Today we are going back to Eldridge Hollow for some hiking on the Ozark Highlands Trail, see: (24 Eldridge Hollow) for our previous visit. While it has been a very wet spring so far,
we haven’t seen any rain for about a week now.
So hopefully conditions will be good for waterfall viewing.
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Split Falls
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We’re starting our hike at the same OHT trailhead as we did eleven
months ago. Right away its obvious
things have dried out considerably compared to last year. The first creek crossing at the top of
Eldridge Hollow is dry, but soon afterwards we start hearing falling
water. Eldridge Hollow is very lush with
the Arkansas jungle quite thick, so we’ll be staying on the trail.
This means missing some of the best
waterfalls, but there are others, so on we go.
At Upper and Lower Eldridge Falls there’s noticeably less water flow than last time, but the falls
are beautiful none the less. That
pouroff fall off the bluff that was flowing so impressive is completely dry. Today it’s an easy rock hop across the creek, and just up ahead around a corner we come to Eldridge Fern
Falls. Again, not much water but enough
to get the idea, this one would look great with more flow.
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falls #5
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Another 200 yards or so we come into a little shallow box canyon. We head off the OHT around to the left
into the shelter cave at the head of the canyon. This cave isn’t very deep maybe twenty feet,
but it’s probably 50-60 feet long and contains a fire-ring with some 'seating'. Also, just beyond the south end of the
shelter is Split Falls.
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lots of little waterfalls in Eldridge Hollow
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The flow going
over Split Falls ‘splits’ at the top around bedrock to create two side-by-side
falls. Again though, not quite enough
water to make this one look good, I’m starting to see a pattern here. It is still quite scenic, and we hike back to
the OHT and down to the little creek then up the other side. In less than 200 more yards we pass above
another waterfall (#5) down a side drainage to our right.
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scenic Eldridge Hollow
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Continuing south about half a mile or more at
the head of another side drainage are two small waterfalls about 50 feet
apart. These are falling off a ledge
below the trail and are from different little creeks that converge just below
the falls, I name them 'Little Twins'. A pretty little scene and
this is where we decide to turn around and head back.
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one of two little twin falls at end of hike
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We still haven’t seen the biggest and best falls of Eldridge Hollow, and I’m learning it’s a fine line between too much and not enough water here. Also, Eldridge Hollow is quite lush and steep,
thick undergrowth and rugged terrain makes it hard to get off the OHT, which is
what you need to do to get to the really nice ‘named’ waterfalls.
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Arkansas jungle is taking over
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I’m even more determined now, so I know we’ll come back again, next time
earlier in the year before the ‘jungle’ gets going and soon after a good
rainfall, but not a gully washer like last year’s hike here. Today’s hike was just under 4.5 miles, while
the elevation gain was less than 300 feet.
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low bluffs along OHT
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Eldridge Hollow: Statistics Chart 48 About 4.7 miles west
of Fallsville on Hwy. 16 turn south on Arbaugh Road (NC 9180). Crossing into Johnson County Arbaugh Rd.
becomes JC 5261, keep going south approximately 5.5 miles (from Hwy.16) to
JC 6220. Turn right and follow JC 6220 about 1.75 miles to FR94491B turn left
(south) and just over 100 yards park in the clearing on the left, this is north parking area (E1). Or to the south parking area (E2), continue
south on Arbaugh Road (JC 5261) another 0.9 miles to JC 6200 (FR1453) and turn
right (north), follow this about 0.75 miles and park on the left just past
where the OHT crosses the road.
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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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