18 Waterfall Hollow

-

This morning we head out to just drive around on some back roads and do a little hiking along the way.  With nowhere in particular in mind we eventually found ourselves south of Fallsville near Waterfall Hollow.  There hasn’t been much rain here lately but since we're here, we thought we would check out the three waterfalls.  That would be Waterfall #1, Waterfall #2 and Waterfall #3.  I guess those are as good of names as any, what else would you call waterfalls in Waterfall Hollow?

Three trailside waterfalls along the Ozark Highlands Trail, on a short easy hike.
Waterfall #1

    The hike to these falls is on the Ozark Highlands Trail and that means a good easy to follow trail.  We have no trouble getting to all three waterfalls.  Mid May here in Arkansas feels like early summer, and of course all the trees are in full foliage now. This means pretty green scenery and lots of shade to keep things comfortable.  All three falls are right on the OHT so no bushwhacking necessary.

lots of storm debris

    The waterfalls are in little side drainages flowing into Waterfall Hollow.  After about a half mile of hiking we first come to Waterfall #1 then about 100 yards is #2 and another 200 yards to #3. There has obviously been a big storm through this area recently, as there are downed trees everywhere.  And as expected there isn’t much flow in any of these falls, but with a little imagination you can tell they will look just great with more water and fewer dead trees.

Waterfall #2

    All in all, a nice little hike.  To the three falls and back is just about 1.5 miles and the total elevation gain under 250 feet.  It’s still pretty early, we’ll carry on with nowhere in particular to go, and see where else it may lead.

Waterfall #3

    Just to clear up something about waterfall names, I think it might have been Tim Ernst who named these three waterfalls, and these names are fine.  ‘Waterfall #1’ is an actual name, and that’s a good name for a fall in Waterfall Hollow.  What bothers me is when someone discovers a waterfall then writes about it but can’t seem to come up with a name.  He will refer to this waterfall as ‘un-named falls #1’ or ‘no name falls #1’ why not just give it a name?

Falls #2

    You don’t have to be creative or imaginative to come up with a name, the name doesn’t have to be inspiring or poetic or descriptive or even cute, it’s just a name.  What really gets confusing is when two of these waterfall chasers write about the same waterfall, the first guy calls it ‘un-named falls #36’ and then writer two comes along and calls the same waterfall ‘no name falls #17’.  Please, just give it a name.

side stream near Falls #1

Waterfall Hollow: Statistics Chart 18     The OHT trailhead and parking area is on Moonhull Road (NC 9360) about 1.4 miles southwest off Highway 21.  NC 9360 is just 2.4 miles south on Hwy.21 from Fallsville or 9.1 miles north of the entrance to Ozone Recreation Area.

Location: Waterfall Hollow parking: 35.7409, -93.46408

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

23 Thunder Canyon Falls

-
Image
    We head south this morning with the intention of doing the short easy hike to Hideout Hollow Falls.   It is supposed to be seasonably cool this morning with highs later this afternoon in the low 80’s, so we get an early start hoping to beat the heat.   The dirt road from Compton to Hideout Hollow at the Schermerhorn Trailhead isn’t bad, flat and pretty smooth all the way to the trailhead. Thunder Canyon Falls      At the trailhead parking area there are already four vehicles here, it 's not a very big parking area and there's plenty of room for one more car.   W hat we find discouraging is two of the vehicles are small buses.    Having been to Hideout Hollow a couple times, we know it isn't a big area, and my imagination pictures bus loads swarming all over the falls.   After quickly reconsidering our plans, we decide to continue down the road to Erbie and hike to Thunder Canyon Falls instead. Thunder Canyon Falls     Well, that nice flat and pretty smooth road mentione
Read more

21 Triple Falls

-
Image
     This morning we loaded up our out-of-town guests and took them to Broadwater Hollow.   The plan was to show them a little bit of the Natural State's beauty and do some  hiking at the same time.   Broadwater Hollow was awesome as usual, (see: 20 Broadwater Hollow ) and everyone was up for a little more. framed in green      So off to Triple Falls we go.   ‘As the crow flies’ it’s not very far from Broadwater Hollow to Triple Falls.   But in a car, is a different story.   From Compton we drive to Ponca then up the mountain to Mt. Sherman and finally down the hill to the Boy Scout’s Camp Orr.   A very scenic drive the entire way. Triple Falls      The parking area is actually just inside the Camp Orr property and is designated with signage.   The hike to the falls I believe, is the shortest possible that you can even call a hike.   Anything less and it would probably be visible from the car.   It sure is a beautiful spot too. skippin' rocks      Triple Falls is three distinc
Read more

86 Fuzzybutt Horsetail and more

-
Image
     The southeast corner of Richland Creek Wilderness is an area we know pretty well, having visited many times, but there are still many waterfalls in the area that we have not seen.   Today we’re out to check-off a couple more from the list and check-out a different route to get there. at the roadside campsite      Under two miles south of Witts Springs is Richland Creek Road (SC265 or FR1219), we turn west on this good dirt road and less than four miles later arrive at Falling Water Road (this is the intersection for which Intersection Falls is named).   A left on Falling Water Road (FR1205) brings us to the concrete bridge over Falling Water Creek.   There's parking on both sides of the bridge, we pick the west side right in front of our trailhead.   This parking spot right on Falling Water Creek at the confluence with a lovely little feeder stream wouldn’t be a bad place to camp although very close to the road. Flat Stanley Falls      We start up the road away from Falling Wa
Read more

17 Haw Creek Recreation Area

-
Image
     Last month we were down in this area with the plan of hiking to waterfalls on Little Cow Creek.   We didn’t make it into Little Cow Creek that day, but instead checked out some other cool stuff in the area.  That included Haw Creek Recreation Area in the Ozark National Forest, which is a nice little campground with beautiful Haw Creek Falls right on the north edge of the campground.  Today we’re back at Haw Creek Rec Area, this time we'll be hiking to Pack Rat Falls and nearby Pam’s Grotto. Haw Creek      First up is Pack Rat Falls, we park the car in the middle of the loop campground at the restrooms.  A fter a quick visit to Haw Creek Falls, it’s only about 100 feet to the falls and too awesome to pass up, so why not?    Then over to the  trailhead (of sorts) for Pack Rat which is at the back of campsite #6 in the southeast corner of the campground. side falls below Pack Rat      This is a pretty good little trail for a while.   After passing some stacked rocks I call the 
Read more