Exploring Northwest Arkansas

QuiVaLa Elise Falls - Smith Falls Nature Preserve

This waterfall is tucked away in the Smith Creek Nature Preserve just south of Boxley.

The Preserve is a 1,226 acre preserve that contains Smith Creek (which flows into the Buffalo near Boxley), and sits atop Sherfield Cave, which contains the largest colony of Indiana bats in the state. Last week was my first ever visit to this area, and I was pleasantly surprised. The parking area and trailhead are tucked away just off of highway 21, and in previous drive-bys didn't look terribly well developed or maintained. But once you get to the parking area, there are several well-developed trails -- more than we were expecting -  so we're already planning our next trip back to the area.

QuiVaLa Elise Falls is one of the highlights of the area for photographers and nature lovers (the cave, which is not accessible, is the reason for the preserve). The falls name is literally translated from French-Indian and translates to mean "Who goes there Elise?" Elise is Elise Roenigk, who, along were husband, owned the land and made it available to the Nature Conservency in 2005.

To get to the falls, start at the trailhead at the main gate. There are generally maps in a box at the main gate to help guide you. Start directly down the road past the gate. As you get to the bottom of the first hill at about .2 miles the main road will veer right, while a smaller trail will take off directly to your left. Turn LEFT here (there was a sign here last week that pointed you to "Elise Falls").

You will follow this trail (which also follows an old, less-traveled road) the rest of the way down the hill. It will be steep at times, but was well maintained and easy to follow. We also hiked in Spring and there were a lot of purple, white, yellow and red wildflowers all along the trail.

At .7, the road will run into Smith Creek. Smith Creek is usually dry here (I believe it runs mostly underground at this point) and you will want to walk out into the creek bed. There are more trails that pick up on the other side of the creek that we'll hike some other day.

However, to get to the falls, you'll follow the creek bed to the left (downstream) for a a couple hundred yards past a small bluff. Just past the bluff, you'll see a small creek come in from your left that spills into Smith Creek. Follow this creek upstream 100 yards and you'll get to the falls.

The falls is 21 feet high and tumbles through a slot in the rocks in the bluff line. It's a pretty neat little falls. When you're done here, it's time to turn around and head back OUT of the creek area. You'll follow the same track you came in on, but you'll have 500 feet of elevation gain getting back out, which makes the hike out much tougher than the hike in.

Getting to the trailhead:

The Trailhead is just off Highway 21 just south of the Boxley Valley. Look for a two track road with a red gate on the left (east) side of the road. The gate sits about 100 feet back from the road. The entrance is exactly 3 miles form the Boxley Baptist Church This is 3.2 miles North of the Mossville Church. There is a sign there highlighting the Smith Creek Nature Preserve. Drive down this dirt road to the the parking area by the gate (there is room here for 6 cars or so). The trail begins on the other side of the gate.

Distance: 1.7 miles round trip

Footwear: Trail shoes or hiking books

Difficulty: Moderate

Kid Friendly: It's safe to travel on, so if they can make the 500 foot climb back out, then it's a good trail for them.

Trail Guide: Tim Ernst's Waterfall Book. Or, pick up a map at the trailhead.

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5.

 

Koen Interpretive Trail - Buffalo River Area

The Koen Interpretive Trail is short little trail that is both easy to get to and easy to hike.

The trail is in the Koen Experimental Forest. The Experimental Forest was created in 1950 with the goal of studying plant life in the south Ozarks and understanding sustainability of the forests in the area.

The Koen Interpretive Trail is a short, .25 mile loop through the Koen Interpretive Forest.  There are also a couple of short spur trails here that connect the different sides of the loop, so if you take them all it will be about .4 miles total.

The trail is a nice, flat, packed trail, that is handicapped accessible and is a good trail for folks of all ages. Along the trail, 34 different types of trees and plants are well marked to help you in recognizing both native and non-native species. There are also many different types of wild flowers and bird species in the forest.

There are plenty of sitting areas, as well as a nice little picnic area at the trailhead that makes this a great  outing for families looking to spend some time outdoors. This trail can also be easily combined with the Ponds Loop Trail -- which is just down the road -  for two short, easy, family friendly hikes.

Getting there:

The trail is easy to get to, as well as to hike. From Jasper, take Highway 7 North 4 miles to Highway 79 (gravel) - this is about 2.5 miles South of Pruitt.

Go West on Highway 79 (marked by a sign pointing you to the Erbie Campground, which is now closed). At .4 miles, a sign will point for you to turn right to get to the Koen Intepretive Trail, turn right on this dirt road. The parking area and picnic spot are about 200 yards down this road.

Difficulty: Easy

Footwear: Anything will work

Trail Guide: Not required, but covered in Tim Ernst's Buffalo River Hiking Trails

Kid Friendly: Yes!

 

Upper Buffalo Wilderness Area - Boen Gulf Access - Part 3

The Upper Buffalo Wilderness Area is a beautiful, rugged area of land with a lot of beautiful landscape.

As I noted in previous posts, this is a wilderness area and not terribly well developed. There are a series of waterfalls here and an old jeep road that does provide close access to a lot of the sites that you can read about in Part 1 and Part 2 (Part 1 also has a description of how to get to the trailhead).

The trail to Magnolia Falls is well traveled, as is the route to the bottom of Woods Boys Falls. However, if you’re really adventurous, there is even more to see and do here.

To get even further into the wilderness, instead of turning left crossing the creek to get to Magnolia falls, or at the bottom of the bluff line to head to the base of Woods Boy’s Falls, stay on the jeep road and descend down the road pretty sharply to the bottom of the hill. After about 1.75 miles from the trialhead, you will hav reached the bottom of the hill.

Here, there are two creeks that join to form the Boen Gulf and there is a LOT to see and explore here in all directions as the water from the creeks have carved a lot of unique rock features, small waterfalls and cascades that make for some very interesting scenery.

There are no trails from this point, but if you stay close to the creeks you should be able to find your way back to the jeep road ok without a GPS (at least in the winter and early spring, heavy summer growth may make this a challenge when in full bloom).  Having a GPS would make it a little more fool-proof.

Without a lot of trail to describe, there isn't a lot to talk about other than showing some pictures and noting that we just bushwacked our way through the creek bottom.

We spent better than an hour exploring this creek bed area and saw many interesting cascades, including a great area where the creek that forms Stahle Falls merges with the creek that formed Magnolia Falls and Woods Boys Falls. There are some interesting features here.

So explore and find your own favorite little spot.

Distance: It’s about 3.5 miles round trip to get to the junction in the creeks. How much you explore from there is up to you. This can be done in conjunction with the other two waterfall hikes in the area.

Difficulty: The trail is moderate – but exploring the area without trails can be very difficult.

Kids: No

Star Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Footwear: Sturdy Hiking Boots