Fiddlehead Falls, Arkansas Ozarks

3/14/2015 - Fiddlehead Falls

GPS Coordinates:  (Latitude,  Longitude,  Elevation)
  Parking Location:  35.52569,  -92.86046,  1326 ft
  Fiddlehead Falls:  35.53653,  -92.86111,  1232 ft
  Lower Fiddlehead Falls:  35.53665,  -92.86222,  1240 ft

Pet Friendly: Yes.  No problem for dogs off leash. 

Motorcycle Friendly: No.  It is about 15 miles on a gravel road, no place for a heavy cruiser or touring bike.

Fiddlehead Falls

After hiking to Schoolhouse Falls and Lizard Log Falls, my hiking companions (Dan Frew, David and Amber Dedman) and I loaded up and headed for our third hike of the day, Fiddlehead Falls.  This waterfall is not that well known.  Most waterfall chasers in Arkansas get a copy of Tim Ernst's Arkansas Waterfalls, and use that as their guide.  This particular waterfall is not in the current edition of that book, so it's somewhat unknown.  

We were driving to it from close to the Austin Trailhead, but I'll give directions from the nearest highway for clarity.  The parking location for Fiddlehead Falls is on Lindsey Mountain Motorway, which sounds like a major thoroughfare.  Sadly, it is not.  It's a one lane dirt road that stretches from Highway 27 to White Oak Mountain Road.  

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

It may seem like you can shortcut the length of dirt roads you drive on by coming in from Highway 27, but that end of Lindsey Mountain Motorway is in horrible condition.  You will save time by going in on White Oak Mountain Road.

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 11.4 miles on White Oak Mountain Road.  Be careful 7.2 miles from Highway 27 and bear left where the road branches at the 'Y' in the road.  See the sign at right - you want to stay on White Oak Mountain Road at this point.  After following it for 11.4 miles, turn left onto Lindsey Mountain Motorway.  Go just 0.8 miles and park on the right.   The creek and Fiddlehead Falls are just below you on the right (north) side of the road.

Fiddlehead Falls, like most Ozarks waterfalls, is easy to get to the top of the waterfall.  Head straight down the hill toward the creek and the waterfall is right there, only about 150 yards from where you parked.  However, just like most Ozarks waterfalls, you can't see much from the top.  The best way to the base of Fiddlehead Falls is on the other (north) side of the creek.  Cross the creek and you can make your way down a steep slope to the base of the waterfall.  We went upstream and looked for a good spot to cross.  Today, however, the creek was too high, so we opted to go downstream and find a break in the bluff.

Fiddlehead Falls

We did finally find a way down through the bluffline on the south side of the creek, but had to go about a hundred yards downstream to find it.  This break was fairly steep and slippery, but we made it down to creek level OK and then back upstream to the base of Fiddlehead Falls.  This is a beautiful waterfall, especially at high water as it was today.  Everything was wet, and water streamed down on us from the bluffline above.  In the photo at right, you can see a virtual curtain of water droplets falling in front of me as I took this photo.

Lower Fiddlehead Falls

Downstream, almost back to where our bluffline break was, there is another nice waterfall.  This is currently unnamed, but I'll refer to it as Lower Fiddlehead Falls.  It was either that or Fiddlefoot Falls, which just seems wrong.

From Lower Fiddlehead Falls, we headed back up the bluff and back up to the road.  Round trip, this is a very short hike of less than a half mile.  It is a little steep getting down to the base of the waterfall, but still a fairly easy hike.  This one is recommended.  

GPS Track - Fiddlehead Falls

Lizard Log Falls, Brock Creek Recreation Area, Arkansas Ozarks

3/14/2015 - Lizard Log Falls and Polyfoss Area

GPS Coordinates:  (Latitude,  Longitude,  Elevation)
  Parking Location:  35.53879 -92.80868,  1480 ft
  Lizard Log Falls:  35.53207,  -92.81144,  1167 ft
  Break in Bluffline below Lizard Log Falls:  35.53148,  -92.81190,  1240 ft
  Unnamed Falls #1:  35.53570,  -92.80909,  1344 ft
  Unnamed Falls #2:  35.53523,  -92.80960,  1321 ft

  Unnamed Falls #3:  35.53176,  -92.81281,  1168 ft

  Unnamed Falls #4:  35.53143,  -92.81328,  1142 ft

Pet Friendly: Yes.  No problem for dogs off leash.  

