Clear Creek waterfalls and Mt. Hardy Falls, Magazine Mountain, Arkansas

5/15/2015 -  Clear Creek waterfalls and Hardy Falls, Magazine Mountain, Arkansas

GPS Coordinates:  (Latitude,  Longitude,  Elevation)
  Park - Clear Creek lower waterfalls:  35.14883,  -93.61330,  1351 ft.
  Window Falls:  35.14837,  -93.60847,  1101 ft.
  Falls #2:  35.14826,  -93.60846,   1105 ft.
  Falls#3:  35.14817,  -93.60833,  1097 ft.
  Falls #4:  35.14810,  -93.60821,  1094 ft.
  Falls #5:  35.14803,  -93.60799,  1090 ft.
  Park - Hardy Falls:  35.15123,  -93.56308,  1065 ft.
  Hardy Falls:  35.15178,  -93.56320, 1079 ft. 
  Park - Clear Creek Falls:  35.15719,  -93.61057,  1758 ft.
  Clear Creek Falls:  35.15704,  -93.61005,  1621 ft.

Pet Friendly: Yes, dogs off leash should be fine. A lot of the terrain is very steep and rugged, but most dogs should be able to make it through the bluff break.  Smaller dogs or dogs on leash would not be recommended.

Motorcycle Friendly: Not for any of the Clear Creek waterfalls,  but Hardy Falls is right next to Highway 309, a popular motorcycle ride with lots of scenery.  Clear Creek Falls and all of its smaller brethren downstream require going down logging roads a fair distance.

Clear Creek Falls

I had seen a photo of Clear Creek Falls before, but could find no directions or other information about this waterfall on the west side of Mt. Magazine.  So when my friend, Dan Frew, asked if I wanted to tag along for a hike to see this one, and several other promising areas that might contain waterfalls, I jumped at the opportunity.   He wanted an early start, which I'm all for.  But a 5:00 a.m. early start?  I actually have to set an alarm for that one.  I can't hike without a (very) large breakfast, which means I have to get up by 4:00 a.m. to have time to make it.  For some reason Bethany doesn't see the need to get up that early and cook.  We met up with Jim Fitsimones, our other hiking companion for the day, at Havana and headed toward Mount Magazine.

Falls #2

A quick word on the names of creeks in this area.  As previously noted, early settlers could not easily communicate.  They named creeks for the characteristics, features and resources nearby.  They ended up giving creeks all over the state the same names.  So when we talk in this blog post about Clear Creek, Big Piney Creek, Little Piney Creek, etc.,  we are talking about the creeks on Mount Magazine, not the better known creeks in other parts of the Ozarks.  These are on the steep west side of Mount Magazine.  

Getting there is a little difficult to explain, but I'll do my best.  We started from Havana, so I will start from there.  If coming from Paris, you can go through Mt. Magazine State Park on Highway 309 to the first turn west onto Cedar Piney Road, OR go down Highway 109, then left on Highway 10 to Havana, and follow our path from there.

Window Falls

From Havana, go 2.2 miles north on Highway 309 and turn left on Cedar Piney Road (aka CR-532).  Go 1.1 miles and turn right at the tee onto Piney Road.  Go 2.4 miles on Piney Road (aka CR-33), then turn right onto FR-1678.  Go down FR-1678 for about two miles; after crossing Big Piney Creek, there will be an intersection where both roads are labeled FR-1678 on the maps.  Confusing, right?  At any rate, turn left (north) at this intersection and take the road all the way to the coordinates listed above for lower Clear Creek waterfalls parking.  This will be approximately another two miles, and will put you close to the lower Clear Creek waterfalls.  This road, once it starts rising up the mountain, has a number of "water bars" and can be challenging.  I would not recommend taking a normal passenger car, and a good 4x4 is recommended.  More driving direction will be given below to the larger waterfall higher in the Clear Creek drainage.

The parking location is right in the saddle of a feature on the side of Mount

View from FR-1678, west side of Mount Magazine

Magazine known as Snake Knob.  From the parking location, head east down into the Clear Creek canyon.  A GPS is highly advisable for this hike, as it is easy to end up above or below the location on the creek you are heading for.  A little above is not that bad, as you can find the five lower waterfalls a little downstream.  A little below your mark would not work well at all, as the creek canyon gets very steep, very narrow, and seemed to have no breaks to go below the creek bluff for quite a distance.

Window Falls

The straight line distance to the first waterfall is a little over a quarter of a mile.  As anyone that has hiked the Ozarks well knows, you don't get to hike a straight line.  The highest of the waterfalls in the lower section of Clear Creek is almost directly below the parking location, but we angled down and back across the slope to get there as it is fairly steep.  There is an elevation change of about 250 feet between the parking location and the first waterfall.  

