Exploring Northwest Arkansas

Magnolia Falls - in Winter

In all my years of going down to the Buffalo River area, I've never met anyone who has been to Magnolia Falls, or for that matter, ever heard of anyone even mention this falls. And let me just say that this may be the best kept secret in the Buffalo River area.

The falls is in the Upper Buffalo Wilderness and has very easy vehicle access to the trail head, a well-maintained trail that is relatively easy to follow.

To get to the trailhead, just turn west onto Forest Road 1462/County Road 6. This road is about 2.5 miles south of the Mossville Church on Hwy 21 south of Boxley.  The road isn't marked, but it's a pretty significant gravel road and if you're following your odometer you'll know it when you see it. Once you turn west onto CR6, about .3 miles down the road is a pull-off area for parking (there is a sign on the left side of the road noting "Wilderness Access". Park here, and  enter on the trailhead to your right.

The trail itself mostly follows an old jeep road. You'll pass a couple of campsites, then several trees that have fallen over the trail that you'll have to climb over/duck under to continue on your way. I was a bit concerned about the trail maintenance at this point, but now think they just left these in the way to prevent people driving jeeps down the trail. (Update 1/1/16: The trail is now in VERY good shape and many of the downed trees have been removed from the trail making for some really nice hiking in the area).

After a short stretch you'll see a trailhead register -- sign in here before continuing. You'll cross a creek bed, and then a place where the trail seems to split -- take the spur to the left.

Soon you'll pass by a stone wall that was built by early settlers in the area. Eventually that wall turns into some interesting rock formations that if you look closely, have more rocks on top of them as a continuence of the stone wall. It's an interesting stretch of trail.

The road descends a little, but not steeply, and then at about 1 mile the trail crosses another little creek bed. As soon as you cross the creek bed, the trail splits. The main trail continues on straight here (and if you follow it, it can eventually lead you down into the valley and back up to Woods Boys Falls). If your hope is to go to Magnolia Falls, you'll turn left here along the spur trail that follows the creek bed. Someone has nicely formed an arrow out of rocks on the ground to point you in that direction.

As you turn left on the spur trail, you'll follow the creek bed gently down. Shortly, the creek hits another larger creek - at this point, to your left will be Magnolia Falls. You can view it from above or scramble down into the valley for a lower-level view of it. To the right is Woods Boys Falls. It's a tough angle to photograph from up top, so I'll have to make a return trip this spring to get some of it from below.

The area around Magnolia Falls is very scenic beyond just the falls itself with some great bluffs and rock features. There was quite a fair amount of water flowing this day in spite of it not being terribly wet up to this point this winter. Plus, the cold and snow had created a lot of great ice features for our viewing. 

If you venture around the top of the bluff above Woods Boys Falls you'll also get a great look into the Boen Gulf area and it's spectacular bluff lines -- especially in winter when  the leaves are off the trees. There is a volunteer trail along here that is also easy to follow -- but be safe, it travels the bluff line and it's a sharp drop down in many places. If you go far enough (maybe another .25 miles) there will be a way to scramble down through the rocks to get to the base of the valley below.

This is just a great little area and we're so happy to have found it.  

Distance: 2.1 miles roundtrip to Magnolia Falls -- but plan on spending some time and energy exporing around the area.

Difficulty: Easy to Moderate.

Footwear: I always recommend hiking boots in winter weather conditions

Kids: Suitable for most kids, although be careful near some of the ledges

Trail Guide: This is covered in the Boen Gulf Access in Tim Ernst's Buffalo River Hiking Trails book, but the better guide here is Tim Ernst's Arkansas Waterfalls book.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

 

 

Hawksbill Crag/Whitaker Point

If you’ve spent much time in the Buffalo River Area at all, you’ve seen pictures of Hawksbill Crag – it is easily one of the most photographed areas in the area, and with good reason.

The hike is a short one, and relatively easy. Getting to the trailhead is a bit trickier.

To get to the trailhead, take Highway 43 from Ponca to Boxley. When the highway merges with Highway 21, take the southern route and continue on to Boxley. Right before you cross the Buffalo River, there is a gravel road that heads off to the road called Cave Mountain Road. Turn right onto Cave Mountain Road – you’ll know you’re at the right place when the gravel road heads up, seemingly straight up. This is a rough, rocky, steep road. I will note that we’ve made the trip many a time in our 2 wheel drive car without problems, but never when the road is wet and potentially slippery.

The road will eventually level out, and continue on Cave Mountain Road for a total of 6 miles – it will feel like a lot more.  When you pass the Cave Mountain Church and cemetery you’re just a bit more than a ½ mile away.  