Motorcycle Friendly: No.  It is about 15 miles on a gravel road, no place for a heavy cruiser or touring bike.

GPS Track (3-D Map at bottom of this post)
  Lizard Log Falls GPS track (.gpx format)

Lizard Log Falls (47 ft)

After leaving Schoolhouse Falls, our second hike of the day was nearby Lizard Log Falls.  This waterfall was also originally documented by Zack Andrews, founder of Waterfalls.IO.  As originally plotted out and described in Tim Ernst's wonderful guidebook, Arkansas Waterfalls, the trail starts at the Austin Trailhead and goes to Lizard Log Falls and three other significant waterfalls in a seven mile trek.  

Unnamed Falls #1

We were opting for shorter hikes today due to the threat of rain, so we used a different starting point and a route that took us down more of the Lizard Log drainage.  See the previous post for Schoolhouse Falls to get driving directions.  From our parking location for Schoolhouse Falls, we went back on the Jeep road to Wilderness Trail, then turned left.   Only 0.3 miles east on Wilderness Trail from the Austin Trailhead we pulled over on the left (south) and parked.  This put us at the top of the drainage for Lizard Log Falls.

Unnamed Falls #2

We started out hiking down the right (west) side of the creek, where the slope is easier.  We then crossed the creek to the left side at the unnamed waterfalls upstream of Lizard Log Falls.  This drainage is fairly steep, as you can see from the 3D topo map at the bottom of this post.  There are numerous waterfalls and cascades as you go down the drainage, some very picturesque and all but Lizard Log Falls are unnamed, to the best of my knowledge.  I documented two above Lizard Log Falls and two below, but there are many more.

Top of Lizard Log Falls

Continuing on downstream, we crossed a tributary on the left side of the creek, then followed the creek downstream to the top of Lizard Log Falls.  The top of this waterfall is quite remarkable in itself.  The water has cut a slot channel in the creek bed at the very top of the waterfall, and just before that is a stairstep chute that the water rushes down before hitting the slot and spilling over Lizard Log Falls into the large pool 47 feet below.  Quite a sight, but to view the waterfall itself you will need to make your way down to the base.

Slot Stair-step Falls feeding Lizard Log Falls

You will need to be on the left (east) side of the creek when you get to the top of Lizard Log Falls, because on the other side there is a sheer bluffline for quite a way downstream.  Even on the east side, you have to go downstream about 200 yards to find a break in the bluffline you can use to get down to creek level.  Look for the table shaped rock for the access point.  If it looks too steep for you, there is a lesser slope just a little further downstream.

Rock marking break in bluffline

Once down below the bluff, you can easily make your way back upstream to the base of the waterfall.  As you might expect from the way water shoots through the slot, this one spews water well out away from the bluff into a large emerald pool.  We shot some photos from every perspective here, then moved on downstream.

Downstream of Lizard Log Falls, there are at least two more really nice unnamed waterfalls.  That is as far down the

Unnamed Falls #3

drainage as we explored today, since we had more on our agenda for the day and we were trying to keep the hikes relatively short due to the ever impending threat of more rain.  After I got home and downloaded all the tracks from the day's hikes, I noticed that this drainage drops off even more steeply after the lowest waterfall we visited.  I don't doubt there are more pretty nice waterfalls lower in the drainage, but that will be a longer hike for another day.

Unnamed Falls #4

After visiting the waterfall I called Unnamed Falls #4, we headed back.  Climbing back up out of hollows with steep sides is always a chore, but once back above the bluffline it was easier going.  We stopped at one tributary into the creek and explored just a little way upstream, but found nothing extraordinary.  We continued back up the drainage, crossed the creek near Unnamed Falls #1, and back to the parking location.

