Links to blog posts for other nearby areas:
James A Villines Homestead
Triple Falls and Rock Creek Bridge Falls
Whitaker Creek waterfalls - Compton's Double Falls, Amber Falls, Owl Falls
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| Balanced Rock Falls |
First, let me clarify where this is. Like many creeks, hollows, lakes, etc., there is more than one Leatherwood Creek in the Arkansas Ozarks. There is a Leatherwood Creek that runs through the heart of the Leatherwood National Wilderness, then into the Lower Buffalo Wilderness Area, and flows into the Buffalo River only seven or eight miles from where the Buffalo flows into the mighty White River. This is NOT that one, this is the Leatherwood Creek that flows into the upper Buffalo River at the Ponca river access. Ever since Danny Hale first explored Leatherwood Creek and documented it in the Takahik website, it has been high on my list to explore. Finally, we got some rain and all the stars aligned in my busy life of retirement and I packed up and headed for Ponca. Yeah, I know you folks that aren't retired don't understand. You probably visualize, as I did, retirement as a life of leisure and free time to do whatever you want. The reality is, we pretty much do whatever we want, but somehow that makes us busier than we ever have been. I don't know how I ever had time for a job. But I digress again, please forgive me. Bethany heard the word "bushwhack" and opted out, and Boomer isn't allowed in most of the Buffalo National River (BNR), so he had to stay home and I was on my own today.
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Park on this side of the low water bridge.
There is plenty of room! |
Getting to the parking location is super easy; just go to the Ponca access on the Buffalo River, where the low water bridge is:
- From Jasper, go north on Highway 74 to the junction of Highway 74 and Highway 43.
- Just prior to the junction, Highway 74 has a bridge over the Buffalo River. While on that bridge, if you look to your left, you will see a low water bridge over the buffalo. That's where you will park.
- Turn left (west) on Highway 43, then in about 100 yards, turn onto the gravel road on the left.
- The gravel road goes only 0.2 miles to the parking area on the Buffalo River.
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To access Leatherwood Creek,
Look for this unmarked trail over a small berm |
OR from Boxley, go east toward the junction of these two highways. The Buffalo River access road will be on the right 100 yards before the junction with Highway 74. If you find yourself in Ponca or on the Highway 74 bridge over the Buffalo, you went too far. NOTE: It is always good practice to park on the highway side of the low water bridge. There is room on the other side for a couple of vehicles, but there are some other considerations. There is a "No Parking" sign on the gate on the left that goes up to the Villines homestead. More importantly, the Buffalo River can rise several feet in a very short time during rainy periods. If you park over there and it rises over the low water bridge, your vehicle isn't going anywhere for a while. Yes, people have been stranded there. Don't be one of those people. There is a vault toilet in this large parking area that looks like it may have been built back in the CCC or WPA eras but is kept fairly clean, as most facilities in the BNR are.
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| Thong Tree |
On the other side of the low water bridge, there is a clearly marked trail on the left by the aforementioned gate that goes to the old Villines homestead. On the far right, there is another clearly marked trailhead for the Buffalo River Trail. In between the sign and the BRT trail is a volunteer trail that goes up and over a little berm that is NOT marked in any way. That is the trail for going up Leatherwood Creek. There is no official maintained trail in this valley. The volunteer trail only exists because after Danny Hale posted some photos of Balanced Rock Falls, it suddenly became very popular. It's a relatively easy hike along a remarkably beautiful little creek. The fact that it has gone unnoticed for decades, for the most part, tells you a little about how common this type of scenery is in the Ozarks, and especially areas like the Buffalo River. There are literally thousands of waterfalls in the Arkansas Ozarks, but this one is such a unique formation that folks were certainly drawn to it after Danny found it. If you visit it, please keep it as pristine and beautiful as it is now. Leave no trace, and take only pictures.