Rock Cave/Cabin overlooking Window Falls

Unless I find that this waterfall has been previously named, I have decided to call it Window Falls.  If you look at the photos, you will see why.  On the other side of the creek (east), there is a shelter type cave that someone built up with a wall across the front, leaving openings for a door and window.  This is all 'dry stacked' rock; that is, no mortar was used at all, just rocks the right size and shape stacked up to form the wall.  I think this is very old, but stories of its existence decades ago, I have no idea how old it is or who built it.  They even carved and placed rock to form a set of stairs from the cave/hut to the base of Window Falls.  If you go inside, this waterfall is the view you get through the dwelling's window.  Ergo, I think Window Falls is appropriate.  

Window Falls - through the Window

Window Falls is a beautiful waterfall, flowing over a large rock outcropping into an emerald pool below.  Whoever built the cave/hut structure here for a dwelling, hunting camp, or whatever, they could not have chosen a more picturesque location.  While this maybe would be a fantastic location to wake up every morning, it is a little too isolated for even the hardier pioneers.  It is in the middle of a very steep canyon, nestled between steep, narrow canyon walls with a waterfall at each end.  Nice place to visit, but really difficult place to actually live.  

Falls #3

Going further downstream, the remaining four waterfalls in this group can be found one right after the other.  The ruggedness of the terrain makes it difficult to get below each of the waterfalls, but we found a way down below each of them on the side we hiked in on, the west side of the creek.  The second waterfall, Falls #2, actually looks very similar to Window Falls in size and shape, it just has an extra 'kicker' waterfall at the foot. 

Falls #4

These five waterfalls are right about midway down the west flank of Mount Magazine.  The geology and topology in this area is somewhat different than that of the Ozarks I am more familiar with.  Throughout most of the Arkansas Ozarks, there are large layers of sandstone and limestone that have created just the formations needed for waterfalls.  On Mount Magazine, however, there aren't hard sandstone outcroppings for the creeks to flow over.  Instead, it is more a giant rock jumble with waterfalls created wherever creeks happen to flow over boulders that are large enough.  So waterfalls here are not nearly as predictable from the lay of the land as they are east of here in the Ozarks.  At this location, there just happen to be more large rock than anything else.

Jim - below Falls #5 setting up the shot

Falls #3 is a long, steep cascade zig-zagging at an angle back across the narrow creek canyon.  Falls #4 is a similar cascade, cutting back across the canyon the other direction.  The last waterfall in the chain, Falls #5, is a three tiered waterfall flowing into a deep emerald pool.  This last one was a little more challenging to photograph.  The only place you can really get a good shot of the waterfall is on the far side of the creek, which is a sheer cliff rising above the creek.  Fortunately, there was a fallen cedar tree lodged across the creek canyon at just the right height to use as a handrail to cross the creek.  The creek itself is only a few inches deep there, and we could set up tripods in the creek at the foot of the cliff to get a clear shot of the waterfall.

Falls #5

After leaving Falls #5, we hiked back up the hill to the crest of Snake Knob, and back to the parking location.  This is not a long hike at all, but 250 feet of elevation climb in a real short distance will make you glad to reach the top.  From here, we caught our breath, loaded up and headed up to the higher waterfall in this drainage, Clear Creek Falls.  Although Clear Creek Falls is less than a mile as the crow flies above where we were parked on Snake Knob, it is also a 600 foot elevation change, and a very rugged and steep climb.  If you have ever been at the Mt. Magazine Lodge and looked over this west edge of the mountain, you know what I mean.  So we were taking the more sane route, and driving around to it.

Hardy Falls

First, you have to drive all the way back off the mountain, backtracking all the way back to Highway 309.  Turn left off Highway 309 from Cedar Piney Road and go 2.1 miles to Hardy Falls.  Hey, it may be right off the highway and not much of a hike at all, but it is "right on the way", so we felt the need to stop and check it out.  There is room to park on either side of the road, just below where the creek feeding Hardy Falls flows through the culverts under the highway.  Park here and it is an easy step down to the base of Hardy Falls.  Of course, you actually have to walk back into the stone culverts to get a good view of the waterfall and take the classic photo 

Waterfall and cascade downstream of Hardy Falls

of it through the end of the culvert.  

Walking back under the highway through the culvert, the downstream waterfall is just below you and is easily accessible by climbing down the bank.  I think this waterfall is actually prettier than it's upstream little brother, but the one nearer the culverts is the one that actually has a name.  It is named for James Hardy, the guy that designed Highway 309 back in the 1930's, and built these classic culverts near the waterfall.

