Pedestal Rocks Caves and Hoodoos, Ozarks near Ben Hur, Arkansas

1/19/2018 - Caves and Hoodoos "down under" at Pedestal Rocks

GPS Coordinates: (Latitude, Longitude, Elevation)
  Parking:  35.72376,  93.01567,  1877 feet
  PR Bluffline Break #1:  35.71095   -93.02263

  Vista Cave:  35.71125   -93.02293

  Cave #26:  35.71083   -93.02287

  Cave #25:  35.71095   -93.02261

  Red Heart Tunnel:  35.71063   -93.02247

  Elephant Cave:  35.71052   -93.02238
  The Big Room:  35.71043   -93.02222
  PR Bluffline Break #2:  35.71037   -93.02181

  Silhouette Room:  35.71002   -93.02155

  Leaning Tree Room:  35.70993   -93.02083

  The Uppers:  35.71000   -93.02073
  Pedestal Rock:  35.70998   -93.02060
  The Double:  35.71012   -93.02045
  Large Grotto:  35.71055   -93.02013
  PR Bluffline Break #3:  35.71112   -93.02014
  Pedestal #13:  35.71150   -93.01915
  Sundae Pedestal:  35.71157   -93.01910
  Wet Grotto:  35.71182   -93.01902

  PR Bluffline Break #4:  35.71189   -93.01863
  Cave Rock:  35.71355   -93.01728

  Arch Rock:  35.71395   -93.01693

  PR Bluffline Break #5:  35.71404   -93.01712

  Bear Crack Rock:  35.71447   -93.01545

  Thone Trees pointing to cave below bluff:  35.71050   -93.02467

  Twin Arched Pedestal:  35.71022   -93.02483

  Cave 38:  35.71610   -93.02668

  m waterfall and cave site:  35.71742   -93.02587

  n waterfall:  35.71527   -93.02587

  Midway Falls:  35.71727   -93.01405

  Double Spigot Falls:  35.71718   -93.01335

  Morris Ridge Falls:  35.71755   -93.01340

  Tripet Falls:  35.71540   -93.01332

  Pool Falls:  35.71283   -93.01408

  Pedestal Rock Falls:  35.71422   -93.01323

Pet Friendly: Yes.  Easy for dogs on or off leash.  I saw no signage to have dogs on a leash, so Boomer was free ranging today.  It should be noted this is a popular hiking location.  If your dog does not play well with strangers, it is best to keep it on a leash. 

Motorcycle Friendly: Yes! The parking area is right off Highway 16.  

Hiking Statistics: Although it doesn't look like it on the map at the bottom of this post, today's hike was about half on the Pedestal Rocks trail and half below the bluff.  Today we hiked about 4.54 miles in total with a highest-to-lowest difference of 487 feet.  About 2.2 miles was a bushwhack below the bluffline, and the rest was on the Pedestal Rocks trail.  The trail part is an easy hike and overall I would rate the bushwhack part of the hike a moderate bushwhack.

GPS files:
    King's Bluff and Pedestal Rocks area waypoints
    Pedestal Rocks Below Bluff Track
    Pedestal Rocks and King's Bluff Trails track

Related Blog posts:
    King's Bluff Caves and Hoodoos Down Under
    King's Bluff and Pedestal Rocks Trails

One of the Pedestal Rocks

A little over a week ago, Boomer (our German Shepherd) and I hiked the King's Bluff area below the bluff.  You can check out that hike here.   It didn't rain between then and now, so there is still no water in the waterfalls and we were still going out for hikes on the "no water needed" list.  Pedestal Rocks SIA (Special Interest Area) is situated right next to King's Bluff to the west. Just like King's Bluff, it has a loop trail that runs along the top of the bluff with views of some great vistas and fantastic rock formations.  Also just like King's Bluff, most of the really cool stuff is off the trail below the bluff, and most folks have no idea it is there.  Today, Boomer and I needed to get out somewhere, and the hike to King's Bluff was very enjoyable and still fresh in my mind, so I decided to head back out to the same area and hike the Pedestal Rocks side.

Inside the back room of The Uppers

The two hiking loops at King's Bluff and Pedestal Rocks are frequented by hikers of all ages, as the hiking trails are well maintained, right off the highway, and easy hikes.   For more information on this area, I highly recommend my friend Danny Hale's TAKAHIK book Hiking the Arkansas Ozarks.  Danny heads up the local TAKAHIK hiking group and has spent a great deal of time documenting this area.  He has already named a bazillion features in the area and charted coordinates for them, saving me a great deal of effort.  With his permission, I'll be using the same names and coordinates, except Danny uses "shelter" where I use "cave".

