Kings River Natural Area, Ozark National Forest near Red Star, Arkansas

4/27/2019 -  Kings River Falls 

GPS Coordinates:  (Latitude,  Longitude,  Elevation)
  Park and Trailhead - Kings River:  35.89422,  -93.58457,  1731 ft.
  Kings River Falls:  35.90186,  -93.57443,  1697 ft.
  Falls #1:  35.90184,  -93.57477,  1716 ft.
  Falls #2:  35.90178,  -93.57515,  1744 ft.
  Falls #3:  35.90200,  -93.57521,  1752 ft.
  Falls #4:  35.90233,  -93.57573,  1789 ft. 
  Falls #5:  35.90248,  -93.57601,  1802 ft.
  Falls #6:  35.90266,  -93.57613,  1809 ft.
  Falls #7:  35.90384,  -93.57744,  1882 ft.
  Road 3605 Falls:  35.86593,  -93.53076
  

Pet-Friendly: Yes, dogs on or off leash should be fine.  Be aware this is a Natural Area, and one of the few simple guidelines the ANHC has for public use of these areas is that "pets are discouraged, but if present should be under their owner's control".  That's their super-nice way of saying "don't let your dog be a pest or harm the habitat".

Hiking Statistics:  This is an easy hike, with a trail all the way to Kings River Falls.  It is just under a mile (4,958 feet by my GPS track) directly from the parking location to Kings River Falls.  The only elevation change is the natural slope of the river, and the trail runs right alongside the river.  

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

  Kings River area waypoints
  GPS Track for Kings River trail and bushwhack up tributary creek
  Kings River Trail Map (courtesy of the ANHC)

Links to blog posts for other nearby areas:

  Compton's Double Falls, Amber Falls, Owl Falls
  Bowers Hollow Falls

Kings River Falls

Today, I headed back to Kings River, one of those favorite areas that I don't get back to often enough.  I have written a blog post for the Kings River Natural Area before, but looking through it, it appears it could definitely use some updating.  This trip out, I went high enough in the tributary running northwest of Kings River Falls to find a really nice new waterfall high in the drainage.  This area also has another attribute that I needed to check out.  Ever since my night photography workshop last summer, I have become hooked on Milky Way photography and am always on the lookout for places with the correct orientation (shooting southward).  When I can put my two favorite subjects, waterfalls and the Milky Way, together at the same time, it's pretty much photography heaven for me.  

Falls #5

Kings River is one of those areas.  The river flows northward, so the waterfall faces northward and from in front of it, you can take a shot of the waterfall and catch the Milky Way in the southern sky above it.  Using the PhotoPills app to plan out such a shot, Kings River Falls appeared to be ideally suited for such a photo.  In my very short (less than a year) time doing night photography, I have learned that one golden rule is you must go to the set during the day and scope it out.  The satellite view you get on PhotoPills does not tell you the whole story, as I have found out.  So today's trip was primarily to check out Kings River Falls for a Milky Way shot.  The fact that this is a wonderful area to hike and that I needed a little exercise didn't hurt.  Bethany already had commitments, and Boomer was still on limited duty after his surgery, so I was on my own today.  

Falls #7

One thing I failed to point out in my previous blog post for Kings River is that this is a Natural Area.  There are many 'area' designations in Arkansas, and each comes with different sets of rules, so it is best to point out those rules to visitors.  There are 74 'Natural Areas' in Arkansas that have special protections for local features, fauna, and flora.  They are administered by the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission to preserve and protect these natural resources.  It is public land, but they have simple rules for visitors, primarily that it is foot traffic only and camping or building campfires are not allowed.  To make matters a little more confusing, the Kings River Natural Area is not to be confused with the Kings River Nature Preserve, which is on 10.5 miles of the Kings River in Carroll County.  'Nature Preserves' are NOT public land, they are private land that has been donated or deeded over in some way to the Nature Conservancy, a worldwide non-profit organization for the conservation of natural resources.  The 'Nature Preserves' administered by the Nature Conservancy are generally open for public use, but they are NOT public land and they have their own set of rules for public use.  The Kings River Nature Preserve does not have hiking trails, and traffic is limited only to floating the river itself, so I won't be doing a blog post for that one.

As with most places in the Ozarks, there is more than one way to get there and I have traveled a couple of different routes.  Both ways are a little rough, but you should have no trouble taking either route in a normal vehicle, no 4WD is needed. 

My preference for a route to get there is to go north of Clarksville on Hwy 21 approximately 30 miles to Fallsville, and turn right (west) on Hwy 16.  

•  Go 10.7 miles on Hwy 16 to the little town of Red Star and turn left (north) on Madison County Road CR-3605.  
•  Go north on CR-3605 for 1 mile and bear left onto CR-3500.  
•  Stay on CR-3500 for another 4.2 miles and arrive at the parking location.  This route is what I call a 'one lane plus' road, but in my opinion, is better maintained than the other route below.  

Alternatively, from Fallsville you can turn right (west) onto Hwy16 and:

• Go 16.3 miles down Hwy 16 to the small town of Boston.  At Boston, turn right (north) on CR-3175 (Madison County Road).  
• Go 2.0 miles on CR-3175, then keep right onto CR-3415.  
• Continue down CR-3415 for 2.3 miles and turn left on CR-3500.  
• After you turn onto CR-3500, in less than a quarter mile you will see a parking area on the right just before the bridge over Mitchell Branch. 