Clear Creek Falls

Getting back on the road at Hardy Falls, we continued up (north-west) on Highway 309 another 1.5 miles then turned left onto a dirt logging road.  This is one of the major bench roads across the west face of Mount Magazine, and is pretty much on the level, but still a little sloppy and still has a number of water bars providing major road humps.  Again, I would not recommend passenger cars attempt it, and a 4x4 would be recommended even if your vehicle has good ground clearance.  It looks like gravel has been hauled in to make it a little easier on logging trucks, but it was somewhat washed out again and still a little rough.  Take this logging road along the bench for about two miles until it crosses Clear Creek and park.  Clear Creek Falls is directly below the road.

Clear Creek Falls is twice as tall as any of the smaller waterfalls in the drainage

far downstream of it.  This is the only one on the steep west side of Mount Magazine that I have ever even seen mentioned, and only one reference at that.  I'm sure the other drainage systems on this flank of the mountain have more waterfalls and other water features hidden in them, but that's for another day.  I might come back and poke around in the steep canyons for Little Piney Creek and Big Piney Creek (the ones on Mt. Magazine, not the ones that are river sized) some other day, but we had a full day of other prospective sites already picked out. 

The waterfalls along this canyon are highly recommended, but keep in mind they are difficult bushwhacks in rugged terrain.  If you are not up to a difficult hike or don't have a GPS, I would not recommend you hike this canyon. The roads are also challenging for 'normal' cars, so if you don't have a high clearance vehicle tack on an extra two miles of road hiking for each of the higher and lower waterfall locations.

Lower Clear Creek Waterfalls Tracks
Red - outgoing hike
Blue - return Hike

Red - Clear Creek Waterfalls (upper and lower) hiking tracks
Orange - Road track from Lower Clear Creek Parking to Mt. Hardy Falls

Lower Sarah Hollow Waterfalls and Short Grotto Falls, Arkansas Ozarks

5/12/2015 - Lower Sarah Hollow Waterfalls (3) and side trip to Short Grotto Falls and Engagement Hollow Falls #9

GPS Coordinates:  (Latitude,  Longitude,  Elevation)
  Lydia Falls:  35.65872,  -93.62242,  1370 ft.  
  Junior Falls:  35.65976,  -93.62319,  1351 ft. 
  Wib Falls:  35.66284,  -93.62486,  1283 ft.
  Parking Location for Short Grotto Falls: 35.66666,  -93.62910,  1182 ft.
  Short Grotto Falls:  35.66817,  -93.6283,  1075 feet
  Engagement Hollow Falls #9:  35.66955,  -93.63085, 1012 feet
  

Pet Friendly: Yes, dogs off leash should be fine. Some of the terrain is a little steep and rugged, so if your dog can't be trusted off leash I would not recommend taking it.

Motorcycle Friendly: No, not really.  The dirt roads are in relatively good shape but are still dirt roads with potholes, mud holes, etc.  While you could take a heavy bike on this road, you wouldn't like it.

Lydia Falls - with Bethany

Today Bethany, Boomer and I were on our way to Doppelganger Falls.  But first, we wanted to check out a waterfall that Bethany had found on our last trip to Engagement Hollow a couple of weeks ago.  It was a nice little waterfall with an initial drop of about nine feet.  When she found it, we had had hardly any rain for a couple of weeks and the flow was a little dismal.  Since we would be "in the area anyway" (excuse #1), we decided to stop by and check it out.

Junior Falls

This area is not in Tim Ernst's Waterfalls of Arkansas book, at least not in the current edition.   Brian Emfinger has documented some nice waterfalls in the upper reaches of Sarah Hollow, but nothing this far downstream.  If you visit Engagement Hollow, make sure you check out these finds on the other side of FR-1522 from that valley.  If you drive down to parking location #2 for Engagement Hollow, you drive within a few yards of each of the three waterfalls we found in Lower Sarah Hollow.

Short Grotto Falls

To get there, go north on Highway 103 from Clarksville and turn left (west) on CR-4160.  From where you turn north onto Highway 103 from Main Street (Highway 64) in Clarksville, it is 14.4 miles to the left turn onto CR-4160.  There is a sign there that says "Batson Church 5 Miles".  Go 2.8 miles on CR-4160, then turn right (north) on CR-4141.  After about a half mile on CR-4141, bear right onto FR-4401.  This road does have a marker a few yards down it but is easy to miss.  About 1.5 miles down FR-4401, there is a 'Y'; bear left to stay on FR-4401 an additional 0.8 miles to the first parking location for Engagement Hollow.  From that first parking location,

Engagement Hollow Falls #9 - with Boomer

continue on FR-4401 for a few yards and bear right onto FR-1522.  After turning onto FR-1522, that road bends to the right.  Park in the pullout on the left side of that bend.  