The Big Room

Boomer and I loaded up the FJ Cruiser and set out.  To get there, go north on Hwy 7 to Pelsor (aka Sand Gap), and turn right (east) on Hwy 16.  Go 5.9 miles and look for the National Forest sign for Pedestal Rocks on the left.  Take the short loop off Hwy 16 to the parking area.  There is plenty of parking and a primitive toilet there. There was no one else there when we arrived, and we had the place all to ourselves all afternoon.  Even when others are here, we rarely encounter them because there are two loops with several miles of trail, and most of our hiking time is off the trail anyway. 

Red Heart Tunnel

The King's Bluff trail and Pedestal Rocks trail are two separate loop trails, both starting out from this trailhead.  We went over the little rock bridge at the parking area and kept straight to go counter-clockwise around the Pedestal Rocks loop.  You could hike this in either direction, but Boomer had the lead and he just happened to go this direction, so counter-clockwise it was.  At the intersection of the two loop trails, we went straight to stay on the Pedestal Rocks Trail.  A little less than a mile from the parking lot the trail turns to the right, and soon makes a hairpin turn to the left to lead out along the top of the bluff.  

The Silhouette Room

We broke away from the trail at the hairpin curve and proceeded down at the top of the drainage there to get below the bluffline.  Today, I just wanted to get off the trail and get out in the woods, but I wouldn't recommend breaking off the trail here.  There was a good deal of briers that have grown up along the creek, and there isn't really much to see until you get to Uno Pedestal and Vista Rock anyway.  I have marked Bluffline Break #1 in the list of coordinates above, about 150 yards from the hairpin curve in the trail.  This break will allow you to get below the bluff just before Vista Cave and then you can hike around the base of the bluff.  This is a very tall and precipitous bluff, so if you have children with you, be careful and keep an eye on them.  I marked five different locations where you can get from the path down to the base of the bluff.

Inside Vista Cave - small side window

Vista Cave is a small cave with two entrances, unfortunately, neither of which is very easy to get into.  The front entrance is right under the crag that tops the rock the cave is inside of and faces out over the bluff.  This requires a little climbing on some steep rock to get into, with a very thin ledge below and a big drop-off below that.  The other entrance is more of a window in the north side, which would be difficult for most of us to get into or out of as it is small and about five feet above the floor of the cave.  It is only about 15 to 20 feet deep so it is not much of a cave.  The "vista" can be better seen from the ledge below at any rate, so other than being a cool cave I'm not sure it is worth the climb up to it and inside.

Cave #25
For scale, that black blob in the back is Boomer

Near Vista cave, as you make your way around the base of the bluff is one of the famous Pedestal Rocks the area is named for.  There are a couple of caves close together, Cave #26 is about 20 feet deep, and Cave #25 is about 35 feet deep.  Neither has any real distinguishing features, which is probably why Danny never gave them a name.  Just around the bluff from the entrance to Cave #25 is a double arch called Red Heart Tunnel.  It was here that I had a little problem with Boomer.  He couldn't get up to climb through either of the arches and below it is a rather steep section of rock with a high drop off just below it.  Boomer wisely refused to go this route.  I scooched around below the arches, but Boomer wouldn't do it.  He's not at all afraid of heights, as I am, but he is very smart about knowing what is safe and what isn't.  I ended up going up through Bluffline Break #2, where there are some old steps off the trail, coming back to the break before Vista Cave and calling him to come back to that point and up on the trail.  Then we went back down Bluffline Break #2 and around the bluff to the south side of Red Heart Tunnel.  When you hike this, that would certainly be the safest route to take.  Be like Boomer, not like Rick.

The Elephant Room

Just past Red Heart Tunnel is a cave called The Elephant Room.  It's a small cave with an entrance you can easily hike up and into, and a large window on one side of the entrance.  Around the bluff further east is The Big Room, which is more of a big tunnel-like area with open arches you can wander through.  Just east of this is where Bluffline Break #2 is, the one with the old steps off the trail.  On the other side of the break, the bluff rises again with the west entrance to The Silhouette Room high on the cliff face.  The Silhouette Room and Leaning Tree Room are part of the same cave system, with a couple more entrances to The Silhouette Room around the bluff to the east, and the entrance to The Leaning Tree Room next to that.  There is a large pillar between them at the entrances.  If you are confused about which cave is which, The Leaning Tree Room is the one with the big tree leaning up to the top of the bluff.  Someday, that big old tree will be gone and our great-grandkids will really be confused.  

The Double

Around the bluff from The Leaning Tree Room is a huge rock leaning against the bluff overhang that Danny called The Leaner.  A short distance around the bluff is The Uppers, another fairly large cave that has another tall Pedestal Rock right outside the entrance.  Further around the bluff is The Double, which to get into you have to stick close to the base of the bluff and climb up a path of sorts to the entrance.  From this entrance, there is a roomy, open cave to the left with some big windows at the end looking out over the valley.  To the right of the entrance is a narrow tunnel, connecting to the other big room and the north entrance of this cave system.  It's dark in this tunnel, and at the end, there is a big drop off into the north room, so be very careful if you venture through it.   

