Exploring Northwest Arkansas: Lonesome Hollow Falls

06/10/2016

Lonesome Hollow Falls

Memorial Day weekend turned out to be an amazing weekend for waterfall hunting. .The week prior was full of heavy rains, but with the nice weather during the weekend, it made for a perfect opportunity to find a lot of good waterfalls with a lot of water flowing.

We took in an old favorite, Lonesome Hollow Falls and had it all to ourselves. It's a relatively short hike that begins only about a mile off the main highway, so it's a pretty easy falls to get to for the relative beauty. We caught some new photos that turned out quite nice with the larger flow.

You can get directions to the trail and full hiking notes at my post here.

Photos from May 29, 2016.

Posted at 05:17 PM in Favorites, Lonesome Hollow Falls | Permalink | Comments (0)

07/26/2015

Lonesome Hollow Falls in Ozark National Forest

Lonesome Hollow Falls is a great waterfall that based on the beauty, and relative ease of getting to, doesn't seem to get talked about very often and is much less popular than it probably deserves.

It's a short simple drive, and a really very accessible hike to a fantastic 47 foot tall waterfall amid a beautiful canyon.

Getting there

To get to the trail head, take Highway 7 to the little community of Cowell (17.6 miles south of Jasper). Just .2 miles south of Cowell is the Cowell Cemetery. If traveling south from Cowell/Jasper, turn RIGHT (southwest) onto the road that leads to the Cowell Cemetery.

As you get behind the cemetery, turn RIGHT on Forest Road 1253 (there is a sign marker, and it is marked as a "dead end"). The road is gravel, but generally in good shape for an average vehicle. There are two roads here, one goes down the hill and one stays on the level. Stay on the one that is on the level.

Go .9 miles on FR 1253 and park in an unmarked parking area on the right.

The Trail

The trail follows an old four-wheeler road from the parking area and down the hill. It's a nice little hike and the road appears to be somewhat maintained. The trail will bend sharply to the left and continue down the hill. Off to the right while hiking is a fairly steep bluff and a view down into the Lonesome Hollow Creek valley.

At roughly .4 miles, the trail will quickly become less maintained -- there will be a little cairn on the side of the road and a path that goes STEEPLY down the hill. Follow this path.

This steep section is a little tricky, but short. Soon, you'll be below the bluff line and you'll turn RIGHT and follow the bluff from the bottom back to the falls.

The bluff line is very scenic. Follow the bluff line for about .2 miles and you will eventually come to Lonesome Hollow Falls.

The falls tumbles 47 feet and then cascades down the rocks below. The whole area is beautiful and worthy of spending some time. I am looking forward to my next trip so I can do a little more exploring up and down the creek bed.