#Ozarks
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...
Loco Ropes Treetop Adventure Park in Mountain View
If you have ever been to the Mountain View, AR area, you probably know about some of the popular attractions there. It’s well known for the bluegrass music on the town square and trout fishing on the nearby White River. It is also home to Blanchard Springs and the Ozark Folk Center State Park. But there are plenty more fun outdoor things to do in the Mountain View area. The EPIC Sylamo MTB trails are nearby along with some great hiking spots. But did you know about the zipline and ropes courses at Loco Ropes Treetop Adventure Park? My most recent visit to Mountain View included a stop at Loco Ropes* for some zipline fun. I was in the area for my annual trout fishing trip and a little hiking. But I wanted to start my weekend off with a return trip to Loco Ropes*. I had been there year...
Middle Fork Little Red River Float
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my first time to float the Cove Creek run on Cadron Creek. It was not the first new float for me this year. Actually, all my floats this year have been new ones for me. One of the latest was in June, where we floated the Middle Fork Little Red River. This is a float that I’ve had my eye on for a while. For me, the first challenge is finding a weekend when my float friends are free to do a new float. But the biggest challenge for this river is hitting it at just the right level. And boy did we! For this trip, we lucked out getting the perfect water level on a day we could go. More on that later. We shuttled with Little Red River Outfitters* to do the 10-mile float from Lydalisk to Shirley. Let me just tell you, this float is a hidden gem that is not...
Floating the Cove Creek run on Cadron Creek
The 2021 float season has been a good one so far. Planning has been a challenge at times but I’ve managed to paddle a lot of new water this year. This Spring, I made my first floats down Kyle’s Landing to Ozark on the Buffalo, and Norman to Caddo Gap on the Caddo River. And in May I finally got to float the Cove Creek run on Cadron Creek. (This is Hwy 65 to Hwy 285). This one had been on my list for a while since floating the section upriver from it many years ago. I’ve always heard this is a nice float, but the scenery and the river completely exceeded my expectations that day. Floating the Cove Creek run on Cadron Creek is really convenient for folks in Central Arkansas and the Ozark foothills. It’s only a half hour north of Conway and easy to self-shuttle. I̵...
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 ...
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...
Alum Cove Natural Bridge
Many of the hikes I have written about so far are located in the areas between Russellville and Jasper, or Clarksville and Ponca. Nestled right in the middle of all those hills, creeks, and waterfalls lies Alum Cove Natural Bridge Recreation Area. In all my trips through this area, I’ve passed really close to Alum Cove probably a hundred times. And until recently, I had never stopped to visit – always in a rush to get somewhere else. But this past November, I made it a point to specifically stop in to check out Alum Cove. I was not disappointed. I had actually set out to do a different hike that day a little further north. But the road to that trailhead was flooded so I had to call an audible. I’d been saving the Alum Cove area trail as a backup plan for just such an occa...