Pedestal #13 seen from under Sundae Pedestal

Going back out the entrance of The Double and continuing, the bluff turns north and rises to a much taller cliff.  Going along the base of this awesome towering bluff, you pass through Large Grotto and come to a point where the large cliff gives way to a slope; this is Bluffline Break #3, and you can climb here up to the trail.  Above you at this point is a large slab of rock at the top of the cliff with a railing around it that is barely visible from the base of the bluff below.  Continuing on, Boomer and I came to a couple of other pedestals.  Sundae Pedestal is attached to the corner of the bluff, and Pedestal #13 is a few yards from the bluff right in front of it.  Further down the bluff is Wet Grotto, and just past that is another access up to the trail at Bluffline Break #4.

Boomer at west entrance to Cave Rock
The larger east entrance is about 20 feet behind him

Whether you go up along the trail from this point to Bluffline Break #5 or stay below the bluff and bushwhack, you can't help but notice a huge rock separated by a few yards from the bluff.  This is Cave Rock, so named, of course, because it has a cave in the middle of it with entrances on both sides of the rock.  On the bluff side of Cave Rock, the ground rises up to just below the west entrance, and you can climb inside it here.  On the downhill side, the ground falls away quite a bit and the entrance is a good 20 to 25 feet above the ground.  This is the much larger opening and is a sharp drop, so be careful!  Boomer was able to jump up and right inside the west entrance, but unfortunately, the floor of the cave is about a three-foot drop from this small opening.  Once inside, he wasn't able to jump up into the opening and I had to climb back in and give him a boost up.  He doesn't care for that much, and believe me, I could do without trying to lift a 105-pound dog up to a small opening as well.  He seemed pretty embarrassed, so I'm sure he'll remember this for our next visit and refuse to go in.

Arch Rock

Less than a hundred yards north along the bluff from Cave Rock is Arch Rock, and Bluffline Break #5 is also at this point.  Arch rock, as you might suspect is a big rock with an arch through the middle of it.  It is big enough to drive a small vehicle through, or more appropriately a wagon pulled by horses or mules.  If you go through the arch and look going down into the hollow to the right, you can see the contour of an old trace road going down the bank of the slope to the south.  We have a million acres or so of public lands in this section of the Ozarks now, but at one time people lived all through these hollows.  These people were of some pretty hardy stock.  My hats' off to the pioneers that made a living in these hollows a century and a half or so ago.

Entrance to Silhouette Room (left)
and Leaning Tree Room (right)

From Arch Rock, Boomer and I got on the trail and took it back to the parking area.  There are a couple of wet weather waterfalls next to the trail on the way out, but today they had nothing but a lot of ice.  Today they were winterfalls, not waterfalls.  There are also some waterfalls in the hollow below that are worth checking out, but not today.  I have not written a blog post for those yet, so perhaps I'll make a loop of the drainages on both sides of Pedestal Rocks and Kings Bluff when the creeks start flowing again.  This is a nice hike that you can do in just a couple three hours and see some awesome stuff.  Highly recommended for all, but be very careful with children around the high cliffs.

Pedestal Rocks GPS Tracks
Red - Pedestal Rocks Trail
Yellow - Below the Bluff bushwhack

Pedestal Rocks and King's Bluff GPS Tracks
Red - Loop Trails
Yellow - Below Pedestal Rocks bushwhack
Orange - Below King's Bluff bushwhack
Blue - Sporadic Exploration

King's Bluff caves and hoodoos, Ozarks near Ben Hur, Arkansas

1/12/2018 - Caves and Hoodoos "down under" at King's Bluff

GPS Coordinates: (Latitude, Longitude, Elevation)
  Parking:  35.72376,  93.01567,  1877 feet
  King's Bluff Falls:  35.72480, -93.02510,  1559 feet (at base)
  Bluffline Break #1:  35.72303   -93.02527  
  Bluffline Break #2    35.72144   -93.02072
  KB Cave 1:  35.72196  -93.02564
  KB Railing Cave:  35.72162   -93.02522
  KB Cave 3:  35.72134   -93.02485
  KB Tall Cave:  35.72110   -93.02453
  KB Spring Cave:  35.72083   -93.02453
  KB Lake Cave:  35.72083   -93.02323
  KB Cave 7:  35.72121  -93.02165

Pet Friendly: Yes.  Easy for dogs on or off leash.  I saw no signage to have dogs on a leash, so Boomer was free ranging today.  It should be noted this is a popular hiking location.  If your dog does not play well with strangers, it is best to keep it on a leash. 

Motorcycle Friendly: Yes! The parking area is right off Highway 16.  

Hiking Statistics: For today's hike we did not go all the way around either of the two loop trails, just halfway around the King's Bluff trail, then down below the bluff.  Today we hiked about 2.89 miles with a highest-to-lowest difference of only 381 feet.  We hiked less than half of the King's Bluff trail, and all the rest was a bushwhack below the bluffline.  The trail part is an easy hike and overall, I would rate the bushwhack part of the hike a moderate bushwhack.