I have not included parking locations for the three new waterfall finds in Lower Sarah Hollow because they are literally just off the road.  Key the GPS coordinates for each of the three waterfalls themselves into your navigation system and it will take you to the point on FR-1522 adjacent to that waterfall.

Lydia Falls

From the parking location on FR-1522 for Lydia Falls, head directly downhill away from the road (south).  There is a small creek feeding the waterfall about 10 yards off the road.  Go to the left along the bluff from the top of the waterfall and you will find easy access to the base of the falls.  This is a pretty little waterfall, spilling off the bluff about nine feet onto the rocks below, then tumbling down a steep, rocky creek.  The creek has numerous small waterfalls and cascades as it falls toward Sarah Hollow.  

Junior Falls

From that first waterfall, we had intended to quickly check out Short Grotto Falls to see what it looked like after all the torrential rainfall the weekend before.  On the way down FR-1522 to do that, we surmised that pretty much any decent sized creek we crossed might fall over the same bluffline as Lydia Falls, which ran parallel to FR-1522 on the left side of the road as we went downhill.  So, we decided to pull over and look for more waterfalls.  We found the next drainage crossing the road only about 150 yards down the road.  Sure enough, we could hear the sound of a waterfall not far from the road.  Making my way through the underbrush, I found Junior Falls.  This is a beautiful two-tiered waterfall, also about nine feet tall for the initial drop, making a right-angle turn after the first tier.

Wib Falls

Heading on down FR-1522, we went about a quarter mile down the road before finding yet another significant creek crossing the road.  We stopped again to check it out and, sure enough, found yet another beautiful waterfall.  This one I have named Wib Falls for Wilber (Wib) Wallace, one of the best people God ever put on the face of the earth.  Wib, as his family and friends call him, was a Vietnam Vet, Master Mason, and one of those guys that everyone can't help but like.  Wib has passed on now, but this waterfall that bears his name will help to keep him in our memories.  Wib Falls is a somewhat larger waterfall than the previous two, cascading steeply for about eight feet, then running over the ledge to the rocky creek bed about another 12 feet below.  This is another very steep creek, with some very pretty smaller waterfalls and cascades literally one after the other.

From the last of the waterfalls in Sarah Hollow, we continued on down FR-1522 to park and hike down to Short Grotto Falls.  I did not previously have a parking location marked for this, even though on two of the last three trips here, I had hiked directly from Short Grotto Falls to this road.  I went along FR-1522 and picked a location I thought would be closest to Short Grotto Falls and parked.  Even though I had the waterfall waypoint pulled up on my GPS, it was not that easy getting there.  

Engagement Hollow Falls #9

I parked just a little too far down the road and found myself in a massive blackberry thicket.  I should have known I was in the wrong spot because I had hiked directly up to the road and never ran into this mess.  The blackberry thicket forced us to go out of our way downstream quite a bit.  In fact, we were almost directly above Engagement Hollow Falls #9, the lowest waterfall in this hollow.  So, since we were "in the area" anyway, we went on down to that waterfall to snap a couple of photos.  The recent storms had caused a couple of very large trees to fall directly in front of the waterfall, obscuring the waterfall somewhat.  I did the best I could taking some photos and headed upstream to Short Grotto Falls.

Short Grotto Falls

Short Grotto Falls had the most flow that I have ever seen, and was just dazzling.  This is a uniquely profiled waterfall grotto, with very deep undercutting caves on both sides of the grotto.  The roar of the waterfall was amplified by the deep overhangs, causing an almost surreal feeling of power in the rushing water.  This is one of those enchanted places that you could easily spend all day at, but Doppelganger Falls was supposed to be our main event for the day.  We had only planned a quick trip to Bethany's waterfall find, and we let that turn into an exploratory mission.  

 Wib Falls

We wrapped up our visit and pulled away from Short Grotto Falls, this time heading straight up the bluff toward the road.  It's a somewhat steep climb, but the road is less than 200 yards from Short Grotto Falls.  This time, when I got back to the road, I marked the waypoint listed at the top of this blog for a parking location.  No more wading through blackberry thickets for this hiker.  This little side trip turned into a nice little hike with visits to several great little waterfalls.  But Doppelganger Falls was our target for the day, so we headed over to it.