This was right at three miles round trip, all of it a bushwhack, and some of it a little steep and rugged.  I would rate it a moderately difficult hike, but well worth the effort.  There are a lot of picturesque waterfalls and cascades in this hollow and probably more further downstream from where we turned around.  Our second hike of the day was done, on to the next!

3-D GPS track - Lizard Log Falls

Schoolhouse Falls, Brock Creek Recreation Area, Arkansas Ozarks

3/14/2015 - Schoolhouse Falls

GPS Coordinates:  (Latitude,  Longitude,  Elevation)
  Parking Location:  35.532128,  -92.80190,  1449 ft
  Schoolhouse Falls:  35.53019,  -92.79877,  1273 ft

Pet Friendly: Yes.  No problem for dogs off leash.  

Motorcycle Friendly: No.  It is about 15 miles on a gravel road, no place for a heavy cruiser or touring bike.

Schoolhouse Falls (30 ft)

I set out this morning with my friend Dan Frew to check out a number of
waterfalls north of Hector.  Our original plan was to go to Engagement Hollow, but it was looking like it would rain a good part of the day.  So instead, we opted for a number of shorter hikes that we could visit in close proximity.  We met up with David and Amber Dedman in Hector and headed out to our first hike of the day, Schoolhouse Falls.

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

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 11.7 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 at right - you want to stay on White Oak Mountain Road at this point.  After following it for 11.8 miles, turn right onto Wilderness Trail (aka FR-1307).  Go another 3.3 miles and turn right onto a dirt road, FR-1338.  If you get to Jobe's Way, you have gone just a little too far.  Where you turned off Wilderness Way onto the dirt road is the Austin Trailhead.  Go down the dirt road for 0.3 miles and park.  

Schoolhouse Falls is directly below in the drainage on the left (east) as you drive up.  We found a good place to park the Jeeps, then started off down into the drainage.  The hike starts out on the level, then gradually gets steeper as you get down into the creek canyon below.  We hiked straight down into the drainage just downstream of Schoolhouse Falls.  About halfway down, I stopped to check my GPS.  Disaster alert!   I had clipped it to my camera bag and somehow it had fallen off.  Arrrgh.  Handheld GPS units like my Delorme Earthmate are quite expensive.  We decided to look for it on the way back and continued on.  We found a steep but doable break in the bluffline to go down to creek level.  The route down was slippery walking along rough and not-too-wide ledges, but we made it just fine.

Schoolhouse Falls

Schoolhouse Falls is one of a number of waterfalls in the Brock Creek Recreation Area originally documented by Zack Andrews.  The area is popular with hunters, mountain bikers, and ATV riders, as well as fellow waterfall chasers.   You see the hiking and ATV trails all over this fairly large area.  Down in the actual steep hollows, however, all you generally see is nature and the occasional waterfall chasers.  Today, we went on five hikes in separate nearby areas, and only saw one other hiker, toward the end of our hike to Lizard Log Falls.

Creek downstream - from behind Schoolhouse Falls

We had a lot more on our agenda today, so we didn't explore in the drainage containing Schoolhouse Falls.  We oohed and awwwed, took some photos, and headed back.  On the way back, we spread out and searched for my lost GPS, to no avail.  We got all the way back to the parking location and still couldn't find it.  I was ready to give up and come back another day to search for it, but David and Dan insisted on at least retracing our steps one more time.  Sure enough, David found it right at the top of the descent into the drainage.  Whew!  Thanks again, David.  This hobby is getting expensive enough with my penchant (and Boomer's) for breaking camera lens.  On to the next hike!

Devil's Playground, Arkansas Ozarks

3/14/2015 - Devil's Playground

GPS Coordinates:  (Latitude,  Longitude,  Elevation)
  Parking Location:  35.51155   -92.95365,  839 ft.
  Devil's Playground - access:  35.51059   -92.95376,  836 ft.

Pet Friendly: Not really.  While not restricted, the area is full of fissures, holes, and crevasses.  It will be possible for a dog to go where you go, but there are a lot of fall and entrapment hazards, so be careful.

