh: mm) to do the round-trip hike.  I would rate this a moderate hike to the trestle area.  I would rate the bushwhack to the base of Train Trestle Falls as difficult.

GPS files (.gpx format) - See maps at the bottom of this blog post
  Spirits Creek and Train Trestle waypoints
  Train Trestle Falls GPS track

Links to blog posts for other nearby areas:
  Spirits Creek Falls, Upper and Lower Robinson Falls

  Jack White Falls and Phipps Branch Falls

  White Rock Creek Waterfalls and Bluffs

Train Trestle Falls (31 ft)

Boomer and I had finished our morning hike down the Ozark Highlands Trail (OHT) to Spirits Creek (see the previous post), and we took a little breather at the FJ Cruiser before continuing on the second half of our doubleheader hike today.  I drank what was left of my coffee from this morning, still plenty warm in the tumbler.  Boomer just acted normally, that is, like a goofball.  If you go out the back of the parking spot and down to the OHT, you'll miss the little info sign where the trail intersects Rag Town Road.  You'll also miss a nicely constructed trail info and guest registration box built and donated by the WalMart sign shop.  We had a little fun looking through that and filling out a registration card (see photo).  For the blog readers, it might be interesting to check and see if it is still there.

New Hiker Information Box

The cool thing about this doubleheader hike is we only had to park in one location.  Spirits Creek is down the Ozark Highlands Trail (OHT) to the west of where you park, and Train Trestle Falls is down the OHT to the east.  To get there, your navigation unit or phone should have the roads involved, so just entering the coordinates above will be easiest.  If you can't do that, I'll start directions from I-40;

• Leave I-40 at exit 35 and go north on Highway 23 for 12.6 miles.
• Turn left on White Rock Mountain Road (aka CR-1003).  This is less than a mile after you cross the Mulberry River, but before you get to Cass.
• Go 4.2 miles and bear right to stay on White Rock Mountain Road.  It becomes CR-76 at that point.
• Go an additional 1.4 miles on White Rock Mountain Road and bear right onto Rag Town Road (aka CR-76).  
• Go 0.8 miles on Rag Town Road and park in the clearing on the right just past where the OHT crosses the road.

Bee Rocks

They have been working on White Rock Mountain Road, especially on the part where it climbs up the mountain.  Where they have finished working on it, it is in pretty good shape.  The other parts of it are still fairly rough, but any vehicle should be able to make it down the road okay.  Where you turn right onto Ragtown road is just past the Grays Spring picnic area.  I wrote a little spiel on that in the Spirits Creek blog post.  Another feature along this road is something called the 'Bee Rocks'. that Tim Ernst talks about in his excellent guidebook Arkansas Waterfalls.  I had wondered where these might be, and a friend pointed me at the right ones.  I know where they are now, but I need to go back in the spring and check them out.  Supposedly, the Bee Rocks are honeycombed (pun intended) and porous with passages throughout them, and bees nest inside them.

Falls #4 - with Boomer
(the Magnificent Mountain Dog)

From the clearing where you park, go back down the road a few feet to the trailhead, turn left onto it and hike east on the OHT.  By my maps, the OHT at one time ran along an old bench road one bench below where it does now.  I scoped out some of that area and for whatever reason, if it did run along that path, it no longer does.  The old bench road and any trail along it have been washed out in a couple of places.  Just stay on the OHT, and it will take you right by the Train Trestle Falls area.  Keep your eyes on the OHT trail markers; the white markers are vertical when the trail goes straight ahead, and if they are crooked one way or the other, it is telling you the trail bends in the direction it is slanted.  It is an excellent trail system and volunteers do continual maintenance to keep it in good condition.  After an initial short drop, it is mostly on the level, with a few ups-and-downs, until it is in the hollow high above where Train Trestle Falls is located.  It then zig-zags down the mountain, dropping a couple hundred feet in elevation, until it crosses the creek feeding Train Trestle Falls.

Old concrete pillars and truss bolts
at the top of Train Trestle Falls.
Boomer is about two feet from the top edge of the falls.

