Almost two weeks ago I got an early start and didn’t go far from home,
hoping to get a little hiking done before the heat of the day, that worked out
well (see: 175 Camp Trail at Mincy). Today’s plan is the same only the destination
has changed, instead of nearby Drury
Mincy Conservation Area in Missouri, I’m going to nearby Slippery Hollow
Natural Heritage Area in Arkansas.
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Morris Spring on Jimmie Creek
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Slippery Hollow of the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission consists of
three separated units or sections,
the smallest (205 acres) and furthest south I’m calling the ‘Jimmie Creek Unit’ since its
headwaters flow through this section.
The small pull-out parking area is at the big ‘Slippery Hollow’ sign on
the south side of Welcome Ridge Road less than half a mile east of SR 14 in
Lakeway. For some past adventures at Slippery Hollow see: (108 Big Music & Boozer, and 109 Marble Falls Spring) |
| trailhead on Welcome Ridge Rd. |
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Horse Nettle
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‘The trail’ (for what it’s worth) follows an old road, here to start the
grass is tall, thick and wet with the morning dew. Once I get away from Welcome Ridge Road back
into the woods there’s still plenty of tall grass along with occasional standing water and mud
holes. Starting east then west and
finally settling on south this road
follows a little ridge with chicken houses just to the west across the fence
line. |
| old hay-rake next to road |
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lots of ticks in the tall grass
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Before turning to the south, while still in the tall tick infested wet
grass I spot an old rusty hay-rake just off the road. Close to the last chicken house the grass
starts to thin out and dry out too, off to the right is a good sized and very
green pond. Now heading more southeast
it’s not far to the east side boundary along another fence line, this ‘Jimmie
Creek Unit’ of Slippery Hollow isn’t very wide. |
| standing water on the road |
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green pond
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Across the fence I can see a ‘private property’ sign nailed to a
telephone pole, and soon pass the corner of the fence line. Still headed mostly south the road begins a
gentle descent, then becomes impassable at a big thicket of brush blackberries
and greenbrier. Leaving the road, I
continue mostly south, now off-trail the descent gets steeper as I go. |
| on ridge the road dries out |
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feeder stream to Jimmie
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The undergrowth isn’t bad at all, I’m dropping pretty quick down the
steep rocky slope to Jimmie Creek. At
the creek with crystal clear flowing water, I turn west and head upstream in the
little rocky gorge. There seems to be
undercuts at every turn where the creek has eroded into the low bluffline. This little gorge is quite tight in places
making it hard to keep my feet dry, but I somehow manage. |
| crystal clear Jimmie Creek |
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in the gorge
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Soon there’s a gorgeous pool, with a slab rock ledge above that is dry
as a bone, all the water flows out from under this ledge into the pool, above
here Jimmie Creek is dry other than a few stagnant pools or puddles. This gorgeous pool with the rock ledge above
is ‘Morris Spring’, shown on many maps and my destination for this short
hike. I hang out here for a while
getting some pictures and enjoying the cool shady creek. |
| hiking along Jimmie Creek |
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undercut at a curve
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Dry Jimmie Creek above Morris Spring appears to be mostly bedrock, I decide to head back north in the creek since the
ascent should be pretty gentle as opposed to the steep hillside I came
down. This creek route seems to be
working just fine although the bedrock doesn’t last long and pretty soon I see
some taller bluffs off to my right about 100 feet from Jimmie Creek. |
above the creek
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Up the hill I go hoping to find a small cave or shelter, this piece of a
bluff isn’t very long and only 25-30 feet tall.
At the center which is set back in what looks like a crevice I find a
nice bear crack. Of course I have to
check it out, the bear crack about 3-4 feet wide curves slightly to the left as
I head up through. It’s only maybe forty
feet to the top of the crack, but
this is by no means the top of the ridge. |
approaching the bluffs
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Now I have a climb about 100 yards long to the actual ridgetop in a
little dry arroyo, I won’t lie, it’s steep but not nearly as steep as the
descent was going down to Jimmie Creek.
On top after a short walk through the open woods I find the road near
the brushy thicket where I abandoned the road earlier. From here it’s an easy mostly level hike
about a mile back to my truck parked at the side of Welcome Ridge Road. |
bluff next to bear crack
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I had a great time this morning on this short 3.1 mile hike with 323
feet of elevation gain, a pretty easy hike about 2/3 of the hike is on the old
road some of which had lots of ticks in the tall grass. Jimmie Creek is lovely thanks to Morris
Spring the low bluffs and tight gorge, and the little bear crack was an unexpected bonus.
In the winter without the ticks, tall grass and mud holes this will be a
super easy outdoor adventure in the
Ozarks. |
going up a bear crack
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Jimmie Creek Unit: Statistics Chart 176 Jimmie Creek Trailhead is easy to get to, from the intersection of Highway 14 and Welcome Ridge Road (MC 8001) go east just 0.34 miles to the big 'Slippery Hollow' trailhead sign and park along the road, there isn't much room, maybe enough for 3 cars. |
base map before fair use alterations is property of USGS-licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 U.S. License
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