GPS files:
    King's Bluff and Pedestal Rocks area waypoints
    King's Bluff below the bluffline track
    Pedestal Rocks and King's Bluff Trails track

Related Blog posts:
    King's Bluff and Pedestal Rocks

Spring Cave

After our cool, wet, summer we seem to have gone straight into a drought-stricken fall and winter.  We managed to get a little rain this past week, but not nearly enough to get the creeks and streams moving enough to make the waterfalls looks good.  That being said, I still need to get out hiking for the sake of both my physical and mental well-being.  Most all of the areas on my "to be explored list" are hollows and valleys that look good for waterfalls, and you can't really tell much about waterfalls you find without some water flowing over them.   But there are quite a few places I have been that never get old.  I was looking back at old blog posts and photos and realized that it has been almost four years since I went to the King's Bluff and Pedestal Rocks area, which certainly fits into the "never gets old" category.  For more information on this area, I highly recommend Danny Hale's TAKAHIK book Hiking the Arkansas Ozarks.  Danny has documented GPS coordinates for many more features than I have marked above.

These two hiking loops are frequented by hikers of all age, as the hiking trails are well maintained, right off the highway, and easy for hikers of all ages.  However, the vast majority of those hikers have no idea that the real beauty of this area can only be experienced by getting off the trail.  Most have no idea that the trail they are on is literally walking over numerous caves, or that many of the hoodoos and other spectacular rock features cannot even be seen from the trail on top of the bluffline.  So today, Boomer (our German Shepherd) and I needed a little wilderness time, and we decided to visit King's Bluff and spend some time poking around the cave and taking our time enjoying the scenery.  I had written a blog post for King's Bluff four years ago but had not yet written one for the 'down under' hiking.  

Boomer and I loaded up and set out.  To get there, go north on Hwy 7 to Pelsor (Sand Gap), and turn right (east) on Hwy 16.  Go 5.9 miles and look for the National Forest sign for Pedestal Rocks on the left.  Take the short loop off Hwy 16 to the parking area.  There is plenty of parking and a primitive toilet there. 
There were already a couple of vehicles there today.  This is a popular hiking location, so this was not unusual.  We did not, however, encounter anyone else on our hike today.  This is also not so unusual because there are two loop trails here with several miles of trail, plus most of our hiking is off the trail. 

The King's Bluff trail and Pedestal Rocks trail are two separate loop trails, both starting out from this trailhead.  We went over the little rock bridge at the parking area and kept straight to go clockwise around the King's Bluff loop.  King's Bluff Falls is about halfway around the 1.9 mile loop.  The trail has a lot of switchbacks but stays pretty much on the level.  At the trail crossing, we turned right to go down the trail along the top of King's Bluff.  This trail goes very close to the edge of a very tall bluff, so if you have small children, keep a close eye on them.  

There are a couple of bluffline breaks to get to the bottom of the bluffline.  Today, we went down the trail along the top of the bluffline to King's Bluff first, so that we could see the scenery from the top first.  You come to King's Bluff at about one mile going either way around the loop.  King's Bluff is a giant slab of rock about the size of a football field, with a drop off of well over a hundred feet, then a steep slope of even more.  There is a great view of a large expanse of the Ozarks from here, as you might imagine.  King's Bluff Falls spills over the north edge of this rock bluff; the right side as you look out over the bluff.  When it has water to spill over, that is.  Today it was kind of pitiful.  Just down the bluffline from the railing, there is a volunteer trail that will take you down to the bottom of King's Bluff Falls, and past another small waterfall just below the railing at the trail.  There is another bluffline break I have marked coordinates for above that will take you from the trail to the bottom of the bluff just west of all the caves and hoodoos.  Today, since we were here, we took this trail down and around the bottom of the bluffline.  

The caves I have marked in the GPS coordinates list are all fairly tall, open caves that I wouldn't expect to find anything in.  Boomer found a small cave that looked just about the right size for a bear to be snoozing in this time of year.  No bear today, though, thankfully.  I actually like seeing them in the wild, I just don't want Boomer and some cranky bear getting into a fight.  My experience with bears and cougars is that they have always run away from me instead of toward me, but I do carry my LCP just in case.  We continued on around the bluff to the first cave entrance.  Most of these caves are fairly wide and high at the entrance, but not that deep, maybe 50 feet or so at most.  All along the bluff, between and around the caves, are some of the most fantastic looking rock features imaginable.  There are hoodoos and crags everywhere, both freestanding and attached to other rock features.  Even a rock bridge coming out and back to the top of the bluff.  You can see it as you go along the trail at the top, but it looks much more impressive from below.

