This morning I’m driving south for another Outdoor Adventure in the Ozarks.
A few days ago, while hiking along the bluffs of Shulers Point, (see: 164 Shulers Point Bluffs) I
noticed some pretty tall bluffs across the valley. The bluffs that I was looking at are just a
small portion of the Cave Creek Bluffs as are Shulers Point Bluffs.
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at vista point
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Today, while back in the same general area I’m going to check out a small portion of the ‘Big Creek Bluffs’. This particular Big Creek is the next
drainage west of Cave Creek, and I’ll be hiking near the top of the drainage
above a feeder stream called ‘Battle Creek’.
A short steep mountain stream just below the headwaters of Big
Creek. I park just off Highway 123 in a
small clearing where an old road (FR 92147C) intersects the highway. |
road obstacle
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I start out south on the old road, which is easy going complete with an
obvious trail, for a while. Making good
time through the woods the first half mile is all downhill but quite gentle,
then just as the descent gets slightly steeper, I enter an area with a lot of
wind damage. With lots of downed trees
on the road I’m slowed down some, navigating around or over trees through the
slalom course. This continues until the
road approaches the edge of the bluffline. |
vista point
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Leaving the road, I walk through open woods downhill maybe a hundred
feet to the edge of the bluff. But with
lots of trees below the edge, views across the Big Creek valley are obstructed with only occasional glimpses
of the bluffs on the other side. I head
back up to the road and continue south, soon leaving the road again where it
turns to the east.
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dry 'hotplate' creek
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Still heading south, now through open woods toward a point where the
west facing bluffs above Big Creek meet the south facing bluffs of Battle
Creek. It’s a little over 100 yards to
the point where I find more big fallen trees, one of these I climb around then
down onto a rock ledge at the point.
With much ‘clearer’ views than earlier, this is a very nice spot with
some great distant views up into Dan Heffley Branch. |
bluffline break
|
Making my way northeast back to the road, I soon realize the ‘nice
trail’ I was enjoying earlier has all but vanished and the old road is getting
less and less obvious the further I go east.
I soon cross a small dry creek with a 2-burner electric hotplate and
just downstream what looks like a brake drum.
I scan upstream to my left hoping to spot an old homesite but see
nothing through the mostly open woods along this tiny creek. |
Big Rock below bluffline
|
A little under 200 yards farther east, the slope down to the bluffline
looks much more manageable, I leave the road turning to the south and head down
the hill. Well, it gets steeper as I go
but this looks like the place to make my way to the base of the bluffline. Zig-zagging down through lots of big rocks I
occasionally find and follow short pieces
of trail. At the bottom of this highest bluffline I’m still not even
close to ‘creek level’. |
along the bluff, easy at first
|
My ‘landing’ point is near a long flat slab of stone against the smooth
bluff face, the perfect place for a much needed break. I begin heading west along the base of the
bluffs noticing the occasional huge boulder out away from the bluffline on the
hillside between here and the top of the next bluff below. Which starts some speculation: I wonder how many nice waterfalls may be found down
below on Battle Creek. |
| another solitary boulder |
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possible climbing area?
|
Anyway, continuing west I soon pass beneath an overhang high above and
decide this would be a fine area for rock climbing but find no evidence of such
(i.e. climbers bolts). Just past the
overhang tucked in a quick corner is a nice multi-tiered wet weather waterfall
fed by that same tiny creek I crossed up above. I’m compelled to call this nice waterfall ‘Hotplate Falls’, do
you see how my mind works? |
| Double Drop Overhang |
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Hotplate Falls, it just needs more water
|
Progress is pretty slow, with lots of big sharp rocks everywhere, I pass
by a steep bail-out exit and keep going.
Now getting close to the point with ‘vista point’ above is a long narrow
and very steep bear crack that appears
to go all the way up although I didn’t see a bear crack from the top, this
would be difficult even with the assistance of a rope tied above. |
| more bluff action |
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steep and narrow bear crack
|
Before going around the corner there’s a narrow deep crevice or little
grotto I suppose, it looks intriguing but I only step in a few feet to get a picture. Around the bend technically I have left
Battle Creek and now I’m following Big Creek Bluffs northward and downstream. Right away the terrain gets a whole lot more
rugged. |
| alcove under a low overhang |
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a soft spot in the rugged route
|
Under a hundred yards out in front of the bluffline maybe 25 feet is a
nice ‘squared’ pedestal rock about 30 feet tall. Then, if it hasn’t been rugged enough the
terrain turns treacherous; the sharp
rock jumble continues now with added greenbrier blackberry and dead leaves
hiding holes between the rocks (a twisted ankle just waiting to happen). I earnestly begin looking for a bail-out, and
finding a couple that don’t seem safe I slowly plug on. |
| Squared Pedestal |
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spring is just around the corner
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Over 200 yards I ‘plug on’ to a short passage between a huge boulder and
the bluff, just past that I’m forced up
on a short ledge with some moss and more greenbrier, and more treachery
ahead. Another hundred yards around a
short corner is a fairly long, (30-40 feet) narrow cave with light filtering
through some cracks near the back, and still nothing ‘doable’ in the way of an
exit. |
| tall narrow cave... |
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with interior lighting
|
Soon in a particularly huge rock jumble I climb through a short passage
where a big rock rests against an even bigger boulder. Then through a long (over 100 feet) rugged
tunnel about three feet wide, that curves around from east to north. Once
through the tunnel, immediately I enter a low shallow shelter with trickling
water and lots of moss. |
| rocky passage |
 |
at end of tunnel
|
About 150 yards further I come to a marginally
safe bail-out exit, yes it’s quite steep but actually looks easier than
continuing north along the bluff, so I go for it. Back and forth I go, clinging to every little
tree I can reach to avoid sliding back down the hill I climb the 60 feet or so
to the top of the bluff. Here at the top
out on a little point is a nice rock vista and a good place to catch my breath. |
| shallow shelter with flowing water |
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between tunnel and shelter
|
Still about 160 feet higher up the hill before reaching the old road, I
head northeast. About halfway to the
road I stop for a short break at an interesting ‘skeleton’ of a tree that
provides a good place to sit down. Then
it’s onward up the hill, I stumble onto a faint old road trace and following
that, soon I’m back on the road (trail) only about 200 yards from the truck. |
skeleton tree
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Today’s hike was sort of a mixed bag of terrain and scenery; above the
bluffs was easy going on the old roads and even off-trail in the open woods,
yet the scenery was basically ‘ho-hum’.
But down along the base of the bluffs while beautiful and highly interesting, was
at the same time rugged and in some places even treacherous. I still had a great time today (sometimes, challenging is good) in the great
outdoors, it wasn’t a long hike at just 3 miles with 542 feet of elevation
gain.
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almost home
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Battle Creek Bluffs: Statistics Chart 165 Getting here is easy in any car (paved all the way). If coming from the south in Lurton at the
Highway 7/123 intersection go northeast on Hwy. 123 about 5.2 miles to the
parking area in a small clearing on your left.
If coming from the north, head south on Hwy. 123 from the entrance to
Sam’s Throne about 5.1 miles where the clearing parking area will be on your
right.
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base map before fair use alterations is property of USFS-
-licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 U.S. License |
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