#waterfalls
Compton’s Double Falls and Amber Falls
*In Memory of Rick Henry.* Rick, you may not have known most of your readers, but we feel like we knew you. Thank you for leading us to so many beautiful places. When it comes to waterfall hiking, it’s always great to get your money’s worth with multiple falls on a single hike. Most of the waterfall hikes in the Ozarks offer this opportunity, although some make it easier than others. My recent Christmas hike to Compton’s Double Falls and Amber Falls is a great example. Much like the Magnolia Falls hike, this one has several falls, each one just around the bend from the next. As long as there is water, you get to see five waterfalls on this hike. And you can continue down Whitaker Creek to see several more (Wild Burro, Beagle Point, and other smaller falls). This is a...
Hike to Thunder Canyon Falls
Waterfall season got a late start this year, but it is finally underway. I have been on a roll lately, checking hikes off my list that have been tugging at me for years. And once the steady rains hit the Natural State, I got to start checking off some more. At the top of my list this waterfall season was the Hike to Thunder Canyon Falls. I actually tried to do this one last Winter. But I had not done my homework and was unprepared for creek crossings, or even reaching the trailhead. Since then I’ve had trouble getting back there after the right amount of rain. That is until December, 2021. When the rains finally hit, I was ready for this one. I enjoy all of the waterfalls that I hike to. But there is something different about Thunder Canyon. To me, there’s a certain mystique ab...
A Fall Hike to Rough Falls in Rough Hollow
A recent camping trip this Fall unexpectedly led us to a new group of waterfalls I had not visited before. I say unexpectedly because our original camping destination (Cove Lake) was full when we arrived. I had Cove Lake area hikes planned out and everything! Altering our plans on the fly, we opted to spend the weekend at Longpool Campground near Dover. I’ve stayed at this campground and hiked to Longpool Falls many times. But until this trip, I had never made the hike to Rough Falls just down the road at Rough Hollow. If you have ever been to Longpool Campground, you know there is no cell service there. Luckily, I had already spent a little time researching Rough Hollow on the Waterfalls in Arkansas map. There are quite a few waterfalls in this hollow that you can see in one hike. I...
Hike to Steele Falls in the Sylamore Wilderness
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a recent visit to Mountain View, AR and all the fun things to do around there. Our first stop that day was at Loco Ropes for some ziplining and ropes adventures. You can check out our visit to Loco Ropes here. The second half of our day would take us into the Sylamore Wilderness for a hike to Steele Falls. It’s actually the Sylamore District of the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest. But right or wrong, I just call it the Sylamore Wilderness. Before we would get to Steele Falls though, we had a few other stops to make. First was lunch at Wing Shack in Mountain View (great burgers!). Then we made a quick stop at Blanchard Springs to check out Mirror Lake Falls. From there, we made our way to the area of Fifty-Six and a stop at the beautiful Gunner Po...
Hike to Mineral Springs Falls
Here we are in June and it’s still raining like it’s April. Floating the rivers is a little unpredictable right now. But one thing you can rely on is that the waterfall hiking is excellent pretty much every weekend. Earlier this spring I ventured into the hills northwest of Batson to visit Bingham Hollow Falls. Along the way, I stoppled to make the short hike to Mineral Springs Falls. I was actually on my way to a weekend camping and floating trip on the Mulberry River. That float ended up cancelled due to some unexpected cold and windy weather. So the waterfall hike to Mineral Springs Falls and later to Bingham Hollow wound up as the highlight of the weekend. Bingham Hollow was as great as I thought it would be. But Mineral Springs Falls was much more than I expected, and a ni...
Splashdown Falls and Intersection Falls
I have written several articles now about waterfalls that I have missed while hiking to others close by. My research is getting better, so hopefully I won’t keep missing them. But I recently visited two more waterfalls you can easily combine with other waterfall hikes in the Falling Water Creek area. Splashdown Falls and Intersection Falls are two that are located off Falling Water Rd near several popular waterfalls. If you ever hike to Terry Keefe Falls, you should definitely add Splashdown Falls to the same hike. There are a lot waterfalls in this area such as Six Finger Falls and Fuzzy Butt Falls, Horsetail Falls, Terry Keefe Falls, and others. If you ever stop to see ANY of the waterfalls along Falling Water Rd, Intersection Falls is another quick and easy stop you can add. I had...
