1/23/2019 Teapot Hollow Waterfalls
GPS Coordinates: (Latitude, Longitude, Elevation)
Parking Location: 35.650609,-93.227392, 516 ft.
Falls #1: 35.650994,-93.228957, 643 ft.
Falls #2: 35.650936,-93.229155, 694 ft.
Falls #3: 35.650936,-93.229155, 700 ft.
Falls #4: 35.651036,-93.229333, 734 ft.
Falls #5: 35.650951,-93.229745, 801 ft.
Teapot Hollow Water Slide: 35.651158,-93.230291, 893 ft.
Falls #6: 35.651176,-93.230782, 818 ft.
Falls #7: 35.651289,-93.231207, 865 ft.
Hourglass Falls: 35.651276,-93.231596, 936 ft.
Salem Falls: 35.651442,-93.232547, 1131 ft.
Bluffline Break: 35.651853,-93.228863, 731 ft.
Pet-Friendly: Dogs should be okay off leash. This is a fairly rugged area, but each waterfall has access to the bluff above on one side or the other. That access may be somewhat steep and slippery so some smaller dogs may struggle.
Hiking Statistics: On today's hike, we logged one mile total round trip. Distance-wise, it is certainly a short hike. Over that half mile of the creek, however, there is a 625-foot minimum-to-maximum elevation gain. Add to that the fact that you have to hike down steep bluff banks to access some waterfalls, and then climb back out. Our total track time on this hike was 2:27 (hh:mm), but most of that was time taking photos and milling about various water features, which is not seen as "time moving". Our moving time was only 16 minutes for this hike. Despite the short distance, due to the ruggedness of the terrain and steep climb in, I would rate it as a moderate to difficult bushwhack.
Links to blog posts for other nearby areas:
Pam's Grotto Falls
Haw Creek Falls and Highway 123 Falls
Bear Creek waterfalls
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| Falls #1 |
First off, the hollow this hike takes you through is unnamed, just a small side drainage that flows directly into Big Piney Creek. However, the good folks that read this blog gave me feedback long ago that discussing "Unnamed Falls #12 in an unnamed hollow" was just not going to work because there are many "unnamed hollows" in the Ozarks, and they couldn't differentiate Falls #12 in one unnamed hollow from Falls #12 in the next unnamed hollow. Ever since getting those comments, I have put a name on the hollows I write about, whether it is official or not. Bethany, my wife, is much more creative than I am and therefore is my 'inventor of names' for waterfalls and hollows. Bethany came up with the name Teapot Hollow after I described it as being short, but quite steep. She had to explain this one to me; teapots are "short and stout", and they are also used to steep tea. Get it? <heavy sigh>. Therefore, Teapot Hollow it is.
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| Falls #5 |
Today, I was hiking with friend and frequent hiking partner Dan Frew. Dan has now started a Vlog to use video to document the kind of stuff I write about in my blog. You should check out his YouTube channel Adventures in Dan-Land. We had already stopped by nearby Pam's Grotto, and this was our second hike of the day. We had both been to this hollow, as well as the one directly across Big Piney Creek and the one right next to it on the south, but they all had very low flow at the time. We had a pretty good rain last night, and on the drive out the creeks and waterfalls along Highway 123 were running well, so we had high hopes of catching this one with a good deal of water. As it turned out, the recent rain had provided just the right amount of flow for the waterfalls here to look their best.
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| Hourglass Falls |
Everything is simple and easy for this one, including the driving directions. Just pop the GPS coordinates for the parking location in your navigation system and go. There is only one road to it.
(1) If you can't do that, from Hagerville, go north on Highway 123 for 15.3 miles and turn right on FR-1002 (aka CR-5861). Go 2.5 miles down FR-1002 and park off the road at the end of the clearing here.
(2) If you are coming from the other direction, from Pelsor (Sand Gap), go south-west on Highway 123 for 11.3 miles, then turn left (south) on FR-1002. Go 2.5 miles down FR-1002 and park off the road at the end of the clearing here.
Today, it was easy to see where we should park. It was winter and therefore 'leaves off' season, and with the rain last night, the lowest waterfall was clearly visible from the road. One note about this parking location; everything on this hike is on public land. That being said, the patches of flat, cleared, grassy land along Big Piney Creek is usually leased by the Forest Service to folks in the area for grazing or cutting hay. You could drive across the field to be a little closer to the mouth of the hollow, but please just park there along the road. A few extra yards on flat land won't kill you.
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| Falls #6 |
As simple as the driving directions are, the hiking directions are just as simple. We hiked directly for the first waterfall, spent some time there taking photos, and climbed up around the grotto on the left, and there was Falls #2. The base of Falls #2 was literally just a few feet from the top of Falls #1. Likewise, the base of Falls #3 was only a few feet from the top of Falls #2. I only gave numbers to the waterfalls that were large enough and/or otherwise 'photo-worthy'. Those ten water features in this little hollow obviously were not all as close together as the first three. In between the larger water features was a continuous parade of smaller waterfalls, water slides, and cascades, all very nice and all photogenic in their own way. The highest in this string of water features is the beautiful Salem Falls, named for my niece Kate's son. Salem Moorehead.
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Salem Falls
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The entire way up the hollow, you can see the next water feature from the previous one, so planning a good route from one to the next is fairly simple. From the parking location to the highest waterfall, Salem Falls, is only a half mile hiking distance, including the random lateral movements in and out of the creek area. The more passable route on the way up seemed to be along the left side. The right side of the creek had the occasional sheer bluff that required crossing the creek or climbing higher on the bluff. We paused at each of the photo-worthy waterfalls and spent quite a bit of the hike just taking photos. Coming back down the hollow, we climbed up on the ridge of the bluff on the left side (as you face downstream), and hiked down well above the rock jumble along the creek. I marked coordinates (listed above) for a bluffline break to come down through on the final steep bluff above Big Piney. See the map below for that detail.
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| Falls #4 |
Make no mistake about it, this is a wet weather polyfoss. I really don't know how much rain the area actually got. We had received about an inch of rain the night before at our house north of Dover, and I saw about the same reported at Pelsor. It could have been a lot more locally, but I doubt it was much more. It looks like it doesn't take a whole lot to make it look good. I think today, it had just the right amount of flow to make it look it's best. At any rate, know that it will need some wet weather. Since the drainage area for this hollow is not very large, it will go away pretty quickly after a good rain as well. It's easy enough to get to and check out so I would recommend doing that after a rain. If it doesn't look all that good on the lowest waterfall, you can go elsewhere and not waste any time. This little hollow has a whole lot of beautiful scenery, a very large payload for very little effort. If you can catch it on a wet day and don't mind a steep bushwhack, I would highly recommend this one.
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| Falls #1 |
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| Falls #2 |
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From the top of Falls #2
The top of Falls #1 is at the edge of the visible water
The parking location is at the right side of the clearing in the background
Big Piney Creek is immediately behind the clearing |
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| Falls #3 |
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| Falls #4 |
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| Falls #5 |
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| Falls #6 |
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| Falls #6 |
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| Falls #7 |
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| Hourglass Falls |
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| Salem Falls |
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| GPS Track - Teapot Hollow Polyfoss |
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