Doppelganger Falls (aka Butt's Hollow Twin Falls) and Polyfoss Area, Arkansas Ozarks

5/12/2015 - Doppelganger Falls - Polyfoss (Many Waterfalls) Area

GPS Coordinates:  (Latitude,  Longitude,  Elevation)
  Parking location #1:  35.64384,  -93.65612,  1724 ft.
  Parking location #2 (and road branch):  35.64585,  -93.65695,  1559 ft.
  Doppelganger Falls:  35.64950,  -93.66066,  1234 ft.
  Facade Falls:  35.64790,  -93.66040,  1267 ft.
  Sarah's Cascade:  35.64786,  -93.66037,  1433 ft.
  Falls #2:  35.64974,  -93.66051,  1222 ft.
  Falls #3:  35.65023,  -93.65990,  1220 ft.
  Falls #5:  35.64833,  -93.66136,  1382 ft.
  Falls #6:  35.64809,  -93.66160,  1417 ft.
  Umbrella Falls:  35.64841,  -93.66203,  1387 ft.
  Old road branch:  35.64509,  -93.65820,  1651 ft.
  

Pet Friendly: Yes, dogs off leash should be fine. Some of the terrain is a little steep and rugged, so if your dog can't be trusted off leash I would not recommend taking it.

Motorcycle Friendly: No, not really.  The dirt roads are in relatively good shape, but are still dirt roads with potholes, mudholes, etc.  While you could take a heavy bike on this road, you wouldn't like it.

Waypoint and hiking track files (.gpx format)

  Mulberry River Waypoints

  Track for hike to Doppelganger Falls

  Track for return hike

  

Doppelganger Falls (19 ft) - with Bethany

Today Bethany, Boomer and I set out to visit Doppelganger Falls and explore a little to see some of the other waterfalls in this drainage.  We got a little sidetracked when we decided to check out an unnamed waterfall that Bethany had found in a previous visit to Sarah Hollow.  That quick side trip turned into a little exploratory mission itself, and it was after noon by the time we left Lower Sarah Hollow.  You can read the details of those new waterfall finds in this blog post.  Fortunately, Doppelganger Falls was not far from Sarah Hollow and Engagement Hollow, so we backtracked down FR-4401 and were back on our way to Doppelganger Falls in no time.  This waterfall is in Butt's Hollow, a fairly short basin that drains into the Mulberry River.  I have seen one photo that refers to Doppelganger Falls as Butt's Hollow Twin Falls, so you may also see it by that name.

Sarah's Cascade

To get there, I will give directions from Clarksville; go north on Highway 103 from Clarksville and turn left (west) on CR-4160 (aka CR-30).  From where you turn north onto Highway 103 from Main Street (Highway 64) in Clarksville, it is 14.4 miles to the left turn onto CR-4160.  There is a sign there that says "Batson Church 5 Miles".  This is just after you finish all the switchbacks going up the mountain on Highway 103.  Go 2.8 miles on CR-4160, then turn right (north) on CR-4141/FR-1525 (aka CR-279).  Go 1.3 miles down CR-4141, and turn left onto FR-1525 where it splits off from CR-4141.  There is another road on the left just before FR-1525 branches off - be sure you take the second left to stay on FR-1525.  Go an additional 1.0 miles to parking location #1.  An old Jeep road takes off to the right at this point, and there is a place to pull off and park on the left opposite of the Jeep road.

This is where we parked today.  Not knowing what the condition of the old jeep

Falls #3

road would be after the torrential rainfall of two days ago, we decided to play it safe and park there.  This is the parking location designated in Tim Ernst's excellent and highly recommended Waterfalls of Arkansas book.  As it turned out, this old road was in very good condition, not what I would call a "Jeep road" at all.  Our Explorer would have had no problem at all getting down this road and on another old road branching off it to the right.  Parking location #2 above is an alternate parking location that will get you much closer to the waterfalls.  As we'll discuss below, this is also what I would consider a better route to visit the waterfalls in this area.  It is a little longer than the 'traditional' route, but not much, only a couple of hundred yards.  It will cut off a good deal of the bushwhack that going the other route entails.  I'll take a little more easy hiking to cut down the bushwhacking any day.

Facade Falls (64 ft)

At any rate, this was our first trip to the area, and we did not know that at the time.  All we had for guidance was Tim's guidebook, and typically I find his route to be the best.  We hiked down the Jeep road from where we parked for 0.2 miles, and where the road branched we went left.  Whenever I see a branch, I always wonder where the other branch goes.  We found out on the way back.  But on the way in, we branched left and shortly thereafter came to the first drainage.  We turned right off the trail at this point, and started out bushwhack downstream on the left (west) side.