Along the way, the OHT runs around the top of a hollow that has a waterfall just below the sharp curve in the trail.  You can hear it and see it as you go around it on the trail.  When the trail crosses the creek with Train Trestle Falls (Access Point A), there are a couple of small waterfalls above the trail, and a couple more downstream of the trail before the creek spills over the top of Train Trestle Falls.  You can bushwhack the short distance downstream to the top of Train Trestle Falls, where you will find the old concrete pillars that the trestle was built on to span across the top of this gorge.  A lot of the big iron bolts that were used to tie trusses together to form the trestle are now piled on top of the pillars.  You can also continue on around the OHT to the opposite side of the drainage, and there is an easy route down to the top of the waterfall and the area where the old concrete pilings are.  There is also a route on the opposite side of the drainage down to the base of the waterfall.  See the maps below.

Old concrete pilings and truss bolts

When he heard that I was
 hiking out to Train Trestle Falls today, my friend Danny Hale sent me a small local area map.  With his permission, I'll include that below, along with the map of the GPS track and waypoints.  Danny was a professional surveyor for several decades before retiring, and that gives him the perfect background for map work.  He is extremely good at it.  He has led the local Takahik hiking group for years and has also published a guidebook, Takahik, Hiking the Arkansas Ozarks.  Danny mapped out the old train trestle site with the thoroughness I have become used to seeing in his maps and guidance.  I'll use Danny's notations in my explanation, and I have listed GPS coordinates for them above.

Stick to the base of the bluff
on the way to and from the base of the waterfall

Access Point B is where you can break off the trail and head down to the top of Train Trestle Falls and the area where all the old trestle pilings are.  Today, Boomer and I continued on around to Access Point C and turned left off the trail to head down to the bluffline break.  Danny marked Access Point D on his map as the bluffline break.  In my coordinates above, I have listed Access Points D1 and D2, with D1 being the point to angle down to from where we turned off the OHT, and Access Point D2 being the actual bluffline break.  This is where the sheer bluff 'breaks' to a slope that you can step/stumble/slide down, instead of falling off a cliff.   Once down through the bluffline break, hook around and follow as close to the base of the bluff up into the grotto to the base of Train Trestle Falls.

Falls #5
Note the old concrete piling
and bolt in the creek
in the left bank

Boomer and I did our best working with the harshly bright sun to get some photos of the waterfall, then headed back up the break to the trail.  Then from Access Point B, we went back down to the top of the waterfall, which is where all the old trestle hardware and concrete pilings remain.  Old stuff like this fascinates me, and the history behind it is fascinating as well.  This railroad was built in the early 1900s to haul timber out of the area.  Thanks to a lead from Micheal Bean and Dave Eichenberger, I believe this to be the Combs, Cass, and Eastern Railroad Company, formerly the Black Mountain & Eastern Line.  Referring to The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture article on the rail line, I believe this is the trestle 12.8 miles south of Combs (assuming rail lines, not as the crow flies).  Where this line rolled through Summit it was at 1891 feet elevation, making it the highest rail line in Arkansas history.  Today, Summit is just a weird 5-way junction of dirt roads about 3.1 miles down Rag Town Road from where we parked today.  The rail line was only 16 miles long and was abandoned sometime between 1925 and 1929.  This would have been the largest of four trestles on the line, at 345 feet long and 77 feet high.  If I have any of this wrong, please comment below and straighten me out.  The other thing I always find interesting is how quickly even large construction works like this can get swallowed up by the Arkansas jungle.  If you look at the base of Falls #5, a small waterfall just upstream of Train Trestle Falls, you can see where one of the pilings is now half covered up by the bank on the left, along with one of the big iron bolts.  The pillar itself is almost below the creek level.  It's a little sobering to realize that in the big scheme of things, we have only been here a short time, and whatever mankind does is, in the end, temporary.  