At 6 miles you’ll come to a small parking area marked “Wilderness Access – find a spot to park here, or on the side of the road if the lot is full.  The trail starts out on the opposite side of the road from the parking lot. 

This is a heavily used trail, so following it should not be much of a problem.  It starts off down the hill (getting back up this hill at the end of the hike is easily the toughest part of the hike).  After going down a bit, the trail eventually levels out.

At about the 1 mile mark the trail will dip down a bit and cross a small stream.  If there is water flowing in this stream, there is a nice little waterfall that will be down to your right over the bluff. This waterfall is called Haley Falls – named after a six year old girl who got lost from her group in this area for 3 days and 2 nights and was eventually found near here.  If you go down to the bluff, there is a tree there that can help you get down to the upper version of this falls (and more importantly, back up).  There is a lower version of the falls that I’ve never been down to because we usually do this hike in October when the leaves are turning because the views here are so tremendous – but there is seldom much water here in October.

As you cross the stream, you’ll have an option to turn either left or right. Both trails lead to the same place (the Crag), just take different routes to get there. To the left the trail heads up on a higher path, further into the woods and further away from the bluffline.  The trail to the right heads right along the edge of the bluffline.

While the upper path is a very nice hike, we generally take the path to the right and come back on the other route.  If you go to the right, the next  .5 miles of the hike will be filled with interesting rock formations,  great views of the Upper Buffalo Wilderness and a lot of places to stop for a snack or just to soak it all in (and really, hitting this area in late October when the trees are in full color is just breathtaking).  As you observe all of the breathtaking views, PLEASE BE CAREFUL.  The bluff below you falls several hundred feet and a fall would be deadly. 

After .5 miles of bluff top views, you’ll get to the Crag. The views from here are incredible, and of course, there are a lot of little places to get pictures of the Crag itself.  Again, when you venture out on the Crag, be careful., it’s a long way down.

After taking time out here to enjoy the area, head on back the way you came in. When it starts getting steep you’re getting close.

Length: 3 miles round trip

Star rating: 5 stars (out of 5)

Footwear: Hiking boots or trail runners are fine

Difficulty: Easy/Moderate (only for the climb out)

Kids: Yes – but please keep them close when near blufflines

Guidebook: None required, but covered in Tim Ernst: Buffalo River Hiking Trails

This trail, unlike most in the Buffalo River area, does allow dogs on leashes.  Again, if your dog is the type that will pull you trying to chase a critter, this may not be the best path to take them on.

Rush -- The Monte Cristo Trail

The Monte Cristo Trail is one of three short hiking trails in the Rush area.  It is a short little trail, but probably my favorite of the trails.  There is an extended part of this trail at the end that can connect to the other trails in the area to create a loop hike that I'll talk about at the end.

The trail is scenic and easy to follow.

To take this trail, start off at the second trailhead in the Rush area (near the shelter with the picnic tables and toilet and near the River).  The trail starts off into the woods back behind the parking area. There is a small ruin here at the start – it is the remnants White Eagle Mine.

Head off into the woods, and after a short stretch you’ll hit an intersection.  To the left is the Old Mine Trail, to the right is the Monte Cristo Trail. Stay right.

This part of the trail is on an old road -- and is a great part of the trail.

The trail runs off into the woods and eventually swings off to the left. Down below you have some great views of the Buffalo River and Clabber Creek.  At about .4, the trail intersects with an old road, turn left on this road.

The view of Clabber Creek below.

This old road serves as a beautiful little hiking trail. It heads up the hill at a somewhat gentle grade, to your left are some bluff lines along Rush Mountain, and to the right is a steep drop-off to Clabber Creek with more mountains in the distance.  I really do love this little stretch of trail.

Old mining equipment from the '60s.

At .5 miles you get to the Monte Cristo mine – you’ll know it when you see it!  It’s the largest of the mine openings in the area.  There is also some old mining equipment that sits outside – leftover from the somewhat brief mine reopening in the 1960s. You can follow the road another .2 miles until the end of the maintained trail. At this point, you can turn around and head back – for a round-trip route of 1.4 miles.  I recommend this route (and all of “conclusion” data below reflects this option). 

However, if you want to make this a loop hike, there is an option to do so.  It’s not a maintained trail, it’s hard to follow, and a bit dangerous, but if you’re into bushwacking and finding your own way, there are some great views from the top of this trail.

So, if you decide to go on the loop hike, go to the sign where it says “end of maintained trail” and instead of turning around, head off onto the tracked route to the left. This is pretty easy to spot because everyone enters at the same place.