After bushwhacking downstream for about a quarter mile, we came across (surprise!) an old trace road.  I suspected this led to the road we had passed at the branch in the old Jeep road, and we made a mental note to explore further on the way back out.  Continuing across this road and downstream, we came to our first waterfall in Butt's Hollow.  I had seen a few photos of waterfalls in Butt's Hollow that Brian Emfinger had posted on Panaramio, but none for this one.  If you go down the right side of the creek instead of the left, you are likely to miss out on this one, Sarah's Cascade, as it turns and faces the left (west) side of the creek.  

Sarah's Cascade

Sarah's Cascade is a beautiful, stair-step type waterfall just a few feet from the top of Facade Falls.  Facade Falls, directly below it, is a 64 foot tall waterfall arching out over the canyon below.  There are many, many waterfalls in this small area of Butt's Hollow, but the only ones that I know of with names are Facade Falls, Sarah's Cascade and Doppelganger Falls.  Generally, while out in the woods I'll just number the waterfalls for documentation until I research to see if anyone has called them by a particular name, then go back and edit names in if they exist.  I was able to find a way down to the base of Facade Falls on the left (west) side, albeit a very steep and very slippery one.  Be careful, or you will end up sliding 40 or 50 feet down the steep slope.  Even after getting to the base of Facade Falls, large trees and the profile of the canyon kept me from getting a good perspective of this waterfall.

Facade Falls (64 ft)

Facade Falls is in the creek feeding the left twin of the two Doppelganger Falls, and you can get down to the point right between the tops of Doppelganger Falls by following the top of the creek bluffline downstream.  As bushwhacks go, this one is not too bad.  It is a little steep, but undergrowth in the area is minimal and it is fairly open hiking under the tree canopy above.  Once you get down to the tops of these two waterfalls, the easiest route I found to the base is to cross the creek of the 'right twin' - that is, the right (west) of the twin waterfalls as you face them.  Cross the west creek just above the top of the waterfall, then you can climb the bluff easily, go downstream just a few yards, and access the base of Doppelganger Falls.  As you stand at the top of the waterfalls, you can see this route.  

Doppelganger Falls (19 ft)

Doppelganger Falls is one of several 'twin' falls in the Arkansas Ozarks, so I'm actually relieved that it has a unique name to separate it from the others.  One of those other 'Twin Falls' is a triple falls, and not even a 'twin at all, although it was at one time.  Doppelganger Falls, just like Twin Falls in the Richland Wilderness area, is formed by two separate creeks that just happen to have waterfalls where they spill into the same pool.  The effect is spectacular, of course.  If one waterfall is spellbinding, consider how special it is to have two, each with their own personality, at the same place.  

Falls #2

We went down the combined creek a short distance from Doppelganger Falls.  I would have liked to explore this whole region a little better, but it was getting late in the afternoon.  Also, Bethany was still nursing a sore knee from where she banged it up on a hike a couple of weeks ago.  The ruggedness of this area was not helping that at all, so we looked at a couple more waterfalls and started heading back upstream.  We found Falls #2 in a side canyon just downstream of Doppelganger Falls, near the access down off the bluff.  This tributary creek was running well today, but I suspect it will dry up almost completely in dry weather.

Falls #3

Going on downstream from Doppelganger Falls, we found Falls #3 about 100 yards downstream.  This is a series of short waterfalls that looked fantastic with the combined flow from the two Doppelganger waterfalls.  The creek drops off fairly steeply, so I suspect there is much more to see.  But we needed to turn around at some point, so this was it.  Going back upstream, we chose to cross back over the creek feeding the 'right twin', to get back to the top of Doppelganger Falls again.  We started our ascent, this time going back up the west creek, where we had come down along the east creek.  

Falls #5

From the map in Tim Ernst's guidebook, I knew there were a couple of waterfalls in the west creek, and we wanted to make sure we checked them out.  Next time I visit this area, I will go up the other side of the west creek, the right side as you go upstream.  Going up the left (east) side of this creek didn't work so well because there are a couple of steeply banked drainages coming in from that side.  We soon came to the first one, and chose to stay to the left, where we knew the slope was passable, since we had come down between the two creeks feeding Doppelganger Falls.  This first tributary contained Falls #5, a very tall, very steep cascade running almost the full height of the canyon.  