Lake Cave

Some have features that help me remember which is which, and while not officially named, they help me keep them straight in my mind.  The second cave along the bluff going east I called Railing Cave because if you look high up above the entrance, you can see the railing at the edge of the bluff next to the trail.  The Forest Service put up a low stone-and-wood railing along the trail anywhere it went right next to a high cliff.  In Danny Hale's book, I noticed he only put names on two of these caves.  We both called cave #6 Lake Cave, but he named cave #4 "Fern Shelter".  There were no ferns today, but this cave has a very high ceiling in the back room, so I referred to it as Tall Cave. 

Entrance to Railing Cave
note the railing above the cave

I called Cave #5 Spring Cave because it actually has enough drainage into it for a small spring to form a creek with a little flow out of the cave.  I was a little surprised to see that in these dry times.  It is a little more difficult to get up into than most of the King's Bluff caves.  You have to climb up a steep embankment about six or eight feet to get to the cave entrance.  Lake Cave (Cave #6) also is a little difficult to get into for the same reason and is hard to see from the base of the bluff, due to a fallen tree and some briers at the cave entrance.  Once you climb up to the entrance, it is easy to see why we call it Lake Cave.  These caves all have somewhat flat floors, but this one has a small natural berm at the entrance, and enough drainage to keep a couple of inches of water all over the floor.  It stays about two inches or less deep all the way to the very back of the cave, where it gets deep enough that I stop instead of taking a change of getting water over the top of my waterproof hiking boots.  

Cave entrance with "bridge" overhead

After Lake Cave, there is only one other cave that I know of, then the base of the bluff goes up into a crease between the bluff and the creek, rising gradually until you are back at the King's Bluff loop trail.  
While half of the hike is a bushwhack, it isn't that bad this time of year.  With the summer heat, insects, and vegetation, it is a lot worse.  In the winter, you have to deal with the occasional brier patch and rough terrain, but as bushwhacks go I would rate it a moderate bushwhack.  The half of the hike along the trail is very easy.  There are quite a few places in the Ozarks that don't need water to be nice hikes, including next door to King's Bluff at the Pedestal Rocks area.  I'll be hitting that one again soon.

King's Bluff and Pedestal Rocks GPS tracks
Red - King's Bluff and Pedestal Rocks loop trails
Orange - track for hiking along the base of King's Bluff

Stave Mill Falls and Little Oak Falls at Moccasin Gap, Arkansas Ozarks north of Dover

1/9/2018 - Stave Mill Falls and Little Oak Falls, Moccasin Gap Area

GPS Coordinates:  (Latitude,  Longitude,  Elevation)
  Parking Location #1:  35.56992  -93.06891,  1432 ft.
  Parking Location #2:  35.56935  -93.07976,  1174 ft.
  Stave Mill Falls:  35.57152  -93.08429,  1001 ft.
  Little Oak Falls:  35.57318  -93.08289,  996 ft.

Pet Friendly: Yes.  Pets of all kinds, not just dogs.  You'll see horses and riders in this area quite often.  

Motorcycle Friendly:  Not great, but definitely doable.  The road from Hwy 7 is a gravel road and is fairly well maintained.  You can ride a big bike as far as parking location #1.  Anything after that is definitely a no.  But speaking of bikes, if you happen to be a mountain bike enthusiast, the trails in this area are about perfect for you.

Hiking Statistics:  From parking location #1 to both waterfalls and back is 3.27 miles.  The maximum-to-minimum elevation difference is 436 feet.  The entire area is covered with horse/ATV/mountain bike/Jeep roads, and you can take them directly to both waterfalls.  This is a moderately easy hike.

Still a little Icy out there today...

We got a little rain yesterday, and Boomer and I both needed to get out and get a little exercise, so we decided to just head up Highway 7 from our house and do a little hiking at Moccasin Gap.  This area has been recently revamped by the Forest Service, with improvements made to trails, campground, and parking areas.  The road from Highway 7 to the campground is called Moccasin Gap Horse Camp Road, so that tells you a little about some of the primary uses for the area.  There are rules about which trails can be used for motorized vehicles, so read the bulletin boards to be sure.  Today, we took an old logging road into the area and didn't even go past the campground.  This is an area with a day use and camping fee, or a senior pass should be good since it is a National Forest Service area.

Entrance to Moccasin Gap from Highway 7

Getting there is straightforward, and if you have ever driven on north Highway 7, you have no doubt seen the sign for the Moccasin Gap recreation area on the west side of the highway.  From the Dover town square (intersection of Hwy 7 and Hwy 27), go 15.6 miles north on Highway 7 and turn left (west) at the Moccasin Gap sign.  The road goes uphill to the left.  Keep bearing to the left to go past the campground, and continue on to a parking area off the road on the left.  The road turns right here, but you will be going straight ahead on the much more rough trail.  