Now, the trail is sort of marked – there are blue trail markers around if you’re looking out for them. There are a lot of downed trees along the ‘trail”, so it is easy to lose. The trail goes up, then to the right, and then up again. At  1 mile from the trailhead, the trail goes straight up to the left through a little break in the bluff line (there is a tree in the middle of this break with a blue tag on it).  It is the only real break in the bluff line, so it’s important that you keep an eye out for it.

Once through this break in the Bluff, we never really found a trail again. The best advice I can give you is to find the easiest way to the top and then follow the trail ridge across the top of the Mountain. There really are some great views from up here when the leaves are off the trees.

If you decide to go over the mountain ridge, be cautious and enjoy the views.

Follow the mountain ridge for quite awhile here (it has a slight uphill grade).  At some point the trail heads back down the mountain. I confess, we never found the trail down – but it’s hard to get lost here, because you’re at the top of the mountain, and you know you have to go down on your left. However, my hint here is to stay on the ridge much longer than you think you need to. Just like the side of the mountain you just came up, there is a steep bluff line on this side as well, so there aren’t many options to get down. And, that side of the ridge is a series of mines (the ones you’ll pass by on the Mine Trail) – so there is a lot of fencing, deep drop offs and likely some unstable ground.  But assuming you find your way down, you’ll hit a the mine trail – to the right takes you to the Morningstar Parking area, to the left, down the old Mine Trail. If you make this entire loop, it’s about 3.6 total miles (depending on how close to the original trail you stay.

If you take the loop route, be careful, take a good topographical map, and do your best to stay on the trail.  I hope someday they can complete this trail, because right now, it’s really rough bushwacking.

Monte Cristo Trail:

Distance: 1.4 (roundtrip on the actual trail – 3.6 miles if you try the loop)

Difficulty: Easy for the hiking portion, Difficult for the “loop” hike version over the mountain.

Rating: 4 stars

Footwear: Trail Runners – although Hiking Boots are advised for the Loop hike

Kids: Yes (for the out and back route, definitely not for the loop).

Guidebook:  none required if you stay on the trail, but if you plan to attempt the Loop Hike take the Buffalo River Hiking Trails Book for guidance.

Liles Falls

  
We had been coming down to Arkansas for several years before we ever heard about this waterfall and only then upon reading about it in a book. It's super-easy to get to, and very picturesque, and yet, it isn't a place that people talk about a lot.

Liles Falls is just off the road on the way to the Erbie Campground. As you are driving on the road to Erbie you pass the Koen Interpretive Trail, the Ponds Loop and a little picnic area (I'll talk about all of those at a later time) and at one point, cross a little stream and there is a parking area there on the right.

If you park your car there and then walk back out across the creek there is a very well-traveled trail that dips down into the woods from the opposite side of the creek. It isn't a maintained trail, but it's flat and easy to follow -- and the falls is only about a quarter of a mile of flat trail from the road.

Once you get to the waterfall, the scramble down to the bottom is a little challenging but can be done by most active individuals -- and when they get to the bottom, they'll be greeted by a wonderful, 41' tall cascading waterfall. 

This waterfall is also easily accessible off of the Buffalo River Trail between Erbie and Ozark.

We came during the wet season, but it had been several days since it had rained and the falls was just a small little cascade. I've seen some wonderful photos of it on flickr and plan to come back after a good rain to see it in all its glory.  Even with a small stream of water, it was still a beautiful place to sit and relax for a spell before heading back to the car.

Star Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 (this may go up if I go on a really wet day)

Difficulty: Easy -- although the scramble to the bottom of the falls is a little tricky

Footwear: I recommend trail shoes -- but tennis shoes would be fine

Kids: Except for very young kids this should be easy enough. May be a bigger challenge for the elderly.

Trail Guide: Tim Ernst's Arkansas Waterfalls book

 

Indian Creek Hike/Bushwack to Tunnel Cave Falls

  
The Indian Creek area is one of my favorite areas of Buffalo River National Park area.

The trail back to Indian Creek is not an official trail -- but it is pretty well traveled, and runs right along Indian Creek, so it's fairly easy to follow and almost impossible to get lost on. Just follow the creek.

To get to the trail, head out on the Buffalo River Trail out of Kyles Landing and head toward Steele Creek.  After a stretch you'll see a sign that points you toward Indian Creek.  At that point, you are no longer on a maintained trail.

The highlight of the trail is Tunnel Falls (I'll discuss it a bit more in a bit) -- a 31' high waterfall that pours out from a cave.