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| Falls #2 |
Once over the berm, you find yourself walking along the right side of Leatherwood Creek. You pass a large thong tree and in only a couple hundred yards, come to the first waterfall, Falls #1. I'm using Danny's names for waterfalls since he was the first to come here and document it. He does the same thing that I do in a new area; just number the waterfalls as you come to them, and if you give one an actual name later just update the documentation for it. At the lower end of any hollow, generally, the waterfalls are fewer and smaller. Leatherwood Creek is no different, and in the upper parts of the creek, they are one after another. It is about a quarter-mile upstream from Falls #1 to Falls #2. Along the way, I saw a nice spring coming right out of the rock bluff on the left side and flowing into Leatherwood Creek. I suspect in wetter times, there is actually a small creek in the side drainage here. I called this Leatherwood Spring and put coordinates for it in the list above.
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| Balanced Rock Falls |
Less than a hundred yards upstream from Falls #2, there are the ruins of an old homestead on the right, just above where high water would come. Falls #3 is right above Leatherwood Creek in the side drainage on the left. This is the tributary creek that Balanced Rock Falls is in. Cross Leatherwood Creek upstream of this side drainage and the volunteer trail winds to the right side of the creek as it follows the tributary upstream. You'll pass Falls #4 in this tributary, then Balanced Rock Falls is only about a hundred yards upstream from that. It is only about 150 feet of elevation difference from the creek to Balanced Rock Falls, and that is about the biggest and steepest climb I had for the whole day. As I said, this is fairly easy hiking by Ozarks bushwhacking standards.
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| Falls #4 |
Above Balanced Rock Falls is Falls #6, a two-tiered waterfall with twin falls at the top and a longer cascading waterfall right below them. I spent a little time climbing up to the bluffs above in this little drainage, doing some exploring, then hiking back down to Leatherwood Creek. I stayed mostly on the right side of the creek as I made my way upstream. There are stretches of about a hundred yards of the serene, beautiful, creek between waterfalls, and the fall colors made this a fantastically pretty area today. When you get up to where Falls #11 is, there are a half dozen waterfalls in the two side drainages on each side of Leatherwood Creek.
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| Wading Falls |
Just upstream, the next one you come to on Leatherwood Creek itself is Falls #17, which Danny has named Wading Falls. I immediately saw where the name comes from. There is a large pool that covers bank-to-bank between the bluffs along each side of the creek. Wading appears to be the only option to get to the base of Wading Falls. Those of you that are avid blog readers know that I'm not much of a fan of getting in the water and wading, especially in cold water. For the record, I didn't do that. I hiked up the bluff on the right and found a bluffline break that I could climb down through right at the base of Wading Falls. The coordinates for the break are listed above. Once down at the base of Wading Falls, I chose to scramble up on the rock ledges on the right side and inch my way over to the top of Wading Falls, which puts you in a big, long slot canyon that leads up to Falls #18. In retrospect, that is probably not the smartest thing to do, and definitely not the safest. It's probably best if you climb back up through the bluffline break and hike up along the top of the slot canyon.
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| Kizmet Falls |
Continuing upstream, Kizmet Falls (#19) is one of the most serene, beautiful waterfalls you will find this time of year. I call it Kizmet Falls, because the word Kizmet has a special meaning for my wife Bethany and me, and fills me with inner peace. Falls #20 and Falls #21 were roughly spaced out 100 yards apart upstream, similar to most of the creek. Above that, the topology changes and there is a big bluff with a very wide overhang on the right side of the creek. Here, Falls #22 flows out over an extended ledge. Just upstream from that is one that I'll call Falls #23A, since it flows out of the pool below Falls #23. Danny named Falls #23 Leatherwood Creek Falls, but I didn't see a location for this little one just downstream of it. A large dead tree has now fallen onto the top of Leatherwood Creek Falls, all but obscuring the top of this waterfall. I'm sure that with the force of water during heavy rains, this tree won't last more than a couple-three years before being torn apart and carried downstream.