Floating Kyle’s Landing to Ozark on the Buffalo River
Spring is here and it’s time to float the upper portion of your favorite rivers. This year, my first float trip was Kyle’s Landing to Ozark on the Buffalo River. I usually make it a point to float Ponca to Kyle’s Landing every year. But I’m on a mission to float all the sections of the Buffalo I haven’t done yet, along with some new rivers. So floating this section on the Upper Buffalo was a top priority. It will likely be too low to float by mid-June, so you’ve got to get it while you can! We had a perfect Saturday for floating the last weekend of March. The area had gotten some good rain that week and the river was really high that Friday. But the Upper Buffalo drains off quickly, and by Saturday the water level was just right. Combine that with a sunn...
Horsetail Falls off Falling Water Creek
If you hunt enough waterfalls in Arkansas, you will eventually miss one that’s close to an area you’ve already hiked. I like to cover as much as I can in each hiking trip and article. So when I miss a cool feature on a hike, it’s pretty common for me to go back and do it again. One area that I’ve recently revisited for this exact reason is Horsetail Falls off Falling Water Creek. I did an article last year on Six Finger Falls and Fuzzy Butt Falls. On that hike, I accessed Fuzzy Butt Falls by crossing Falling Water Creek at Six Fingers. I knew the trail went back upstream to the bridge crossing Falling Water Creek. But what I didn’t know was that the trail takes you right by Horsetail Falls! I had heard of Horsetail Falls before but had never looked it up. So I...
Hike to Schoolhouse Falls near Lost Corner
I love finding new areas to hike that I’m completely unfamiliar with. They offer brand new sights, new mountains, streams, waterfalls, and trails. For me it’s the same excitement as taking a vacation to a new but popular place. You don’t know exactly what to expect, but you know you’re going to enjoy it. Even though I’ve explored quite a bit of Arkansas, this still continues to happen (which is a good thing!). The latest example is an area of the Big Piney Forest I’ve been exploring lately, just east of Hector. And my first visit to this area included a quick hike to Schoolhouse Falls. Yes, I realize a lot of people know about this area and hike it regularly. But for some reason, I’ve skipped right over it for years on my way to areas northwest of ...
Forked Mountain Falls in the Flatside Wilderness
In the northeast corner of the Ouachita Mountain region lies the Flatside Wilderness area. It is an area that’s relatively less explored and often overlooked. I think this may be because exploring this area requires a LOT of dirt road driving, which may turn some folks away. Personally, I like driving those dirt roads. I think another reason is that people mostly hear about the beautiful scenery and waterfalls in the Ozarks, because it’s the most popular area. Hey, I get it – the Ozarks are still my favorite too. But there is also great scenery – including waterfalls – in the Ouachitas. One of those is Forked Mountain Falls in the Flatside Wilderness area. Forked Mountain can be seen from many different places while driving through the Flatside Wilderness area...
Hike to Magnolia Falls in the Ozarks
When it comes to hiking, I learned long ago to plan your hike, research it, and know what you’re getting into. I’ve learned this lesson several times. But every now and then I seem to forget it, and will go off exploring without a plan. Or I’ll plan a hike and change my mind on the way so I can see something else. Such was the case the first time I made the hike to Magnolia Falls between Deer and Fallsville. I had planned two other waterfall hikes near Ponca that day in early October. But after seeing that the area creeks would be low on water, I opted for Magnolia Falls. I had Magnolia Falls on my list for a while and even read a little bit about it. But I was still completely unprepared that day. I had not downloaded a map or read enough about how to access the other wa...
Sweden Creek Falls Hike in the Ozarks
For my first hike of the year I continued on my quest to hike all the major waterfalls in the Upper Buffalo River area. I decided to start the year off with the Sweden Creek Falls hike since it had been on my list for a while. And the conditions were perfect for a waterfall hike that day. The Kingston area had gotten some rain for several days before, and even some snow. On the day of my hike, the sun was out in full to warm things up to the mid-40’s. This meant there should be plenty of water in the falls from the snow-melt and previous rain. Full sun and water in the falls? I couldn’t ask for better conditions, especially for this hike. Driving up Hwy 21 from Clarksville to Boxley, I was pleased to see there was still a light dusting of snow on the ground. I haven’t see...
