196 Sweden Creek Falls Loop

     After three days straight of rain and thunderstorms, with an average of six inches around most of northwest Arkansas, I think the drought is over.  March turned out to be drier than usual, it appears April is determined to make up for it, that’s fine we need the rain.  The three days of rain ended Saturday, Sunday waterfall photos started showing up all over the internet featuring a lot of dirty brown water, hopefully everything has cleared up today.

@ Sweden Creek Natural Area

    I pick Sweden Creek of the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, after considering a few ‘waterfall’ destinations.  We visited Sweden Creek once over eleven years ago (long before ‘Outdoor Adventures in the Ozarks’) in the middle of winter, on that day the icicles where the main attraction.  A lot has changed in the years since, as I found out even before reaching Sweden Creek Natural Area, a return visit has been long overdue.

two little barns

    Speaking of changes, the big new parking lot is a welcome improvement from the meager (muddy) parking encountered back on that cold day late in 2013 when we pulled off the road in front of the gate at the old driveway, barely getting off the road.  Now, there’s probably room for 20-30 vehicles, and there’s plenty of signage along the road as you approach.  From the parking lot-trailhead I head west on the well blazed trail which looks new too.

windowless cabin

path to the 'facilities'

    The immaculate trail is all downhill for the first 400 yards where it meets up with the old road/driveway, from there everything starts to look vaguely familiar.  Where there used to be a gate across the road are a bunch of posts in the ground next to the trail, I can only guess what this is.  Not far from there is a less used trail that heads northeast maybe 130 feet to a small barn, going through the barn a faint trail continues north through a thick short-forest of saplings.

above the falls on little creek

    Soon is a trampled down fence line, across which is another old road/driveway.  I turn down this overgrown road heading west and right away is another old barn, this one a little bigger with metal siding.  Now with faint overgrown trails meandering everywhere I’m basically bushwhacking in a westerly direction through more of the thick ‘short forest’, soon I'm back on the main Sweden Falls Trail.

steep bluffline break/bear crack

    Only about 100 feet further there’s a concrete block box next to the trail that looks like a water trough.  Right behind that is a little cabin that appears to be in good shape but has no windows, hmm...a well-house maybe?  I continue down the main trail soon coming to a flat grassy area where the house once stood.  I remember a two story blue house in real bad condition on this spot.  No evidence of the house remains, but out back up a short set of stone steps the old outhouse has outlasted the home it once served.

side creek falls 1

next step falls 3

    Back out on Sweden Falls Trail by now I’m hearing waterfalls just ahead, and soon turn off the trail heading upstream along a little creek with some nice small cascades.  Following this creek less than a hundred yards I come to a wet rock patio where I leave the creek and go north across the patio.  Back in the woods after crossing a tiny creek that is probably dry most days, I turn to the west over to the top of a rocky bluff.  All the ‘sweet sounds’ of falling water are coming from down below this rugged bluffline.

top double falls 2

third level falls 4

    Finding a steep tight bear crack I cautiously make my way to the base near a nice waterfall fed by that tiny creek I crossed up above.  I cross again just below this ‘side creek falls 1' and head south over to the main creek.  Next waterfall is the tallest, today it’s a double fall, highest in the drainage off the bluff I call it ‘top falls 2’.  Climbing around between the falls I can usually see three or four at the same time and all are running crystal clear, these falls probably won't last long, come see them after some heavy rain.

lower falls 5

as far as I go falls 6

    I scramble around and down over lots of big sharp rocks to the next level and ‘next step falls 3’ a lovely waterfall about eight feet high and six wide.  There are three more beautiful waterfalls as I continue down across more big sharp and slippery rocks.  That’s a total of six waterfalls in a small area, there may be more but the going gets rougher the farther down I go, this is as far down as I feel comfortable climbing.  Just to the north is another similar little drainage that probably has some waterfalls too.

