Ladderbucket and John Mountain Falls, Ozarks on White Oak Mountain, north of Hector, Arkansas

11/9/2019 -  Ladderbucket Falls and John Mountain Falls

GPS Coordinates:  (Latitude,  Longitude,  Elevation)
  Parking Location:  35.54074, -92.79777,  1547 feet
  Turn left onto ATV trail:  35.54159, -92.79934,  1601 feet
  Falls #1:  35.5444, -92.80044
  Keep right onto ATV trail:  35.55351, -92.7603,  1407 feet
  Bluff Break:  35.55073, -92.79351,  1222 feet
  John Mountain Falls:  35.55112, -92.79336,  1223 feet
  Falls #3:  35.55010, -92.79433 
  Ladderbucket Falls:  35.54868, -92.79469,  1227 feet

Pet Friendly: Yes.  No problem for dogs off-leash.  A dog kept on a leash may have some difficulty going up and down the break in the bluffline. 

Hiking Statistics:   The one-way distance to John Mountain Falls and then on to Ladderbucket Falls is 2.23 miles.  The return hike is slightly less distance because you can go directly from Ladderbucket Falls to the bluffline break, bypassing nearby John Mountain Falls.  The highest-to-lowest elevation difference is 554 feet, but there are no extended steep climbs.  Approximately 3/4 of this hike is along an old logging road and a couple of ATV trails so it is easy hiking.  The remaining hike is a bushwhack but is fairly open hiking without a lot of undergrowth or obstacles.  I would rate this a moderately difficult bushwhack.

GPS files:
  Ladderbucket area waypoints
  GPS track file to John Mountain and Ladderbucket Falls (.gpx format)

Links to blog posts for other nearby areas:

  Schoolhouse Falls
  Jacob's Stairway
  Lizard Log Falls
  Brushy Fork waterfalls

Ladderbucket Falls

It has been over five years since Boomer has been to Ladderbucket Falls with me, and I owed him a day out in the woods since he wasn't allowed to go to the Buffalo River with me.  The last time we visited this area, he was bitten by a copperhead and I was curious to see if he would remember the area.  It was five and a half years ago, but it was very traumatic.  He almost died.  I ended up carrying him on my shoulders for a while until he just couldn't take it anymore.  Even after rushing him to Doc (his vet), he got the anti-serum but the paw that was bitten had to be repeatedly hydrolazed and cleaned out where the flesh was abscessed and rotted.  It was a full two months before he was allowed to hike and swim again.  So today, we loaded up in the FJ and headed out this morning for the White Oak Mountain area north of Hector and a do-over for Boomer on this hike.

Sign at 'Y' in White Oak
Mountain Road - bear left

This is one of those places where just plugging the coordinates for the parking location into your GPS navigation unit may not give you the best route.  Your navigation system will probably tell you to take Lindsey Motorway since it will be about five miles shorter.  However, that road is always a wild card.  You never know what the status of the ford across the Illinois Bayou will be like, and Lindsey Motorway itself is normally a pretty bad road around the river.  White Oak Mountain Road is much better and always seems faster for me, so that is what I recommend.

To get there:

• Drive north from Hector on Highway 27.  Less than a mile from the Big Piney Ranger station in Hector, you cross over Dare Creek.  Look upstream when you cross and you will see a nice little waterfall.
• Immediately after crossing Dare Creek, turn right onto White Oak Mountain Road (aka FR-1301).  This is a gravel road but is a well-traveled and fairly well-maintained road.
• Go 11.8 miles on White Oak Mountain Road.  Be careful about seven miles from Hector and bear left where the road branches at the 'Y' in the road.  See the sign in the photo at right - you want to stay on White Oak Mountain Road at

  

  Parking Location

  this point.
• After following it for 11.8 miles, turn right onto Wilderness Trail (aka FR-1307).
• Go another 3.5 miles and turn left onto Jobe's Way, then drive a quarter mile to the parking location coordinates (35.54074, -92.79777).  If you drive up to the gate with the "no trespassing" sign, you have gone too far.  I used to think the private property started at this fence and gate, but it is actually somewhat before that.  Look at the photo of the parking location;  see that bear-proofed utility pole further down the road?  That is where private land begins.  

