Triple Falls and Rock Bridge Creek Falls, Buffalo National River area near Jasper, Arkansas

12/27/2018 - Triple Falls and Rock Bridge Creek Falls

GPS Coordinates:  (Latitude,  Longitude,  Elevation)
  Parking Location:  36.05646   -93.25742
  Triple Falls: 36.05470, -93.25830
  Trailhead - Rock Bridge Creek Falls:  36.05579   -93.25725
  Rock Bridge Creek Falls:  36.05529  -93.25634

Pet-Friendly: Dogs will be fine.  This is a short, level hike with a well-defined volunteer trail.  It is a popular location so there may be other folks there as well.  If your dog doesn't play well with others, please leave it home.

Hiking Statistics:  This is more of a stroll than a hike.  It is only about a quarter mile each way to Triple Falls, mostly on the level along the creek.  Rock Bridge Creek Falls will be even shorter, but you will need to bushwhack to it from the road to get to the base.  The top of the waterfall is just below the access road to the parking lot.

GPS files (.gpx format) - See maps at the bottom of this blog post
  Middle Buffalo waypoints
  

Links to blog posts for other nearby areas:
  Liles Falls

Triple Falls
Tom, Jeannette, Rick and Bethany Henry

I have written a blog post for Triple falls before, which you can see here. That was almost five years ago.  I like to think this blog (as well as my writing, hopefully) has evolved over the years, but this is such a simple hike it has not needed an update. Today, however, I got to see something new.  New for me at any rate.  My brother Tom and his wife, Jeannette, were staying with us for the Christmas holidays and Bethany and I wanted to show them some of the Natural State beauty in the Buffalo River area; Triple Falls, Liles Falls, the Parker-Hickman homestead, and other scenery along this part of the Buffalo National River.  Of course, we also wanted to treat them to deep-fried burgers at the Ozark Cafe in Jasper.  Not just deep-fried burgers, but everything here is delicious.  We rarely are able to pass through Jasper without stopping.

To get there, look for the road to Kyle's Landing Access on Hwy 74 west of Mt. Sherman.  The road is marked with many signs for Kyle's Landing and Camp Orr, and there is a canoe rental place next to the turnoff.  Take Kyle's Landing Road for one mile where the road forks, and take the right fork.  i.e. - go to Camp Orr, NOT Kyle's Landing.  Follow the road to Camp Orr another 1.8 miles, which will take you to the bottom of the mountain.  At that point, the road crosses a creek and immediately to the right will be a parking place for the falls. Note that the sign says "Twin Falls Parking".  The falls have long been known by the name Twin Falls as well, but there are in fact now three waterfalls side by side,  and there are many other "Twin Falls" in Arkansas.  Tim Ernst calls it Triple Falls in his excellent guidebook, Arkansas Waterfalls.  That's good enough for me, and if you don't have that book as a reference, get it.  You will thank me later.  Be aware the road to Triple Falls is steep and can get very rough, but is quite driveable by most vehicles.  Today, it was actually in very good condition despite all the recent rains.

Rock Bridge Creek Falls
Tom (6' tall) added for scale in the middle

Today, on the way down the road, I noticed something I had never noticed before.  As we passed over the small creek just before the parking location, I caught a glimpse of whitewater in my peripheral vision.  Slowing down and steering way over to the edge of the road (to the extreme nervousness and discomfort of my passengers), I could see a large, long, cascade.  Even looking from the top down, it was easy to see it would be beautiful.  I didn't want to burden our guests with bushwhacks or long hikes today, but this was too close to not check out.  I made a mental note to do just that after we visited Triple Falls, and went on to the parking location just a couple hundred feet further down the road.  My wife, Bethany, has learned keywords like "bushwhack", and knows that it means no trail whatsoever, which she has also learned she wants no part of if she can avoid it.

Triple Falls 

The land beyond the parking location is actually on land controlled by the Boy Scouts, not public land.  This is part of Camp Orr, operated by the Boy Scouts of America.  I took a quick look while Bethany, Tom, and Jeannette were unloading, and sure enough, the "Private Property" sign was downstream of where the Rock Bridge Creek Falls was, so it should be okay to hike on over and take a look.  After parking, we crossed back to the other side of the road and the trail to Triple Falls is straight ahead.  The trail is on the level, running right next to Shop Creek, which feeds Triple Falls.  You will be able to see and hear the waterfall almost immediately, it is that close.  It is less than a quarter mile to the waterfalls.  Along the way, there is another trail branching off to the right that goes to the top of the falls, but go straight ahead and you will be at the base of the three falls in no time.  Today, Triple Falls was spectacular, with the recent rains really letting it put on quite a show.

Upper section of Rock Bridge Creek Falls
with Tom Henry

Hiking back to the FJ, Tom and I left Bethany and Jeannette at the parking spot while we checked out this new (new to me, anyway) waterfall.  One of the BNR hiking trails actually runs from the road near the parking spot, close to the private property line, and across the bottom of Rock Bridge Creek.  I'm assuming the creek was named for a rock bridge that had probably been built across it many, many, years ago.  After I got home and did a little research, I found one reference to a Rock Bridge Creek Falls with the correct GPS coordinates, so unlike a lot of waterfalls that I notice while out hiking, this one actually had a name already.  It was, in fact, a remarkably beautiful cascading stairstep-type waterfall, and the heavy rains really had it flowing well.  I'm really surprised to not find any photos on Panoramio or Google Earth of it.  Hiking back, I found it to be much shorter and easier to just hike over to where the road bends around to the parking location.  It's an even shorter hike than the one to Triple Falls.

Triple Falls is a must-see waterfall if you are ever in the area, preferably during wetter periods.  This is the most natural beauty for the least effort you will ever experience.  If you go after a good rain, Rock Bridge Creek will give you a fantastic bonus with just a little extra effort.  Today, we had guests and I couldn't get away with a lot of bushwhack-style exploring.  However, I did notice on the drive out that there was another nice sized waterfall upstream of where the road crossed back over Shop Creek, which feeds Triple Falls.  I'll come back on another day and hike both Shop Creek and Rock Bridge Creek from top to bottom.

GPS Waypoints for Triple Falls and Rock Bridge Creek Falls