Exploring caves in the National Forest or Buffalo National River can be
‘hit-or-miss’ with most caves closed to
protect bat populations. One exception to these closures is Saltpeter
Cave on Almus Knob, a fairly well-known cave that’s also pretty big. But we
haven’t gone to see it, since it’s in the Leatherwood Wilderness I always
assumed there wouldn’t be a trail to it.
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Peterpepper Cave at the top of a little hill
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Then I read about Caney Mountain Horse Camp and the many trails they have
developed all over the lower Buffalo area, we decide to hope for the best and check
it out. Today is Sunday but the
Leatherwood Wilderness is fairly remote,
so we don’t expect lots of other
visitors even though it’s a nice cool day, perfect for hiking. |
skylight in Peterpepper
|
The Almus Knob parking area is at the intersection where
Spring Creek Road ends at Rand Road, with room for around 7 or 8 vehicles. Next to the sign pointing south ‘Spring
Creek Trailhead .5 mile’ is an obvious trail heading west up the hill. This isn’t Almus Knob which is
up the hill on the east side of the road, but instead goes to smaller 'West Almus Knob' which also has a cave and so close to the road we have to
check it out. |
looking out from under the skylight
|
It’s all uphill to the
cave but not very steep and only about 200 yards, along the way another trail
branches off to the right leading to the OHT.
Around this intersection we start to catch glimpses of the cave entrance
ahead which looks pretty big and wide. I
don’t know if this cave has an ‘official’ name, I’ve seen it referred to as
both Peterpepper Cave and West Almus Knob Cave, whatever you call it, this is a gorgeous little cave. |
many impressive rock formations
|
We drop
down a little into the opening and just beyond is a large hole in the
roof. This skylight has water dripping off the top all around the perimeter,
we continue towards the back dodging raindrops
and soon turn on our flashlights. The
cave floor, half sand and half rock is easy going and we soon reach the
back, (I’ll take a guess) about 150 feet from the entrance.
 |
back of Peterpepper Cave
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Not that big, but it’s just nice
to find a cave which is actually legal to enter, in the darkness at the back
of the cave our flashlights reveal effervescent glowing
white mineral deposits wherever water seeps through small cracks
in the rock ceiling (pretty cool). |
at Almus Knob Trailhead
|
We
head back out and down the short trail to the road then head east up to Almus Knob. This trail is also very obvious and begins next to the wooden
‘Leatherwood Wilderness’ sign, then up the rocky hillside with a few side
trails branching off.
Soon passing a large, jagged
boulder next to the trail and a
couple more side trails, we stay on the trail that appears to get the most
use and keeps us heading east and at the same time uphill. |
large boulder next to trail
|
At our final trail intersection with Saltpeter Cave visible up a short rocky hill, down the
right fork,
we notice ‘half nut rock’ a big gray rock next to the trail with a
circular depression in its flat face resembling half a hickory nut,
we continue uphill on the left fork. Up
the rocky trail less than 100 feet we arrive at the mouth of Saltpeter Cave. |
Half Nut Rock
|
Saltpeter Cave is much larger than Peterpepper Cave its
little brother
across the road, but you wouldn’t know it from the entrance. Standing at the cave opening are few big, impressive
boulders hiding the cave which is also back in a big notch in the
bluffline concealing it even more. There
are two smaller holes in the roof of Saltpeter right at the entrance, we head
in down the rocky slope. |
partially hidden entrance
|
One large room heads straight back 300 feet to a large pile of rock
rubble. I go
back maybe another 100 feet,
the cave is still big even back here 400
feet from the entrance. Years ago,
Ken Smith took some
measurements here at Saltpeter Cave determining the cave to be 650 feet deep and 60 feet wide. On the way back out we
see a couple areas on both sides of the cave with flowstone down the walls, and
on the north side under flowstone are three stalagmites about three feet
tall. |
holes in the roof at the entrance
|
Back out of the cave and down the rocky trail a little way
we meet an
extended family of folks on their way up, the youngest tells us ‘I’m
going to see a cave’ I tell him he’s almost there. He looks to be eight or
nine and leads the way for his siblings, parents and others following
behind. We continue our way down, at
the next intersection past the one to Half Nut Rock we turn right and
start up the hill. |
looking out of Saltpeter Cave about 300' back
|
The trail up is
pretty rocky and a little steep, before reaching the top we climb a natural
rock stairway. Right at the top is an intersection, east goes to some vistas and the holes in the
roof of Saltpeter Cave. We turn left,
west and just around the corner is a small rock patio on the edge of the
bluffs. This is the first of six or
more little rock patios following the top of the bluffline north then swinging
around to the east, the views along here are great. |
pedestal just outside Saltpeter Cave
|
The bluffs are
tall enough to get an unobstructed view above the treetops, we can easily see West Almus Knob and beyond we spot a small house or cabin on Tater Hill, far
below to the northwest I think it’s the watercourse of Big Creek hidden below
the trees. We also notice some evidence
of rock climbing, a pair of top-bolts with chains hanging in the rock near the
first rock patio. |
vista from bluff top
|
Just beyond the last rock patio the bluff ‘peters’ out and we
hear some dogs barking behind us, as they get closer,
I see they are with some
horseback riders. Besides the two dogs are five horses with riders, the ‘lead’ rider is from Caney Mountain
Horse Camp and his ‘clients’ are from Tennessee and Texas, we step off the
trail then continue after they pass. |
following the bluffline
|
In under 100 feet another trail intersection, here a side trail heads north
down a steep rocky hill zigzagging to the bottom of the bluffline, we turn
here. We take it slow getting to the
bottom, it’s steep and rocky (yes) but nothing I would consider too dangerous
. At the base of the
bluffline we head back to the west, the bluffs are quite pretty and easy going
still on an obvious trail, we take a short break for on a long flat
rock a ‘natural bench’. |
| base map before fair use alterations is property of USGS Topo-licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 U.S. License |
Afterward at a fork in the trail, we turn right continuing west leaving the
bluffline and head downhill. Maybe
100 yards farther we come out on the main trail near the jagged boulder we saw
earlier, turning right we head down to the parking area. Our short hike to both caves and the top and
bottom of the bluff was only 1.1 mile
with 253 feet of elevation gain, so short in fact we decide to drive up the
road and check out nearby Funnel Falls.