Motorcycle Friendly: No.  It isn't even all that car friendly.  Unless you have a good 4X4, ATV, or horse, I would park at White Mountain Road and hike.

After leaving Sand Cave, my friend Dan Frew and I made one more stop at Devil's Playground before going home.  This was our fifth hike of the day, and one of the most unique areas in Arkansas.  The area sits high on the mountain overlooking the Illinois Bayou north of Hector.  I don't know how to exactly describe it.  The area is somewhat surreal, with holes in the ground cropping up underfoot, fissures only a foot or two wide going deep into the ground, and crevasses interlinking at angles to each other.  Dan has lived his whole life in this area, and spends about every other day out tromping around the wilderness.  So to him this is another of those spots he grew up with, on a farm just south of this mountain.  To me, it is amazing.

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.  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 3.2 miles on White Oak Mountain Road.   White Oak Mountain Road bends sharply to the right at this point, and you will see a Jeep trail branching off on the left (north), heading downhill.    

Follow the Jeep road downhill from White Oak Mountain Road, over a small drainage, then back up along the bluff overlooking the Illinois Bayou valley.  After a little over a mile, you will arrive at the parking location.  That is, if you have a good 4X4, it's your parking location.  Otherwise, I would advise you to leave your vehicle at White Oak Mountain Road and hoof it the rest of the way.  

From this parking location, hike to the left (west) of the Jeep road, toward the bluff overlooking the valley.  All through this area, you will find the fissures, holes, and crevasses I described above.  Some of the fissures are less than two feet wide, but go down a hundred feet into the ground.  The fissures intersect and intertwine into a maze of crevasses and caves deep into the ground.  I have no idea what forces of nature created this area, but it is uniquely cool.

"Bear crack" leading down to
bottom of series of fissures

There is one point (GPS coordinates above) where you can descend at a not-too-steep slope down into the bottom of the crevasses.  At some point in the past, people lived in this area and made use of these crevasses.  You can see remnants of an old stone fence on top of the ground, and down in the crevasses you will find remnants of old stone walls.  As you descend into the fissures, you can feel the air temperature drop.  I don't know just how big the temperature difference is to the surface, but it felt significant.  It was in the high 60's at ground level, but even after days of warmer weather and several inches of rain, there was still snow and ice at the bottom of the fissures.

I managed to slip on a wet, mossy rock near the bottom of the descent and fell with my camera between my body and the rock.  Crap.  Another lens broke, and I broke it pretty good this time.  So most of the photos I took here were taken with my wife's hand-me-down phone, a Nokia 920.  Yeah, I broke my GS4 phone in pretty much the same manner as this lens on a hike a couple of weeks ago.  This is getting to be a fairly expensive hobby...

Be careful!  Holes like this are all over the area.

If you are looking for a spot that is just different than anything else you have seen, this is a good one.  My one word of caution is to be aware of the hazards and be careful.  Unlike Pedestal Rocks, where the forest service has put fences around many of the holes and cracks, no one has done that here.  This is definitely not a place to be walking around in the dark. 

 

Topo Map - Devil's Playground

Lonesome Hollow Falls, Arkansas Ozarks

3/10/2015 - Lonesome Hollow Falls

GPS Coordinates:  (Latitude,  Longitude,  Elevation)
  Parking:  35.80639, -93.15759,  1822 feet
  Turn off ATV trail:  35.80364,  -93.15878,  1839 feet
  Lonesome Hollow Falls:  35.80487, -93.16006,  1988 feet

Pet friendly: Yes.  OK for pets on or off leash.

Motorcycle friendly: Yes.  Less than a mile down a fairly good gravel road.  I would take my street bike on this road.

GPS files (3-D map of GPS track at bottom of this post):
  GPS track file for Lonesome Hollow Falls hike (.gpx format)

Lonesome Hollow Falls (47 ft)

After going to Hudson Shelter Falls today, I was so pleased at how well it was running that I had to check out Lonesome Hollow Falls as well.  Who am I kidding - Lonesome Hollow is so close to Hudson Shelter that it would be almost criminal to not make another short hike.  This waterfall is just outside of Cowell.  It's easy to drive to, easy to hike, and usually has enough flow to be beautiful.  This is one of the waterfalls I regularly bring friends and family to.