Falls #6

Hiking up (and up, and up...) and around this side tributary, we eventually climbed back up to that old road we had crossed.  Since this road appeared to cut across the top of all the creeks in this drainage, we turned right and hiked back to explore a little.  Virtually every creek running across this road ran down into a steep and rugged drainage, just what you want for waterfalls.  The first couple of creeks appeared to be too small to be the main creek feeding the 'right twin', but one did have Falls #6 in the middle of a very steep, very slippery slope.  I almost slid on my butt down into this canyon, but managed to grab a tree and pull myself out.

Umbrella Falls

Going down the road just a little further, past a large tree trunk across the road, we came to the main creek in the 'right twin's' drainage.  Just below the road was a spectacular waterfall, Umbrella Falls.  This waterfall spills over a ledge into a grotto almost like a giant well, hitting another ledge halfway down, then falling to the floor of the grotto.  One of the largest umbrella magnolia trees I have ever seen is growing in front of the waterfall, making it difficult to get a good angle for taking photos of it.  

The waterfall is so high and the grotto is so narrow, you can't quite capture the whole span of the waterfall.  Looking for a way to the base of the waterfall, or at least that intermediate ledge, I climbed down on the right to where I thought I could access the ledge.  Unfortunately, it was very slippery clay and shale, and I almost slipped into the canyon.  Another downed tree saved me again - thanks, Lord, for the help today.  I managed to drag myself under this tree and onto the ledge halfway down that side of the grotto.  Unfortunately again, there was water streaming down from the overhang above and I had only about a two foot high space to hunker down and try to capture a photo or two. 

Umbrella Falls
Through the veil of water streaming in front of ledge

This was a better perspective than on top of the bluff, but water was streaming down in front of me from the ledge above.  I did the best I could, then went through a similar ordeal coming back up.  If you think it is slippery going down, try climbing back up on that slip-n-slide.  I have a healthy fear of heights, and it was kicking in big time right about now.  When I saw how slippery it was going down, I hollered at Bethany to "don't even think about coming down here".  Now, I was wishing someone had hollered at me before if made this stupid move.  I managed to dig into the clay where roots were and hang on to the roots, and slowly made my way back up in that manner, digging into root after root. 

Cascade above Doppelganger Falls

So, hikers - my one word of caution here is to go ahead and try this at home, but not here where you can fall 40 or 50 feet to your death.  Especially if hiking alone; in this area, it may be years before someone finds your body.  At any rate, I was dirty, muddy, and tired, but alive.  I'll take that one out of four any day.  I cleaned up as well as I could in the creek above and we headed back up the old road the way we had come.  My tripod still has clay in crevices I can't seem to get clean.

Going back (eastward) along the old road was easy hiking.  This was, indeed, an old road, at least at one time.  On my Topo maps this is FR-94404, although I'm sure it has not been a Forest Service maintained road for many, many, years.  We kept on the old road past the point we had crossed it on the way down.  It was actually quite open and would have been usable for vehicles except for a couple of places where trees have started growing in the middle of it.  

About a quarter mile from where it goes above Facade Falls and Falls #1, this old road tees into another road, this one in better shape and drivable for most vehicles.  This intersection of old roads is what I have marked as Parking

Dirtball - this is after cleanup 
in the creek
Photo by Bethany Henry

Location #2 in the GPS coordinates above.  We turned right onto this road and soon came to the juncture with the Jeep road where we had taken the left fork instead of turning onto this road on the way down.  We turned left onto the Jeep road and in 0.2 miles were back where we had parked.

We were tired and dirty (I wasn't the only one that had slipped in mud and leaves today), but happy with another day in the beautiful Arkansas outdoors.  This is truly a great area to hike and explore in.  There is not a lot of undergrowth with hardly any briers to speak of.  It is fairly steep in some areas and an overall elevation difference of about 500 feet from where we parked to the bottom of Doppelganger Falls.  I would call it a moderately difficult bushwhack overall.  Another conundrum with this area is that it will look best with a good deal of recent rain, but there are many places where it is very slippery and slick, and those places will be all the more slippery with recent rains.  I'll highly recommend the area, but just be careful out there.  

GPS tracks
Blue - track for hike to Doppelganger Falls
Red - track for return hike

Engagement Hollow Polyfoss, Arkansas Ozarks

5/2/2015 - Engagement Hollow - Camp Robinson edition

GPS Coordinates:  (Latitude,  Longitude,  Elevation)
  Parking Location #1: 35.66268,  -93.62127,  1461 feet
  Parking Location #2: 35.66990,  -93.63350,  1050 feet
  Short Grotto Falls:  35.66817,  -93.6283,  1075 feet
  Amy Falls:  35.66672,  -93.62440,  1141 feet
  Unnamed Falls #6:  35.66758,  -93.62092,  1368 feet
  Whiskey Still Falls:  35.66733,  -93.62128,  1328 feet
  Unnamed Falls #4:  35.66722,  -93.62140,  1322 feet
  Unnamed Falls #3:  35.66662,  -93.62237,  1223 feet
  Unnamed Falls #2:  35.66442,  -93.62027,  1342 feet
  Unnamed Falls #1:  35.66403,  -93.62132,  1337 feet
  Fallen Timbers Falls:  35.665351,  -93.62170,  1269 feet
  Unnamed Falls #9:  35.66955,  -93.63085, 1012 feet
  

Pet Friendly: Yes, dogs off leash should be fine. Some of the terrain is a little steep and rugged, so if your dog can't be trusted off leash I would not recommend taking it.