Madison 3605 Falls

Pro tip: another bonus to taking the first route is that you get a bonus waterfall.  After you turn off Hwy 16 onto CR-3605, you go around a curve and drive over a creek that runs across the road.  If there is even a little flow in the creek, there will be a waterfall where it falls off the road on the left side.  I call it Madison 3605 Falls for obvious reasons.  Here's another insider tip for the drive to Kings River; there are quite a few parking spaces laid out now on the right side of the road just before you cross the bridge over Mitchell Branch.  I didn't count them, but I would say at least a dozen parking slots.  Most people park here because this is clearly the parking location.  But you have to walk over the bridge across Mitchell Branch anyway to get to the trailhead, and at the trailhead itself is another couple of spots to park.  

Trailhead and prime parking location
the other parking spots on CR-3500 can be seen
in the background across Mitchell Branch

From the sign at the trailhead, get on the trail.  It starts out right along Mitchell Branch.  No, not that Mitchell Branch, it is not to be confused with the one in the Ouachitas that has Mitchell Branch Falls on it.  This Mitchell Branch is a nice running creek that is a major tributary of Kings River.  If you keep Mitchell Branch to your right, it soon flows into Kings River and the trail continues along the west side of Kings River.  From the parking area, it is less than a mile to Kings River Falls.  That is, it's less than a mile if you don't get distracted.  There is a nice tributary creek that you cross with some smaller waterfalls when it is flowing well.  The dogwoods were blooming today and I saw something I had never seen in the wild before, a pink dogwood.   There are also some cascades along Kings River and some other side drainages that generally don't have much flow.  This is a relatively short hike, and while the trail is somewhat rocky and has areas that always seem to be under a couple of inches of water, it is flat and easy hiking.  

Cascade along the trail on Kings River

The river itself had plenty of flow today, due to the recent rains and a fairly wet late winter and early spring.  Kings River Falls was beautiful today.  My primary objective today was to scope out the waterfall for a good Milky Way shot.  Kings River is not only oriented right for this, but the river at this point is wide and the river runs fairly straight for a good distance upstream of the waterfall.  This means there isn't a good deal of foliage over the river to block the view of the night sky, and the valley is open to the south for a great view of the lower part of the Milky Way, where the galactic core will shine in the summer months.  I did some night augmented reality views using the PhotoPills app, taking screenshots of the Milky Way overlaying my current view of Kings River Falls.  As it turns out, the best views of the Milky Way were also spots where I had taken photos before, from the rock bluff just below the waterfall on the same side as the trail, and a gravel bar just out in the river from the same (west) side.  After doing my night shot research, I hiked up the tributary drainage.

Falls #5

Just before you get to the top of Kings River Falls, look to your left, up the small creek that flows into the river.  Today, it had good flow, so I hiked up it to check out the waterfalls.  I like the big, tall, waterfalls with lots of flow just like everyone else.  But I'm a sucker for the small waterfalls I find along creeks in the Ozarks.  I had hiked up this drainage on previous visits, but I had yet to follow it to the top.  The hike along Kings River is a pretty easy one, with little elevation change and no big obstacles.  Today I felt the need for a little more exercise, so I ventured up this little gem of a creek further than I had before.  I had found six waterfalls here before and assumed there was not much else to be seen.  I was wrong.  

Falls #7 - with Rick for scale

About a third of a mile up this tributary drainage, I found the best waterfall of the bunch.  Falls #7 flows off a large bluff with a large shelter cave behind it.  I took a photo for scaling, with me (6 foot, 3inches) next to the waterfall so I can measure myself and the waterfall for a semi-accurate estimate of the waterfall's height.  I place myself next to the waterfall stream so we are both the same approximate distance from the camera, to eliminate parallax errors.  Falls #7 is just a hair over 31 feet tall, about twice as tall as Falls #5, the next largest waterfall in this creek.  Above Falls #7, I hiked further upstream to the point on the knob where the creek leveled out for a distance.  On BackCountry Navigator it appeared I was within a hundred feet of the ridge with very little remaining slope, so I turned around and made my way back to the river.  From Falls #7 back to Kings River is only 0.3 miles, so this is a nice creek with plenty to see in a short distance.  There is little undergrowth and bushwhacking conditions are pretty good, even in 'leaves on' seasons.

Falls #2, with Falls #3 in the background

This was a very pleasant Sunday, and I had been pleasantly surprised at the lack of people.  I am often the only person here on weekdays, but it is a popular hiking destination and on weekends there are often a few other folks here.  I had seen no one when I started my hike up the tributary creek, but by the time I got back to Kings River Falls, there were a couple of groups, maybe a dozen people enjoying the scenery at the waterfall.  On my way back to the parking area, I passed another three couples hiking down the trail.  This is a great hike to just get away and enjoy some Natural State beauty.  Kings River is a popular area since it is easily accessible by most vehicles and is an easy enough hike to take children along.  It is highly recommended anytime, but if you like a little more solitude you might want to try it between weekends.

GPS Track for today's hike