on lower Sweden Creek Trail

    Crossing the creek I head back south up the other side and back to the trail heading west.  Passing a couple nice overhang shelters the trail then curves around to the south along the impressive bluffline that gets taller the further I go.  The trail is still in great shape with water dripping off the bluff along the way.  At one point is a tight squeeze to get under the overhanging edge of a giant boulder that has slid down the hill away from the bluff.

long low 'rest stop' shelter

first shot of Sweden Falls

    After tight squeeze boulder comes a long shelter that appears to get lots of use as a ‘rest stop’.  Right along here is where I first catch glimpses of Sweden Creek Falls through the trees.  Sweden Creek Falls (81 feet tall) is quite the breathtaking sight, especially after listening to its ‘roar’ echoing off the canyon walls ever since passing the two overhang shelters.

pouroff falls next to Sweden Falls

Sweden Creek Falls

    On the way in I saw a few volunteer trails branching off at different points along the main trail, I wait until the last one down, I thought about hiking around behind the falls but gave up that idea when I saw how slippery the sharp wet rock is behind the fall.  Down at the base of Sweden Falls is a gorgeous turquoise blue pool, I linger here awhile taking pictures and just soaking in the magic.

turquoise pool at bottom of Sweden Falls

bluff view from upper Sweden Creek Trail

    Back just past the two overhang shelters is the main trail junction where this Lower Sweden Falls Trail (deep blue blazes), meets the main Sweden Falls Trail (lighter blue blazes).  It’s easy to circle around to the right to Upper Sweden Falls Trail (still light blue blazes) which follows the top of the bluff back west then south.  Naturally all along this trail are fantastic vistas, although as the tree’s leaf out the views will diminish.

more vistas along upper trail

    The upper trail is flat and in excellent condition, so I’m at the top of Sweden Falls in no time.  Once much wider, Sweden Creek over thousands of years has cut a narrow slot down into the solid bedrock leaving a wide dry rock patio with a flowing narrow stream racing down the middle.  It’s easy to hop across at many places but be careful, one slip and It’s eighty one feet straight down to the bottom of Sweden Creek Falls.

@ Sweden Falls Vista

rock patio on top with narrow Sweden Creek down the middle

    Just west of the falls I take a little break sitting on a flat block of sandstone with a great view off the top of the falls and further down Sweden Creek gorge, upstream about 150 feet are a couple hikers and their dog also having a break on some similar rocks, we wave greetings as I begin to head back.  But instead of going back the way I came, I go off-trail east up the hill through open woods.  Nowhere does it get steep and the woods stay mostly clean, along the way I spot an old fence line then pass under a big oak.

four-legged visitors enjoy Sweden Falls too

    After about 400 yards I land on the ‘new’ part of Sweden Falls Trail at the intersection with the old road/driveway, and it’s 400 more yards up the hill to the parking lot.  I had a great time today checking out some beautiful waterfalls resulting from the storm swollen streams, and the early spring scenery.  I wasn’t the only one enjoying this wonderful place in the Ozarks, crossing paths with at least eleven others out chasing waterfalls.

scenery above Sweden Creek Falls

    This Outdoor Adventure in the Ozarks had a little of everything; beautiful waterfalls, tall bluffs, fantastic vistas, shelters, ruins and more.  I think that I covered all the designated trails plus short segments off-trail included exploring the old homesite ruins, climbing between the ‘Swedish Sextuplets’ waterfalls and the uphill bushwhack from the top of Sweden Creek Falls.  My totals today were 2.7 miles with an elevation gain of 405 feet.

Sweden Falls (12/27/2013)

Sweden Creek Falls: Statistics Chart 196     I came across from SR 43 at Centerpoint Trailhead on paved Fire Tower Rd. (NC 1300).  At the intersection with SR 21 this 4-way junction is the south end of Fire Tower Rd. and the beginning of un-paved MC 3260, head south about 3.3 miles to the nice big Sweden Creek ANHC parking lot.

base map before fair use alterations is property of USGS--licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 U.S. License