Cascade downstream of Lonesome Hollow Falls

To get there, go to the Cowell Cemetery, about 0.2 miles south of Cowell.  The cemetery is right on the west side of Highway 7.  County road NC-7120 loops behind the cemetery, and comes back out on Highway 7.  Take NC-7120 halfway around the cemetery, and take FR-1253 where it tees in to the west.  There are two dirt roads at this point; FR-1253 is the south-most of these, and has signs that say 'Dead End' and 'One Lane Road with Turnouts'.  Follow FR-1253 for 0.9 miles and park on the right at one of those turnouts that is an old logging trail, now with an earth berm to barricade it off.  

Boomer found the rock cairn!

Take the old logging road as it descends into Lonesome Hollow.  On the right below the trail is the rock bluff that forms the overhang that Lonesome Hollow Falls runs over.  After about a quarter mile, you will notice the road cuts over this rock bluffline.  Exit the old road to the right and go down to the base of this rock bluffline.  Pay attention, because it is easy to miss where the logging road cuts below that bluffline.  Apparently, I'm not the only one to miss this; we noticed a rock cairn placed out into the road this time, pointing the way. 

Lonesome Hollow Falls and downstream creek

The first few yards off the road to the base of the bluffline is a little steep with loose rocks, so be careful here.  It's only a few feet and is the only rough part of this hike. Follow back along the base of the rock bluffline about another quarter mile, and you will come to Lonesome Hollow Falls.  If you stick to the base of the rock bluff, it is mostly on the level and practically no undergrowth at all.  Technically there is no trail, but it is so easy it hardly seems like a bushwhack at all.

If you want to go to the top of the falls, there are a couple of locations you can exit the old road to the right and go along the top of the bluffline.  Other than a spectacular view of Lonesome Hollow, you can't see much else, just where the creek disappears over the edge of the overhang.

Lonesome Hollow Falls

Today, Lonesome Hollow Falls was really in great form.  Plenty of water flow to make the waterfall spectacular, and plenty to make the cascades and small waterfalls downstream great as well.  This is a very steep Hollow, and the creek literally goes from one cascade or waterfall to the next.  I have only explored a couple of hundred yards below the waterfall.  Someday I hope to spend all day in this valley to see what else it has to offer.

All in all, another great day in the wilderness.  This waterfall is a highly recommended hike.  It is usually beautiful and is a short, easy hike.  Round trip it is about one mile with less than 200 feet elevation change.

GPS 3-D Track

Hudson Shelter Falls, Arkansas Ozarks

3/10/2015 -  Hudson Shelter Falls

GPS Coordinates:  (Latitude,  Longitude,  Elevation)
  Parking Location:  35.85416,  -93.12623,  2111 feet
  Hudson Shelter:  35.85146, -93.12411,  1912 feet

Pet Friendly: Yes.  Be careful, however if you go down to the shelter cave itself (base of the lower waterfall).  You have to cross the creek to do so, and right at the top of the fall.  Less sure-footed dogs might slip and go over the ledge.  You might too, for that matter.  Be careful!

Motorcycle Friendly: Marginal at best.  It is over four miles on a gravel road, but I will say it is a fairly well maintained gravel road. 

GPS files (3-D map of GPS track is at bottom of this post):
  GPS track file for Hudson Shelter Falls hike (.gpx format)

Hudson Shelter Falls - Middle and Lower Falls

Hudson Shelter is a large (huge) shelter-type cave tucked away in a drainage right off the side of Hudson Mountain.   I had not really intended to go hiking today, but I got to thinking about the amount of snow and ice we had seen just a couple of days before at Paradise Falls.  That tends to slowly seep in, building up the groundwater.  We had received another inch of rain last night, so I got to wondering if I could catch Hudson Shelter with a good amount of flow.  It was at least worth a look, so Boomer and I packed up and headed north for a quick trip.