Campground to the left,
old logging road to the right of the gate

This trail winds downhill to parking location #2, which is where we parked today.  When you turn off the highway and go left up to the campground area, there is a closed gate directly in front of you and an old logging road taking off to the right of the gate.  That is how we entered the area today.  I don't recommend this even if you do have a good 4WD with good clearance.  We made it just fine today, but the road is very rough and narrow.  Between the Arkansas jungle, downed trees, and washed out areas around large rocks, we picked up some more "Arkansas pin-striping" and a couple of dents in the FJ Cruiser today.  Someday, she will deserve a paint job, but as long as I keep going down places like this, why bother?  There is a branch of this logging road that goes higher in the hollow and is probably in better shape, but today we picked the lower route.  

Little Oak Falls

All in all, it's only about a mile of hiking between the two parking locations, all on a well-maintained trail.  I was in an exploring mood today, so just kept driving.  I set out today to get some exercise in the great outdoors, and kind of failed by driving on the part that would have been a really nice hike.  We made up for it by wandering around quite a bit along the two creeks.  From where we parked, there is a sign pointing down Trail G, which is where you want to go.  That is at the junction of this old logging road we drove in on and the trail in from the campground and is actually a much better road than the route we drove to it on.  At the bottom of the hill, the trail forks off to the right and goes right to Little Oak Falls.  

Stave Mill Falls

Today, it was nice to see Little Oak Creek getting some flow again.  It is still far below normal, but at least the smaller creeks in the Ozarks are starting to get some water flow again.  The fork on Trail G to the left goes right to the top of Stave Mill Falls.  Boomer and I bushwhacked the short distance, about a quarter mile, down to the junction of Little Oak Creek and Stave Mill Creek, then upstream to Stave Mill Falls.  Stave Mill Falls is a larger waterfall and generally has much more flow than Little Oak Creek.  Today it was still largely frozen, with not much water flowing.

Trail 'G' goes to both waterfalls

After looking around the area, Boomer and I headed back out.  This whole area has a number of multi-use trails, from the NFS information over 31 miles of them.  Even if you count the old logging roads and the roads that come into the area from Treat Road, which runs west of Moccasin Gap, it doesn't seem like it would add up to that much, but that's their claim.  If you prefer hiking on open trails to bushwhacking, this is a beautiful area to just wander around on really good trails

and enjoy the scenery.  Today, we had the place all to ourselves, but that is not always the case.  All in all, I would classify hiking in this area as moderately easy.

Moccasin Gap recreation area GPS tracks
Red - today's hike to Little Oak Falls and Stave Mill Falls
Blue - parking area to junction with old logging road

Little Cow Creek swimming holes, Car Wash Falls, Haw Creek, and Pack Rat Falls, Arkansas Ozarks near Fort Douglas

8/24/2017 - Two great swimming holes on Little Cow Creek, even more waterfalls along the way back.

GPS Coordinates: (Latitude, Longitude, Elevation)  
  Parking Location: 35.72578   -93.28148,  1318 ft.
  Bluffline break (east): 35.73007 -93.28952,  951 ft.  
  Little Cow Falls (5 Waterfalls): 35.72959 -93.28977,  961 ft. 
  Elsie Falls: 35.72975 -93.29030,  1016 ft.
  Norman Falls: 35.72983 -93.29095,  1053 ft.
  Cincinnati Freedom Falls: 35.72676 -93.28989,  995 ft.
  Little Cow Creek Cascade: 35.72624 -93.29025,  1006 ft.
  Falls #5: 35.72219 -93.29110  1118 ft.
  Falls #6: 35.72606 -93.29034,  1009 ft.  
  Bluffline Break (west): 35.72847 -93.28967,  968 ft.
  Queenie Falls: 35.72816 -93.28943,  968 ft.
  Falls #8:  35.72797   -93.28817,  1076 ft.
  Ormsby Cascades:  35.72986   -93.29051,  1029 ft.
  Car Wash Falls:  35.70529, -93.25474
  Haw Creek Falls:  35.67782, -93.25520
  Parking Location for Pack Rat Falls:  35.67663, -93.25463,  817 feet

  Pack Rat Falls:  35.67267, -93.25335,  1005 feet

Pet Friendly: Dogs off leash should be OK. If your dog needs to be on a leash, it is doable but difficult because this is all bushwhack hiking. There are some steep bluffline breaks.  Boomer has been here several times without problems.

Motorcycle Friendly: No, not at all friendly to your big bike. The parking
location is several miles down dirt roads.

Hiking Statistics: The Little Cow Creek watershed is just over 1100 feet elevation change from top to bottom.  Today we hiked about 1.5 miles with a highest-to-lowest difference of only 378 feet. Due to the ruggedness of the terrain and the box canyon between Little Cow Falls and Cincinnati Freedom Falls, there are a couple of climbs down below blufflines and back up.  This is a rugged area, and the bluffline breaks you need are somewhat steep but manageable if you are careful. There are no trails, but it is relatively easy bushwhacking in most areas.  Overall, I would rate this a moderate bushwhack. 

