Just so there isn't any confusion, this is not the Leatherwood Creek in the Leatherwood Wilderness of the lower Buffalo. This is Leatherwood Creek flowing into the upper Buffalo at Ponca
Low Water Bridge. Previously, thousands of day-trippers walked right over this little stream with no
idea of the beauty that is hiding just upstream. But since around 2017 this creek has become one
of the more popular hikes that start at the low water bridge.
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Ponca low-water bridge
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Hiking is just a sideline activity from here, Ponca Low Water Bridge is the most
popular canoe launch site on the entire river, it’s also a trailhead
for the Buffalo River Trail, Old River Trail and the short interpretive loop to Villines Homestead, so naturally you can expect to see lots of people here any time of year. |
'falls 2'
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We walk across the bridge and head over the dirt berm just to the left
of the trailhead sign for the BRT going south.
Just beyond the berm is a big thong
tree that sort of states ‘yes this is Leatherwood Creek’ and the beginning
of an easy-to-follow trail on the west side of the creek. Leatherwood Creek doesn’t have a lot of water today, but it has enough to be gorgeous, so we keep going upstream and in around
200 yards come to the first little waterfall.
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creekside spring
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This isn’t much of a waterfall, but as the creek flows over little ledges in
the solid bedrock making this a pretty spot. Continuing south and staying on the west side another 200 yards is a
spring in some moss-covered rocks right on the east bank of the creek. Not far past the spring is the second falls, which is similar to the first maybe a little taller and just as pretty, this entire drainage is very
picturesque.
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falling through the rocks
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A little farther up above
the bank 20 or 30 feet are the remnants of an old homesite, mostly just a pile
of rocks now. Just upstream from
these 'ruins' is a small feeder stream coming into Leatherwood Creek from the east. The little creek spills off ledges into
Leatherwood. This (falls #3) is a stair-step style waterfall maybe 8 feet
total and would look fabulous with a little more water. |
Balanced Rock Falls
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Just a little upstream from Falls 3 we find a spot to cross Leatherwood
Creek (wearing our creek waders), then start the steep climb up along the
feeder stream using small trees and exposed roots to help pull ourselves up. And soon on the left the first ‘tall’ fall
we’ve seen today, Falls 4 is 20-30 feet tall, I would guess. It’s not a straight drop, more of a very
steep tumbling cascade and very pretty. We keep climbing and soon we spot Balanced Rock Falls up ahead.
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falls #4 on side stream
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A unique waterfall, Balanced Rock Falls has a
big boulder precariously perched right on top of the falls, and with a little
more water flow than we have today is a magnificent sight (I've seen the pictures). We keep climbing, I want to see
Balanced Rock from the top, it’s still steep but at least this volunteer trail is well
worn, and no undergrowth to get tangled
in.
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@ Balanced Rock with Lower Twin in background
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At the top of Balanced Rock, we can
gaze down the twisting waterslide that is the waterfall. This view induces a little vertigo, I better
be careful as a slip here could be deadly. Up above Balanced Rock Falls, and in clear view from here are The Twins. The Twins are a pair of multi-tiered
(stair-step) waterfalls spaced about 60 feet apart. They are in fact very similar, almost identical twins. We head back down to Leatherwood Creek on
this same steep and slippery slope. |
at the Balanced Rock
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Back on the west side of Leatherwood we keep heading upstream to the
next little Falls 7, which is a nice 4-5 foot fall similar to Falls 2 but a lot
narrower. Somewhere before Falls 7 we
cross over to the east side of the creek then come to Falls 8 a short cascade. Here Leatherwood Creek valley starts to get
narrow, like we’re entering a little canyon, and soon we have low bluffs on
both sides of the creek.
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small side stream
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There is
dripping water with moss and ferns everywhere along here and we assume with a
little more water flow there would be waterfalls, many waterfalls. We keep going south and soon come to a long
oval emerald pool in the creek with a nice waterfall at its head. This is Wading Falls, a beautiful little
oasis on Leatherwood Creek.
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The Twins
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Beyond the
emerald pool and Wading Falls, we can see the next waterfall Slot Canyon
Cascade, all three make a most beautiful place to call it a day. We would like to keep going since there are
many more waterfalls farther upstream.
But to continue would either involve wading through the pool then
climbing the face of Wading Falls or, a steep climb up the west bank and around
to the top of Slot Canyon Cascade. |
Wading Falls with Slot Canyon Cascade behind
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On the way back to the car we pass lots of hikers coming in, I guess we
beat the rush, and I’m glad we got an early start. Since it is still pretty early, after crossing back over the
berm we turn right, uphill to the old Villines Home and Farm.
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upstream on Leatherwood Creek
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The James Villines Homestead is a really cool little piece of history
that the Park Service has done a good job of preserving, with a lot to see around this little
interpretive loop trail. Including a couple old barn type structures down below the house, and above besides the old log home with an add-on is the outhouse and
smokehouse.
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log barn
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Lots of signage throughout the loop
provides a glimpse into pioneer life and helps us realize how hard our
ancestors had it. But like I said, it’s a
short loop and we’re back across the bridge to the car in no time. The parking area is now packed with cars,
they’re even lined up on the access road.
We make a hasty escape. |
Villines Homestead
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Leatherwood Creek is a fantastic place; I’d like to come back maybe a
little later in the spring with some wildflowers and more water. Anyway, today we had a great time hiking, our
total including the Villines Farm was just over 2.5 miles with an elevation
gain just over 200 feet.
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front porch of James Villines log cabin
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Leatherwood Creek: Statistics Chart 40 The access road to
Ponca Low Water Bridge and Ponca Landing is just 120 yards (less than a tenth of a mile) south of
the Highways 43/74 intersection and is well marked.
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base map before fair use alterations is property of ArcGIS-
-licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 U.S. License |
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