Turn off Highway 7

To get there, drive north 11.0 miles from Pelsor (aka Sand Gap), or if coming from the other direction, drive south 2.8 miles from the junction where Highway 16 splits off from Highway 7 to go west toward the community of Deer.  This will bring you right to the middle of the small community of Cowell.  Turn right on the road going toward the northwest here (or left if coming from the other direction) onto NC-6560 (aka FR-1204).  On some maps this road is CR-55 (old county road name) and on some it is Newton 6370.  All I can tell you for sure is there is only one street sign on Highway 7 for this road, and it says NC-6560.

Hudson Shelter Falls - Upper Falls

Whatever you want to call this road, go down it for 4.1 miles and turn right onto FR-1204B.  FR-1204B is also known as Hudson Mountain Road locally, but the only marking is a stake on the right that says 1204B.  Go about a hundred yards down FR-1204B and there will be an old logging road on the right.  Park there and start your hike.  In the past, I have been able to back all the way down this logging road to where it bends to the left.  Today, the roads were in terrible shape, very muddy and sloppy, so I parked at the top of the logging road and started hiking down.

Hudson Shelter Falls - Middle Falls

Follow the old logging road for a short distance to where it makes that bend to the left.  Keep going straight and leave the logging road at that bend.  There is a volunteer trail there that goes down to the creek, then follows it downstream.  This drainage is a feeder creek that flows into Campbell Creek about a third of a mile below Hudson Shelter.  Today, I could hear the creek below as soon as we started down the trail.  Now that's a good sign!  Normally, this creek and the waterfall are dry or close to it.

Hudson Shelter Falls - Lower Falls

The trail crosses over the creek a couple of times before coming to the top of the falls.  Hudson Shelter Falls is actually a triple-tiered waterfall, with three distinct waterfalls.  There is only 15 to 25 feet from the base of one waterfall to the top of the next, so I only list one GPS waypoint for the group of waterfalls as a whole.  

The top waterfall has a cascade of about six feet, then drops off a ledge for another four to five feet.  This one is small, but still a pretty waterfall.  It was difficult to get an unobstructed view of this one for photos due to fallen trees.  As you go past this waterfall on the left side as you face downstream, there is a path for a relatively easy climb down to the next level.  From there, you stay on the left side of the creek for a similar drop down to the base of the second tier, the middle falls.

Hudson Shelter Falls - Middle Falls

The middle falls are nice by themselves, falling off a ledge then down large rocks for a total of at least 20 feet.  Once you get to the other side of the creek, there are several locations where you can see the middle and lower falls together, for a striking view.  To descend to the base of the lower waterfall and to the cave itself, you have to cross over the creek and descend a scramble of large rocks.  Boomer has a difficult time trying to get firm footing from rock to rock, just because they are so large.  

Hudson Shelter

Hudson Shelter itself is a huge cave, easily 75 feet deep and much wider than that.  It has a high ceiling, at least 20 feet in the center.  The lower waterfall falls over the right side of the mouth of the cave (as you look downstream), the side you just climbed down to get there.

This is a quick and easy hike.  Although technically a bushwhack, the volunteer trail is easy to follow and less than a mile round trip, with a total elevation difference of only 200 feet.  My only word of caution would be to take extra precautions if you take children or smaller dogs.  To get to the cave below, you have to cross a slippery creek just a couple feet from the ledge over the cave, and the rock scramble down to the mouth of the cave can be hazardous.