 |
rocky trail to base of bluffs
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North of Almus Knob's parking area on Rand Road 0.85 miles is an old
road heading off to the west, we park just to the north on the west
side of Rand Road. A trail heads east into the woods less than 100 yards to an old road, we turn right
(south) on the road which is the trail. This trail gets a lot of horse traffic and is pretty beat up, but on
the positive side it’s very easy to follow and completely clear of
undergrowth. The trail
condition in fact is pretty typical of all the trails we've hiked toady, lots of loose rock and
horse biscuits. |
Common Spiderwort
|
Under a quarter mile,
we leave the road at an intersection, turn east heading downhill
still on a well-used rocky trail. Not
far maybe 150 feet we come to a pretty little spot that is almost level with a
couple of big boulders at the top of what appears to be a small bluff. Also, there
are two steep narrow bear cracks that don’t seem to go anywhere.
After looking around a little,
we continue on the trail which
turns a little to the north and heads down into a small drainage.
 |
waterslide above West Funnel
|
At the creek which flows over solid bedrock and is
moving fast down a natural waterslide five to ten feet wide. We find a narrow spot where we can hop across
without getting our feet wet, on the north side of the creek we see that we’re
almost on top of West Funnel Falls. In
just 30-40 feet we are standing on solid rock between East and West Funnel Falls, this
is a really awesome
place. |
West Funnel Falls
|
On one side is East Funnel Falls
and West Funnel Falls is on the other just 25 or 30 feet, and just ahead a
natural bridge spans over west funnel creek just below the falls. By Tim Ernst’s measurements East Funnel is 41
feet tall and West Funnel 52 feet, up here at the top they seem much taller
than that, definitely a magical spot.
While here taking in the magic
I carefully go out on the natural bridge for a view of East Funnel Falls all
the way down to the bottom.
 |
top of East Funnel Falls
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Both falls
are difficult to see all the way down without getting dangerously close to the
edge of the cliff, just be careful is all I’m saying, this is surely not where
you want to be when the vertigo kicks in, and I wouldn’t bring young children up here either. The trail does continue around to the south
then east before heading back to the west down to the base of the falls, but we
turn around here and head back up the way we came. |
Kat between natural arch and East Funnel
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On the way out we find a better place to cross ‘west funnel creek’ that
isn’t as steep, then near the top we stay on the old road all the way to Rand
Road also less steep than the way we came in.
The total distance to the falls and back is only 0.9 miles and 248 feet of altitude gain, thanks to all the horse
trails both these short hikes are really
easy and extremely enjoyable, and we had a great time.
 |
east approach to the arch
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Driving south on Rand Road we decide to drive the short half mile down
to Spring Creek Trailhead just for future reference, Spring Creek Road
isn’t as
wide as Rand Road, but we have no problems getting to the trailhead. Spring Creek Trailhead is for the Ozark
Highlands Trail in the Sylamore District of the Ozark National Forest, with
plenty of parking for ten or more vehicles and signage pointing out the
OHT in both directions. |
on top Natural Arch
|
Checking my map,
I see that Spring Creek Road is a huge short-cut back to Big Flat compared
to Rand Road and Push Mountain Road, but the map also shows a ‘ford’
at Spring Creek. I decide to go for it,
how bad can it be, all’s well to
start but around one mile in we come to Cap Berry Hollow where the gravel road
crosses the gravel bottomed creek several times. Not really a big deal but with water
running on the gravel road and gravel in the creek it’s a little
confusing in places, but we get through just fine.
 |
geocache anyone?
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Then less than a quarter mile further we come
to Spring Creek which has multiple channels at the fords
. After entering the creek still in gravel,
I
have to squeeze around a large, downed
tree that is pinned along with other trees against some large rocks and trees, then continue up Spring
Creek a little way
before climbing out at the opposite bank. Again,
we get through fine, I’m glad for all
the gravel, large rocks or mud would have been worse. |
at Spring Creek crossing
|
After getting up on higher ground away from
the creek Spring Creek Road is ok the rest of the way to Big Flat. I’m sure later in the summer or fall when
there isn’t as much water in the streams Spring Creek Road would be just fine
for travel in most cars, but I won’t recommend it unless you’re looking for
some 4X4 fun.
Almus Knob Caves: Statistics Chart 118A Funnel Falls: Statistics Chart 118B Leatherwood Wilderness isn’t hard to
get to: on Hwy. 14 at the 90° turn in Big Flat (this is where Spring Creek Road
heads to the west) continue east on Highway 14 for 3.8 miles and turn north on
Push Mountain Rd. (Hwy. 341), stay on Push Mountain Road for 2.7 miles to Rand Road on the left. Follow gravel Rand Road 6.4 miles to
Almus Knob parking area at the intersection with Spring Creek Rd. Funnel
Falls parking area is 0.85 miles farther north on Rand Road.
 |
base map before fair use alterations is property of USGS Topo-licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 U.S. License
|
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