The trail follows Indian Creek out away from the Buffalo River.  When the water is high (like after a good rain) there are numberous volunteer waterfalls that appear along the creek area.  Some of the photos of these volunteer   
waterfalls and cascades appear on this page.

The trail crosses the creek 3 times on the way back to the falls.  This creek is usually passable - -but in times of high water (the best time to venture back to the falls) your feet may get wet. My one time back to this falls was after a very hard rain so my feet were very wet -- but it was well worth it.

As you get back to the back of the trail, you'll go up a steep stretch of trail that loops around high above the creek. It's a pretty scary stretch and a slip would be extremely bad.

You eventually reach Copperhead Falls. I think this is usually a pretty nice waterfall but the water was so high the day we went it ended up looking more like just a huge cascade.

At about 2.7 miles back you get to Tunnel Cave Falls. As I noted before, it's a 31' high waterfall that comes out from a   
cave on the side of the bluff and it flows into a beautiful blue pool of water. 

The second to last photo on the page is of Tunnel Cave Falls.

When the water is really flowing -- just beyond Tunnel Cave Falls (you'll be able to see it -- and hear it) is another cascade of water that comes pouring over the side of the ridge and has a series of large cascades down into the same creek as Tunnel Cave Falls. This waterfall (I don't know if it even has a name) is extremely impressive (that is me in the last photograph standing close to it in the last photograph of this post). 

Again, when we were there, there was a lot of water -- and the sound of all of the water flowing was an incredible sound -- to go along with this being, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful areas along the Buffalo River.

There is apparently more to see here -- but the "easy" way to see it used to be to climb through the Tunnel Cave to the other side but now that is closed (as are most of the caves in the area) because of disease that is killing the grey bats and it's best if humans leave well enough alone there. There is a "back way" to get there -- which involves climbing up a rope up a bluff, and scurring up more bluffs. But apparently it is extremely dangerous and I felt like it was best left to another day.

Hike Length: 5.4 miles

Difficulty: Moderate to Difficult

Best time of year: Winter and Spring when water is high

Footwear: Hiking Boots

Children: I wouldn't

Star Rating: 5 Stars out of 5

Guidebook: Indian Creek Area in Tim Ernst's Buffalo River Hiking Trails Book

The Glory Hole

The Glory Hole  is one of the most unique waterfalls in the Ozarks -- and when the water is really flowing, the hike to it adds to the spectacular appeal of this short trail.

The trail is in the Ozark National Forest -- and the trail head is off of Highway 16 about 5 .7 miles East of Fallsville. 

The trail starts off down an old road for a stretch, and then drops off to the right down a pretty good slope. Eventually, you cross the stream that leads to the falls -- if the stream is really moving here, you're in for a real treat at the falls.

The main trail stays up high from the creek, but there is a place where you can venture down and follow along the main creek to the falls itself. This is a bit rougher, but there are some simply gordeous smaller waterfalls and cascades along this stretch that would be worth the hike if they were the highlight themselves (the first 3 pictures are of these areas.

After about a mile you get to the top of the Glory Hole.  Be VERY careful here. You can get pretty close to the hole itself, but the rocks around the area are really slick and falling through the whole would be a bad idea. (The 4th picture on this page is of the top of the waterfall).

After taking a few pictures here, you can loop around and venture down to the bottom of the falls.

When the water is high there is a pretty nice little waterfall here  in its own right (picture #5 on this page -- that's my wife Michelle squatting down next to the top of that falls).

As you loop back around, you get to the base of the Glory Hole and can see the water simply pouring out of the hole -- and it really is one of the more spectacular waterfalls in the area with a fall of about 30 feet -- the last three pictures on this page are of the Glory Hole from the bottom of the falls.

Plan to spend a little time in the area -- we usually like to pack a picnic lunch and hang out here for a bit before heading back up the hill to the car. The hike out is a lot tougher (and more uphill) than the hike down, but it's not too bad and it is certainly worth the 2 mile roundtrip to see this amazing and unique waterfall area.

The day these pictures was taken was after a solid day of rain in May -- so we had very high water for these pictures. I'd strongly recommend checking out this falls area during the rainy season (winter and Spring) for the best water flow.

Distance: 2 miles

Footwear: I recommend some trail shoes, although tennis shoes would be fine

Difficulty: Easy/moderate

Rating: 5 Stars out of 5

Children: I think this is pretty child-proof, but the uphill hike on the way out, plus the scramble back up to the top of the falls may be a little tough for the really young ones.

Trail Book: Tim Ernst's Arkansas Waterfalls

Here's someone else's view of the trail