GPS track - Hudson Shelter Falls

Paradise Falls, Upper Buffalo Wilderness, Arkansas Ozarks

3/8/2015 -  Paradise Falls Polyfoss Area

GPS Coordinates:  (Latitude,  Longitude,  Elevation)
  Parking Location:  35.88490,  -93.37985,  2250 ft.
  Turn off trail to Boen Gulf Branch:  35.88392,  -93.38320,  2211 ft.
  Turn off trail to Twisted Knee Falls:  35.88217,  -93.38351,  2192 ft.
  Unnamed Falls #1:  35.88583,  -93.38759,  1993 ft.
  Unnamed Falls #2:  35.88306,  -93.38999,  1935 ft.
  Chumfarger Falls:  35.88213,  -93.39225,  1885 ft.
  Hargfarger Falls:  35.88184,  -93.39251,  1873 ft.
  Unnamed Falls #5:  35.88154,  -93.39278,  1863 ft.
  Unnamed Falls #6:  35.87941,  -93.38548,  2046 ft.
  Twisted Knee Falls:  35.88158,  -93.39011,  1939 ft.
  Paradise Falls:  35.88134,  -93.39329,  1831 ft.

Pet Friendly: Yes, dogs off leash should be fine. Some of the terrain is very steep and rugged, and close to the top of tall cliffs.  If your dog can't be trusted off leash I would not recommend taking it.

Motorcycle Friendly: Yes!  You park right off Highway 21.  A little too cold today, but this would be a good one to combine a beautiful ride with a good hike and scenic waterfalls.

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

   Upper Buffalo Waypoints

   Paradise Falls GPS track (this hike)

Paradise Falls (32 ft)

While Bethany and I were spending the week in the Texas Hill Country, our home in Arkansas was getting a pretty good dose of Winter Storm Thor.  By the time we got back, the snow was gone from the roads, but still melting and adding to the water table in the Ozarks.   Unfortunately, the snow and ice were making many of the back roads a real mess.  Paradise Falls seemed like the perfect choice for today.  You park right next to the highway, and I had been wanting to catch this waterfall with a good amount of flow.  In late summertime, the Boen Gulf Branch goes just about dry, but when it has good flow this waterfall is breathtaking.  Bethany wanted to catch up on household chores, so Boomer (our German Shepherd) and I took the hint and took off.

Parking Location - by Highway 21

To get there, go north on Highway 21 just 3.4 miles from Edwards Junction (the intersection of Highways 16 and 21).  There is a pull off on the left (west) side of the road where you can park.  If you are coming from the other direction, this is 0.8 miles from the Mossville church and cemetery.  This pull out is where an old road ran into the highway long ago, but is now blocked with a berm across it.  A very large berm, for all you Jeep owners;  I wouldn't try it.  I certainly wasn't going to try it in my Explorer.

Unnamed Falls #1 - Highest in Boen Gulf Branch

After you park, go over the berm and head down the old trace road.  The road is fairly clear and in pretty good shape as you go down the hill.  As the road levels out, you come to an intersection with a road on the right; bear left and stay on the road here.  After that intersection, the old road curves left, and after the road levels out there is another old trace road to the right.  It is now so overgrown that you will not even see it unless you know where to look.  "Trace road" is being generous, as it is now mostly trace and not much road.  It is also getting very heavily overgrown on the upper half, with a lot of undergrowth and briers.  This is the route in Tim Ernst's excellent Arkansas Waterfalls guidebook.  This old trace road will lead you downhill, and the further downhill you go the easier it is to follow.  It crosses Boen Gulf Branch, and that's where you leave the road to bushwhack downstream to all the waterfalls.  The first of these is just below the road crossing.

Creek above Twisted Knee Falls - with Boomer

Boomer was well down the road by the time I got to the turn off point on the old road.  He often scouts out the best trails ahead of me, and assumed we were staying on the main road.  Instead of calling him back, I decided to take a different route down.  We stayed straight on the main road to the next intersection on the right with a fairly well defined, clear trace road.  This road goes downhill toward the tributary that contains Twisted Knee Falls.  It is very easy hiking down, at least as far down as the road goes.  About 200 yards from this tributary creek the trace road ends and you will have to bushwhack down to the creek.  There is a "bear crack" at (35.88018, -93.38409) that will allow easy access through the bluff above the feeder creek.  It is somewhat easy hiking as bushwhacks go, and before long you come to the creek and can then follow it down to Twisted Knee Falls.  