Train Trestle Falls

After we had absorbed all the old history and scenery we could, Boomer and I made our way upstream to Access Point A, got back on the OHT, and started our hike back.  The trail back rises immediately and zig-zags up the hill, climbing a couple of hundred feet fairly quickly.  I was a little winded by the time we got up to where the trail levels out.  The good news is, it's almost on the level after that point and we made good time getting back to the FJ.  All in all, it was a beautiful day to be in the great outdoors.  Boomer and I had a great time, got a little exercise, and we still wrapped up the day in plenty of time to drive home and have a lot of daylight left.  I would highly recommend this hike.  The trail is as good as any you will find, and except for the climb at the very beginning of the return hike and the bushwhack down to the bottom of Train Trestle Falls, this is easy hiking.  Just take your time on the climb and be very careful if you go down to the base of the waterfall.  As always, leave no trace and leave the old train stuff as you found it.

New Trailhead Information and Registration Box

Hmmmm.  Boomer filled out the registration card.  He thinks highly of himself.

Detail Map of Train Trestle Area
Map by Danny Hale

Dashed Red line - where the maps show the Ozark Highlands Trail
Red - GPS track for Train Trestle Falls (along the OHT today)

Spirits Creek Falls, Upper and Lower Robinson Falls, Ozarks near Cass, Arkansas

2/24/2019 - Spirits Creek Falls, Upper and Lower Robinson Falls

GPS Coordinates:  (Latitude,  Longitude,  Elevation)
  Park - Spirits Creek and Train Trestle:  35.684246,-93.897851, 1614 ft.
  Spirits Creek Falls:  35.687100,-93.908000,  1039 ft.
  Lower Robinson Falls:  35.687455,-93.909444,  1123 ft.
  Upper Robinson Falls:  35.687671,-93.910098,  1167 ft.

Pet-Friendly:  Dogs will be fine either on or off a leash.  Most of the hiking is on the Ozark Highlands Trail (OHT) so you may encounter other hikers.  If your dog doesn't play nice with others, leave it home or put it on a leash.

Hiking Statistics:  Today's hike was 2.53 miles round trip.  The minimum-to-maximum elevation difference was 654 feet, but it didn't seem all that bad because the bulk of that was on a pretty good trail, the OHT.  You have to climb from Spirit Creek to get to Robinson Falls, and that part is a bushwhack, but it is only about 130 feet of elevation.  We took 2:20 (hh:mm) to do the round-trip hike.  I would rate this a moderate hike.  The bushwhacking part is short and easy, and the climb out is on a good trail without excessive slopes.  Take your time and enjoy.

GPS files (.gpx format) - See maps at the bottom of this blog post
  Spirits Creek and Train Trestle waypoints
  Spirits Creek and Robinson Falls GPS track

Links to blog posts for other nearby areas:
  Train Trestle Falls

  Jack White Falls and Phipps Branch Falls

  White Rock Creek Waterfalls and Bluffs

Spirits Creek Falls - with Rick and Boomer

I was kind of torn on where to go today.  It was supposed to be bright and sunny so it wouldn't be the best day for photography, but it would be all that much better for enjoying the hike.  There were a couple of areas that I had been itching to go explore, and in areas that had received much more rainfall recently than the western Ozarks.  Boomer (our German Shepherd) was the deciding factor today.  I have learned to leave Boomer at home when I explore new places because there are some situations such as rock climbing that he might not be capable of.  You never know what you might run into in the way of obstacles.  Lately, I had left him home a few times with Bethany instead of taking him along, and he was getting a little mopey looking as I was getting my hiking gear together.  In the end, I went with just getting out with Boomer and enjoying a day of adventure.  I figured Spirits Creek and Train Trestle Falls would make for a very full day of hiking, all in areas I knew he could run around and be as big a goober as he wanted to be.  The things you do for your kids, even the furry ones, right?

Upper Robinson Falls

The cool thing about this doubleheader hike is we only had to park in one location.  Spirits Creek is down the Ozark Highlands Trail (OHT) to the west of where you park, and Train Trestle Falls is down the OHT to the east.  To get there, your navigation unit or phone should have the roads involved, so just entering the coordinates above will be easiest.  If you can't do that, I'll start directions from I-40;

• Leave I-40 at exit 35 and go north on Highway 23 for 12.6 miles.
• Turn left on White Rock Mountain Road (aka CR-1003).  This is less than a mile after you cross the Mulberry River, but before you get to Cass.
• Go 4.2 miles and bear right to stay on White Rock Mountain Road.  It becomes CR-76 at that point.
• Go an additional 1.4 miles on White Rock Mountain Road and bear right onto Rag Town Road (aka CR-76).  
• Go 0.8 miles on Rag Town Road and park in the clearing on the right just past where the OHT crosses the road.

