This morning we thought; with the recent rain we should go see some
waterfalls. We return to Lonesome Hollow it’s been almost
three years since our last visit, see: (19 Lonesome Hollow Falls). At the
parking area there’s a car already here, this isn’t a very big parking area
we squeeze in just off the road. Looking east into the woods I realize now is probably a good time to bushwhack to Cub Creek Falls, we head east away from Lonesome Hollow.
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little 'Side Falls' #5 in Cub Hollow
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Back on that warm humid day in May of 2019,
we thought about going to see Cub
Creek Falls, it isn’t very far. The problem then was the
undergrowth, which was already thick with lots of greenbrier
and poison ivy. Even now in early spring
there’s quite a bit of greenbrier up here along the ridge, we pick our
way through it slowly and after 100 yards stumble onto an old road
trace heading mostly to the east and a little north. |
the approach to Cub Creek Falls
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This is much better hiking, and we make up
ground quick, the road gets easier to follow (more obvious) as we go. Following this old road, we’re gradually
losing altitude but nothing too steep, as we slowly swing around toward the
north. Looking down the hill east we can
see the undergrowth is all but gone leaving nice wide-open woods, so we leave
the road heading east down to a tiny drainage. |
Cub Creek Falls
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This little stream leads us down to the top of a low bluff and 'Side Falls' with Cub Creek just below. Making our
way slowly down the steep slippery slope south of the little waterfall, about
halfway down we switchback north and continue to the bottom. Side Falls is maybe 8-10 feet tall, very pretty and I'm sure it dries out fast since it's on such a tiny stream. |
in Cub Creek Falls grotto
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Just
100 feet or less upstream is the much more impressive Cub
Creek Falls. Through the rocks along Cub Creek, we make our way to the pool at the base of Cub Creek Falls which is 15-20
feet tall and absolutely gorgeous. The
falls plunging off the bluff has created a small undercut grotto behind, and along with the little pool in front makes quite an impressive sight, we hang out here for some time taking a
break on a downed log at the edge of Cub Creek. |
what's this on the ceiling?
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Back up the steep slope then through the woods to the old road, we make good time though now it’s
all uphill. We stay on the road all the way to Taylor
Ridge Road helps to keep us out of the worst of the undergrowth, the hike to Cub
Creek Falls and back was 1.0 mile with 256 feet of altitude gain. There are a couple more smaller waterfalls nearby, one above and the other below Cub Creek Falls so a return visit is in order, now on to Lonesome Hollow.
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tiny falls on the way to Cub Creek
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Over the dirt berm the old road which is Lonesome Hollow Trail quickly curves around to the south as it gently heads downhill. This is easy going, before you know it we’re at the rock cairn marking the turn off to Lonesome Hollow Falls, this cairn seems to have ‘grown’ since 2019 when we almost missed it. Just like back
then we’ll save Lonesome Hollow Falls
for later on our way out, we continue down the old road which gets a
lot less foot traffic past the rock cairn.
It’s still easy going, under a quarter mile farther we arrive at little ‘Lonely Falls’, today it looks good though it could use more water.
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Lonely Falls
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Past Lonely Falls the road continues downhill but at less
of a grade, the valley seems to open up some.
Off to our right down in the hollow are a few huge boulders, on down the road which now has more ‘obstructions’ namely blackberry and occasionally fallen trees on the road.
Soon we come to a road intersection where another old road heads
off downhill back to the northwest, we stay straight due south and pass a
roadside spring which flows across the
road at two separate places. |
rugged rocky stream
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Just past
the split spring the road curves around to the east and up the hill on our left
are some more big, interesting boulders.
The road has leveled out even more now, and in less than 200 yards we
arrive at a steep little side creek squeezed tight between some huge
rocks. We stop here and I scramble up
the rocks along the pretty cascades up to a small shelter to snap some
pictures. |
overhanging boulder
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Deciding this is far enough for today, we take a short rest on a big
flat rock before heading back. Although
it’s late March, the trees haven’t really started leafing out yet and the views
are fantastic of the bluffs west across Lonesome Hollow, we’ll have to figure
out a way over there to explore them up close someday, and that old road trace
down to the northwest also warrants a return visit. |
scrambling up little side drainage
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Even though it’s all uphill back to the
rock cairn and almost a mile, it goes by quick. Here we leave the road and slowly make our way down the
steep slope with some loose rock to the base of the
bluff. Today we stay up tight next
to the bluff, this seems to be a much easier way to go, we soon pass
through a short, shallow bear crack and continue along the bluffs toward
Lonesome Hollow Falls. |
bluffline approach to Lonesome Hollow Falls
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At a fork in
the trail, Kat heads left which stays on the level, I take the right
fork and head up a little keeping tight along the bluff which now opens
up under a long shallow shelter. This
shelter is littered with tons of huge sharp rocks which have fallen
from the ceiling, I stay out front along the dripline. Past the north end of the shelter, I’m able to
scramble down the slippery rocks right up close to the base of Lonesome Hollow
Falls. |
Lonesome Hollow Falls
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Lonesome Hollow Falls is just as
beautiful as remembered, all the while Kat is down the hollow maybe 75-100 feet
at the end of the ‘left fork trail' enjoying the view of the falls and taking
some pictures. After a few minutes
taking in the beauty of Lonesome Hollow Falls we each backtrack to the fork in
the trail then head back out along the bluffs to the steep exit up to the old
road, from there back up to the truck is just over a quarter mile. |
Lonesome Hollow Falls
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Today we had a good time hiking on a gorgeous spring day, going a lot
farther than we had initially planned, our Lonesome Hollow hike down the old road including the falls was 2.6
miles with 549 feet of elevation gain.
Cub Creek and Lonesome Hollow, I'd say we got two for the price of one, and another great day hiking in the Ozarks National Forest.
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Kat too had a good time
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Lonesome Hollow: Statistics Chart 114B The small parking area is easy to get to, From the little community of Cowell on Highway 7 turn onto NC 7120 which is the short loop road that circles around the back of Cowell Cemetery. Back behind the cemetery turn south on Taylor Ridge Road (FR 1253) follow FR 1253 just 1 mile, park along the edge of the road trying not to block traffic. You'll see the old road (trail) with the dirt berm to the west.
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