Motorcycle Friendly: No, not really.  The dirt roads are in relatively good shape, but are still dirt roads with potholes, mud holes, etc.  While you could take a heavy bike on this road, you wouldn't like it.

GPS files:

  GPS track for Engagement Hollow (.gpx format)

Whiskey Stills Falls

Bethany, Boomer, and I went to Engagement Hollow on Wednesday, en route to Oark for burgers.  So, where to go hiking today, on a beautiful Saturday?  Back to the same place, of course.  Well, maybe not "of course", of course.  I usually don't go back to same area in so short a time.  But today, John Kaviak had organized a hike through Engagement Hollow for some military folks at Camp Robinson and had opened the invitation.  You just don't get a better class of people to hang around with, and even after two visits to the area, I still had some unfinished business in this valley.  

Amy Falls

I had taken some photos of Whiskey Still Falls just three days ago when I went with Bethany and Boomer, but had not actually approached the waterfall since it had such little water flow.  When I learned it had a cave associated with it, I kicked myself for not getting a closer look.  "Next time", I said to myself.  So here it is - the perfect 'next time' opportunity with some military folks and their families.  

Falls #9

Something else I had missed in my previous two visits was a ninth waterfall in Engagement Hollow.  Brian Emfinger, who had originally explored and documented this area, had told me there was yet another waterfall downstream of Short Grotto Falls.  My first visit, it was below freezing all day and we went directly from Short Grotto Falls back to the road so we could thaw out just a little sooner.  On my visit three days ago, Bethany banged her knee higher in the hollow and by the time we got to Short Grotto Falls, it was starting to be quite painful and swollen.  So I still had one more waterfall to check out as well.

Taking a break - at Falls #4

I won't rehash all the 'how to get there' information, and the details of making your way through the hollow.  All that information is in the previous post, so you can scroll down to it, click the link on the right, or go here.  A quick work on naming the waterfalls in this great little polyfoss;  Since Brian was first to explore and document it, I will try to maintain some consistency and use the same designations he did.  Four of the waterfalls in the hollow have been named, and for the rest I'll refer to them by the same numbers Brian did on his web page.

Below bluff south of Fall #3

We started the day with a early morning meet-up at the Clarksville Pizza Hut, then headed for Engagement Hollow.  Again, see the previous blog post for detailed driving and hiking directions.  We followed the same route today as Bethany and I followed previously, with a couple of exceptions.  Going from Whiskey Still Falls back down to the main creek, John took a route down the left (south) side of Falls #3, then back upstream to the waterfall itself.  While you could go down either side of the bluffline Falls #3 goes over, I found going down the right (north) side to be shorter and a little easier going. 

Short Grotto Falls

After going through the entire hollow, including the Whiskey Still Falls side drainage, we ended up where I exited the hollow on my previous two visits, Short Grotto Falls.  This time, however, we continued on down the main creek and came to Falls #9, only about 300 yards downstream.  It is low enough in the hollow that it will generally have at least some flow over it all the time.  That being the case, it is one of those shorter, wider falls that always look best with lots of water.  

Inside cave at Whiskey Still Falls

From Falls #9, we went downstream about another 100 yards and turned left to go up to the parking location #2, only an additional 100 yards or so.  We had plenty of vehicles today, and had the foresight to leave a couple of them at this location.  So everyone got to ride back to where we had left the rest of the vehicles at parking location #1.  Since I usually hike alone, or go with someone in just one vehicle, this was a rare treat for me.  

Today, the waterfalls were not as great as I had seen them in January, but the weather sure was nicer.  The company was top notch as well.  There were only a dozen folks hiking, but this is by far the largest group I have hiked with, and I couldn't have asked for nicer hiking companions.  This polyfoss has a tremendous amount of water features in a relatively small area, so it stays very high on my 'highly recommended' list.   It does tend to dry up after going a while without rain, so my only suggestion would be to keep this one for a day when the area has seen at least some rain recently.