Grays Spring Picnic Area

They have been working on White Rock Mountain Road, especially on the part where it climbs up the mountain.  Where they have finished working on it, it is in pretty good shape.  The other parts of it are still fairly rough, but any vehicle should be able to make it down the road okay.  Where you turn right onto Ragtown road is just past the Grays Spring picnic area.  You should pull in and check it out.  It was built back in the day by the CCC and is my favorite rest stop.  It is out in the middle of nowhere on a 'lane-and-a-half' dirt road that, it seems, is never in very good shape and has spectacular views.  Check out the old vault toilet at one end of the picnic area.  I would never use it, clearly, no one has for many years, but it is the only 'flush' toilet I have ever seen in a vault toilet.  Pretty cool for a place with no electricity and no running water.  The CCC boys built everything out of rock, and they must have had a bunch left over that they didn't want to haul away.  That's the only reason I can think of for the big stone pillar at the west end.  If any of you know more about the history of this place, please let me know about it.

Upper Robinson Falls

From the clearing where you park, cross the road and start heading down the OHT.   That's all there is to it.  Keep your eyes on the OHT trail markers; the white markers are vertical when the trail goes straight ahead, and if they are crooked one way or the other, it is telling you the trail bends in the direction it is slanted.  At 1.04 miles down the OHT heading west, the trail bends to the left and you will see a spur trail going off to the right toward Spirits Creek.  Turn right onto this trail and it will take you to a primitive campsite just above Spirits Creek Falls.  There is a volunteer trail from the campsite down to a bluffline break just downstream of the waterfall, and from there you can hike the few yards back upstream to the base of the waterfall.  I would point out that the OHT does, in fact, get re-routed from time to time because stuff like landslides happen and because better routes are sometimes found  If you look at my track (map below) you will see it doesn't follow where the DeLorme topo maps or the NFS topo maps I use in the field.  We stayed on the OHT all the way down to where you turn off to go to Spirits Creek Falls.

Spirits Creek Falls

Spirits Creek Falls is relatively short, only about eight feet tall, but it is on the main creek itself.  The headwaters for Spirits Creek is more than two miles upstream, and it is a big, broad, valley.  It has a lot of drainage area above it so it will have fairly good flow long after the streams in the side drainages have dried up to a trickle.  It's on my list to go explore further, especially the upper forks.  From the top of Spirits Creek Falls, you can look upstream and see where the side drainage containing Upper and Lower Robinson Falls flows in from the left.  Cross Spirits Creek wherever you can and these two waterfalls are a short bushwhack away.  There is a faint volunteer trail up to Lower Robinson Falls, but you don't really need that.  It is only about a hundred yards from Spirits Creek and you can see it as soon as you start up the drainage.  Upper Robinson Falls is even less distance further upstream in this side drainage.  You can see Upper Robinson Falls from Lower Robinson Falls.

Lower Robinson Falls

From Robinson Falls, we headed back down, crossed Spirits Creek, and headed back up the OHT.  Along the way, we met a nice couple on their way down.  We chatted for a while, and it turned out they are avid blog readers and recognized Boomer's name as soon as I called out to him.  Boomer thinks that everyone was put on this Earth just to play with him, so he tends to think of everyone as simply his adoring fans.  He may be right about that; I don't think anyone has reacted to him in a way to make him think otherwise.  It was close to noon when we got back to the parking location, so today's plan was on track.  We had all afternoon to go down the OHT the other way and visit Train Trestle Falls.  

Spririts Creek Falls and Robinson Falls GPS track
Red - where the older maps think the Ozark Highlands Trail is
Blue - where the OHT really is - today's hike GPS track