Twisted Knee Falls

This creek has no name, that I know of.  It appears to be fed by a large spring-fed pool at the top of the mountain.  It generally has more flow than Boen Gulf Branch has upstream of their juncture.  There are a number of smaller waterfalls and cascades in this drainage.  Unnamed Falls #6 is just downstream from the bear crack.

Twisted Knee Falls is a beautiful little waterfall, with water flowing off a large flat rock extending out over a large pool.I don't know what the story behind naming Twisted Knee Falls is, but I can only guess.  It is a short climb down to the base of the waterfall, but it is a little rugged.  With all the ice and packed snow remaining today, it was somewhat treacherous.  Boomer and I both managed to stay free of twisted knees and other injuries today, but it was a challenge.  

Chumfarger Falls

From Twisted Knee Falls, we hiked downstream.  The juncture with Boen Gulf Branch is only about 200 yards downstream.  Instead of going back upstream to check out the waterfalls there, I decided to save them for the return hike and headed on down Boen Gulf Branch.  On the way down to Paradise Falls are three more really nice waterfalls, and a host of smaller falls and cascades.  Most of these can be accessed from the east side of the creek that we were hiking on.  

Hargfarger Falls

One of the larger ones, Hargfarger Falls, is a little trickier.  Don't try climbing down the rock bluff near this one; it is too slick and dangerous.  If you stay on the bluff directly above the creek here, it slopes down for easy access near the top of Paradise Falls.  From there, you can go back upstream at creek level to Hargfarger Falls.  Unnamed Falls #5 is also right there, only a few feet upstream of Paradise Falls.   

Paradise Falls

Paradise Falls is another of those Ozark waterfalls that is much easier to access the top than the base of the falls.  If you hike up over the bluff from the top of the waterfall, there is a ledge along the bluff edge that you could take to get to a fairly rough and steep access down to the base.  Today, this ledge had snow and ice packed on it such that it couldn't be used.  It is only a few inches wide to start with, and with the ice sloped to the edge of the bluff, it would have been impossible to NOT slip over the edge.  And since it is about a 40 foot drop, my fear of heights kicked in and I backed off.  Boomer was somewhat smarter (he usually is) and wouldn't even start out on the ledge.

Unnamed Falls #5 - at top of Paradise Falls

We hiked up on the bluff and went downstream a couple of hundred yards before we found a steep but doable way down to creek level.  With the ice, snow, mud, and loose leaves, it was a slippery slide down.  But there was at least some slope instead of a sheer drop off.  As I had hoped, the snow melt had provided enough flow to make Paradise Falls just spectacular.  Today, it was more like Antarctica than paradise, but still pretty as a picture.  There are a lot of umbrella magnolias in the waterfall grotto, so I would imagine this does indeed look like paradise in late spring or early summer.  This is another of those waterfalls that photos can not do it justice.  The totality of the scenery, the surroundings, and the sound of the water is incredible.  Unfortunately, a large tree has fallen over the cave high on the rock face to the left of Paradise Falls, so there is only one place to get an unobstructed photo.

Cave visible to the left of Paradise Falls

We left the Paradise Falls grotto the same way we came in, slip-sliding up the slope.  Hiking back upstream, we went back around the bluff to Twisted Knee Falls, then down to Boen Gulf Branch.   Upstream of the juncture of these two streams, it runs at a lower slope but there are still a couple of nice waterfalls along the way.   

Unnamed Falls #6

Just above the highest waterfall in this drainage, the old trace road crosses the creek.  We headed uphill to make our way back to where we parked.  This old trace road is not too bad for the first half of the way back to the main trail road, but deteriorates rapidly after that.  It is getting badly choked with green brier, blackberries, and other undergrowth.  If you go this route, you are just as well to bushwhack from the main trace road toward Unnamed Fall #1, and find the best path with the least brush.  

Once back on the main trail, the going is much easier and we were back at the Explorer in a few minutes.  As you can see from the GPS track below, we wandered around the various water features quite a bit.  The hike just to and from Paradise Falls should only be about 2.4 miles, but we logged 4.76 miles altogether.  

GPS Track - Paradise Falls