GPS files (.gpx format) - maps with GPS tracks are at the bottom of this post
  Cow Creek area waypoints
  Little Cow Creek track

Related Blog posts:

  Little Cow Creek, 5/24/2017

  Haw Creek Falls and Pack Rat Falls 4/15/2014

  Rock Creek Area and Car Wash Falls 4/12/2017

Update 11/15/2019 - Last winter, there was tornado damage in the woods along Pine Ridge Road where the parking location for Little Cow Creek is.  They have logged the downed trees around the parking spot, and it is actually easier to park there now.  The very top of the hike-down drainage has a few downed trees still, but it is not difficult to get past them.  Below the top of the hike-down drainage, nothing was damaged. 

Swimming time at Cincinnati Freedom Falls!
- with Rick and Boomer

If you have followed my hiking blog for a while, you no doubt know that this time of year I have very few blog posts.  That is because summertime in Northwest Arkansas is typically very hot, very humid, and very dry.  Sometimes I go on short hikes this time of year that don't have waterfalls as the primary feature, and usually, I don't think those need a blog post for documentation.  This year has been anything but usual.  It has been the coolest, wettest summer anyone around here can recall.  Unfortunately, some personal business has kept me in the Texas hill country instead of Arkansas for much of the summer, so I missed out on most of this extraordinary summer hiking season.  Now I'm back for a few weeks, and it has just rained a bunch the last few days, and the weather forecast for today has highs in the 70s.  I may be old and slow, but I can tell when nature is sending me a clear message to get out and enjoy the day.  

Car Wash Falls

I keep a list of potential hiking spots, and part of that list is a "go back and check this out" section.  Since I discovered the Little Cow Creek polyfoss last fall, I have visited it several times and led friends there as well.  But every time I have visited this great new area, I have wondered just how deep the pools are below the major waterfalls on the main creek, and whether they might be good swimming holes.  Today, Boomer and I loaded up in the FJ to finally get that question answered.  We both love to swim and enjoy swimming in a nice swimming hole on a clear mountain stream much more than a crowded swimming pool.  One of my old go-to's, Falling Water Falls, has become much too popular and thus crowded on many summer days.  Note that I consider a half dozen people to be "too crowded", so I have some more secluded and less well-known locations to swim at.

Haw Creek Falls

Getting to Little Cow Creek is fairly straightforward and easy, but is several miles down dirt roads.  I think pretty much any vehicle can get there, but be aware that the road is just a gravel county road.  

  - From the community of Pelsor (Sand Gap), go 16.2 miles south on Highway 123, then turn right onto FR-1003, aka Johnson County CR-5741.  This is 3.3 miles past the Haw Creek Campground.  If you are coming from the other direction on Highway 123, this junction is 10.5 miles north of Hagerville.

  - Go north on CR-5741 for 5.7 miles, then 

  - Turn right on CR-5680, also known as Pine Ridge Road.  

  - Go 3.5 miles on Pine Ridge Road, and turn left (west) onto a Jeep road.  This area immediately off Pine Ridge Road has been used as a campsite at some point in the past.  Instead of following the Jeep road around to the left, bear to the right along an old trace road and park.  This was a logging road many years ago and has a berm across it now.  I park right at the berm.

Little Cow Falls Grotto - West Waterfall

Where you park at the berm is actually at the top of the side drainage I follow to get down to Little Cow Creek.  Head down into the drainage directly below you (west), away from Pine Ridge Road.  This is the large side drainage that flows over the bluffline at Queenie Falls, right between Cincinnati Freedom Falls and Little Cow Falls.  The top of the drainage is literally just a few yards from the parking location.  Unlike most small creeks, bushwhacking along this one is fairly easy.  If you have an aversion to walking along the creek, you can follow it higher along the bluff on the right (north) side.  There is less undergrowth down along the creek, however.  Today, it was particularly easy hiking along the creek, as the gullywasher rains we received in the area the last couple of months have washed away a lot of the debris that had accumulated.  On the ridge above this side drainage, the saplings and other growth get fairly thick, and if you hike down to Little Cow Creek up on the bluff, you will also miss the smaller waterfalls along the way.  Follow this side drainage all the way down to the large bluffline towering over Little Cow Creek.  Along the way, there are numerous smaller waterfalls, and one, Unnamed Falls #8, that is about 10 feet tall.

Little Cow Falls Grotto

Boomer and I quickly made our way down the drainage and down the bluffline break downstream of Queenie Falls.  Descending through the bluffline break, we made our way upstream to Cincinnati Freedom Falls.  When I first found this waterfall last November, my first view was from the top of the waterfall and the water was crystal clear.  It looked to be about eight to ten feet deep, but it is very hard to gauge looking down into the pool.  Today, the water was still a little murky blue-green from the recent rains.  The water in the creek itself was very clear, but in the deep pools it still had not cleared up entirely.  Boomer jumped right in and started having fun.  I set the camera up to do some delayed burst shots and stripped down to blue jean shorts.  