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| Leatherwood Creek Falls |
I climbed the bluff on the
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Falls #22
You can barely see the top of Leatherwood Creek Falls
at the end of the bluff |
left and continued upstream above Leatherwood Creek Falls to the boundary of the Buffalo National River. Beyond this boundary line, I could see massive bluffs, rising 200 feet or more straight up above the upper part of Leatherwood Creek. I could see the bottom part of at least one waterfall that had to fall all the way from the top of this bluff. This is private land, so I went no further today. There is no signage, so you have to be cognizant of where the boundary line is and keep an eye on your GPS. See the "Glossary and FAQ" link at the upper right for what I'm using to navigate and track my hikes. Please respect the property rights of others; there are vast amounts of public lands to explore here, so there is no need to trespass. For my next trip here, I'll locate and contact the property owner to see if I can get permission to do a little exploring.
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Bluffs rising above Leatherwood Creek
at the Buffalo National River boundary |
Turning back, I stayed above the bluff and went downstream along the opposite side that I had traveled upstream on. Ergo, I was still keeping to my right. There is not a lot of undergrowth here, and since I had seen the entire creek on the way up I saw no reason to do the kind of rock-hopping and zig-zagging that is required along the creek. Plus, despite my best efforts my boots and socks were completely saturated with water and my feet getting pretty cold. When I came to the side drainage containing Balanced Rock Falls, I descended to the creek level and crossed the creek, returning along the creek on that volunteer trail I started today's hike on. It was a short, pleasant, hike, and I soon found myself back at the low water bridge. Since the trail to the Villines homestead is right there, it is kind of required that I go check it out. That will be the next blog post!
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| Along Leatherwood Creek |
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| Falls #21 |
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| Falls #23A |
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| Falls #23A |
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| Leatherwood Creek |
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Wading Falls
Falls #18 is visible above it, at the end of a long slot canyon. |
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| Wading Falls |
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| Falls #18 |
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| Kizmet Falls |
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| Old Homesite ruins |
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GPS Tracks for Today's Hikes
Red - Leatherwood Creek Outbound
Blue - Return Route to the Trailhead
Black - Villines Homestead Loop Trail |
NOTE: It is always good practice to park on the highway side of the low water bridge. There is room on the other side for a couple of vehicles, but there are some other considerations. There is a "No Parking" sign on the gate on the left that goes up to the Villines homestead. More importantly, the Buffalo River can rise several feet in a very short time during rainy periods. If you park over there and it rises over the low water bridge, your vehicle isn't going anywhere for a while. Yes, people have been stranded there. Don't be one of those people. There is a vault toilet in this large parking area that looks like it may have been built back in the CCC or WPA eras but is kept fairly clean, as most facilities in the BNR are.
Once across the low water bridge, there is a gate with a trail going up the hill. It is a loop trail, so when you get to a branch to the right, you can go either way around the loop. I bear to the left, so you go up the hill a bit more and come out on the main structure in the farmstead, the log cabin where James A. "Beaver Jim" Villines lived with his family. The story has it that he lived his whole life within a mile of where he was born. I find that hard to believe, but I can easily believe he didn't stray more than walking distance from this farmstead. He was born and raised in Boxley in 1854, and in 1882 he married Sarah Arbaugh and moved across the Buffalo River to this farmstead. He got his "Beaver Jim" nickname from his legendary skills as a trapper. He lived here with his family until his death in 1948, a considerable lifespan for that era. I think if I had a place at the juncture of the Buffalo River and Leatherwood Creek, I probably wouldn't be wanting to move either.
The National Park Service (NPS) now maintains the historic structures here and has some posting to the effect that you can look all you want, but you can't go inside. I'm assuming the floors or something else aren't quite that stable and this is a way to preserve it and prevent injuries. You can go inside some of the other old structures in the Buffalo National River, such as the Parker-Hickman Homestead. The NPS has put up informational placards to describe the various buildings. As you wander from one building to another around the short loop trail, it is a fascinating insight to the way folks lived 'back in the day'. Before you know it, you are back around the loop and at the low water bridge. 
