Outdoor Adventures in the Ozarks

     Yesterday we got a bunch of rain, almost four inches.   And south, in the Ozark National Forest they got even more.   On top of that, today is supposed to be cooler, so a great day to do some waterfall chasing .   W e’re heading to the upper reaches of Eldridge Hollow along the Ozark Highlands Trail which is full of waterfalls. near top of Eldridge Hollow      The dirt roads to the trailhead from the Fallsville area are in pretty good shape, although they do seem to get worse as we get closer to the trailhead.   We’re starting our hike today from the north side of Eldridge Hollow, there’s also a trailhead at the south end so you could do a one-way hike with two vehicles.   (possibly Lower Eldridge Falls?)    The parking/trailhead is in a little clearing that has probably been used as a deer camp.   We walk back through the tall grass in the clearing to the Ozark Highlands Trail. Since it just rained yesterday the...

    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 another car, but 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 ...