The shaded area is private land

That is John Mountain to your left as you drive into the parking location, hence the name of the waterfall on the side of this mountain.  If "Jobe's Way" looks more like "Jobe's driveway ruts", that's because it is.  The cleared area beyond the gate and a hundred yards or so around that is private land and is well posted, so please respect the landowner and stay off.  Jobe's Way and the parking location are on public land.  If you draw a line perpendicular to the road, that is the approximate boundary of Harry Jobe's little chunk of land.  From the parking location, hike directly uphill through the woods, then turn to your right after about 200 yards where it levels out.  Then hike on the level for about a hundred yards and you will come across an ATV trail.   That point is marked with GPS coordinates listed above.  This little bushwhack through the woods in pretty easy bushwhacking as it is mostly clear of undergrowth and other impediments.  It's just a short detour through the woods and you are around the private land and onto a trail you can follow most of the way to John Mountain Falls.  See the map at the bottom of this post for more detail.

John Mountain Falls

Turn left onto an old logging road, away from Harry's property, and stay on it as it swings around the end of the hollow.  If you stay on the logging road for almost 1.5 miles, it will swing back to the right and down to a point just north of the top of John Mountain Falls.  Where the logging road has a 'Y', bear to the right, where it is more of an ATV trail. staying on this trail until it ends.  Where the trail ends, you are actually only about 100 yards from the top of John Mountain Falls.  Leave the trail to the right and go down a slight slope to a small creek.  This is the creek that feeds John Mountain Falls.  Cross the creek and follow it downstream a short way further to the bluffline.

The trick to seeing the waterfalls in this hollow is finding the spot where you can actually get down through the bluffline to access the base of the waterfalls.  That spot is right where the hollow's bluffline bends around to the grotto where John Mountain Falls is.  In other words, where the falls bluffline bends around to the bluffline for the main hollow.  In fact, you can see the waterfall from this point around the bluff to your left.  There are two breaks in the bluffline here that you can take to get below the cliff.  When you do, stay at the base of the rock cliff instead of going further down the slope to the creek level.  Follow the base of the bluff around, keeping the bluff to your left,  and it will take you to the base of John Mountain Falls. 

Falls #3

John Mountain Falls is a tall one, falling off the bluff ledge for 84 feet before hitting the rocks below.  Today, it had enough water flow to look great.  But, as with a lot of the tall waterfalls, it is difficult to get a good photo of the entire waterfall due to the foliage and height of the waterfall.  It was also a very bright and sunny day, not the best for photographing waterfalls.  I did the best I could with it.  To get to Ladderbucket Falls, you can go down to where the creek from John Mountain Falls flows into the main creek and go upstream, or you can follow the base of the bluffline back around the way you came.  Today, we did a little of both.  We hiked upstream on the main creek until we saw Falls #3 flowing off the bluff, then hiked up to it and followed the base of the bluff upstream right to Ladderbucket Falls

Ladderbucket Falls

Continuing on around the base of the bluff keeping the bluff on your right, you will come to Ladderbucket Falls.  This is a beautiful 36-foot waterfall, with a steep cascade at the top half, then falling the rest of the way into a large pool.  Ladderbucket Falls is on the main creek running down this hollow.  After relaxing, shooting some photos, and swimming (well, Boomer did, anyway) we headed back.  The easiest way back is the way you came in, along the bluff and back up through the bluffline break.  The return trip is slightly less distance since you won't be going around the bend to John Mountain Falls.

It was back at our break in the bluffline that Boomer got bitten on his left rear paw by a snake.  I think he has probably let time heal those bad memories.  He seemed to have a great day out hiking today.  We made pretty good time hiking the two miles back to the FJ.  This hike is really not that difficult, from a technical aspect,, especially compared to most areas of the Ozarks.  The part that is bushwhacking is not rough, and this route is relatively free of brush and other obstacles.  I would recommend this hike for anyone capable of getting off trail and hiking a few miles.  There is that private property to be cognizant of, but if you stick to the track that I made you'll be OK.  Using a GPS device or app will assist you with that.  You can click on the "Glossary and FAQ" link at the top right of this post for information on what I a using for GPS guidance.

GPS track for today's hike