Cincinnati Freedom Falls - time to jump in!

My first impression?  COLD!  I expected temperatures in the 70s by the time we got here, but it was only in the low 60's.  Not bad for late August, and I couldn't believe that at this time of year it could actually be too cool.  The way water flows over and down Cincinnati Freedom Falls, striking rocks on the way down, it causes the water to atomize and spray a little.  This really enhances adiabatic cooling, and the water actually falling into the pool in the 40s.  So there was an initial thermal shock when I charged in, but after I got used to it, it was great.  This is a decently sized pool, especially with just me and Boomer there.  It was indeed as deep as I had originally estimated, maybe a little more.  My reach standing flat footed with my hand straight up is almost exactly eight feet.  I had to dive down a little to stand at the deepest part of the pool, directly in front of the waterfall and had to rise up a couple of feet to reach the surface.  So at it's deepest, it is around 10 feet deep.  Is that deep enough to jump from the top of the waterfall?  Probably, but it's almost 30 feet tall so I won't be doing it. The flow in the creek keeps it cleaned out pretty well, so the bottom is rock, without any mucky mud or anything.  My final impression?  What a fantastic swimming hole!

Slot and water slide at the top of Little Cow Falls

When we got tired of playing around at Cincinnati Freedom Falls, we headed downstream.  While I was down to shorts and t-shirt, I wanted to check out the grotto at Little Cow Creek as well.  That is only about a quarter mile downstream, and the hike actually helped warm me up a little.  At the top of Little Cow Falls, there is a pretty cool slot that forms a nice water slide.  I almost went in that way, but finally decided caution would be a better approach since I had no idea how deep the water was below the waterfall, or if there might be a sharp branch or something I might get impaled on.  So Boomer and I hiked around the grotto to the bluffline break on the east side, and then back up into the grotto.  

Little Cow Falls Grotto - with Rick and Boomer

The grotto at Little Cow Creek Falls actually has four waterfalls flowing into it, and another one just outside the grotto where the bluffline break is on the east side.  The makes a really nice closed-in pool for a swimming hole.  It is also somewhat steep-walled on all sides except the exit so it will stay mostly shaded on those hot summer days.  This was not one of those hot summer days, it was a miraculously cool day for late August.  I got in and swam around some, but didn't linger too long.  This pool is a decently sized one, but not nearly as deep as the one at Cincinnati Freedom Falls.  I am 6'-3", and I could stand in most of the pool with my head out of the water.  Only directly in front of Little Cow Falls was the water a little over my head.  It was plenty deep enough to slide down the slot, and there was no debris or anything below the waterfall.  That being said, you just never know what chunks of trees and branches will wash in during rains, so be careful to check it out before you jump in.

Cincinnati Freedom Falls

Boomer and I headed back up to the Cruiser, and I made a mental note to come back.  This is indeed a nice place to do a little swimming in the hotter months, as secluded and private as you could want, and absolutely beautiful.  Both of these pools are fed from the main creek, so will stay fairly full even in the more normal hot, dry summer months.  There was still a lot of daylight left, so I took a long way home, continuing on down Pine Ridge Road from where we parked to the low water bridge over Big Piney Creek.  It is only about an additional mile from the parking location to the bridge.  At the bridge, we stopped and watched a good-sized water mocassin sunning itself.  Today, he wandered off instead of being aggressive, so today we parted as friends and he got to live to sun himself another day.  

Haw Creek Falls

Across the bridge, we turned right and made our way down along Big Piney on

Johnson County CR-5881, aka Big Piney Road.  We passed under Car Wash Falls, which actually had water flowing!  This is fed by a wet weather creek, so is a very rare thing in August.  You have to ford Hurricane Creek on this road, and it was a little swollen still but no problem for the FJ Cruiser.  Turning right onto Highway-123, we crossed the bridge over Big Piney Creek and soon came to Haw Creek Falls, which I felt obliged to stop at and check out.  Haw Creek Falls had pretty good flow, and for this time of year, it was exceptional flow.  

Pack Rat Falls

Of course, since we were at the Haw Creek campground, and there was actually plenty of water on this late August day, I couldn't help but wonder how nearby Pack Rat Falls was doing.  It was still only about 70 degrees, although it was late afternoon by now, so I decided "why not"?  I had not been able to get out and hike for a while, so I needed to make the most of a spectacularly good hiking day and satisfy my "waterfall jonesing" as best I could.  It was another short but very scenic hike up the side drainage to Pack Rat Falls.  I have seen Pack Rat Falls with a lot more flow, but I have never seen it with more than a trickle in late summer.  After hiking back downstream to the campground, Boomer and I decided it was time to call it a day and head home.  This had been a fantastic day out in the wilderness, and such a special treat to be able to do this at this time of year.

GPS track for Little Cow Creek