Outdoor Adventures in the Ozarks

     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 check out Cub Creek Falls, we  head east away from Lonesome Hollow. little 'Side Falls' #5 in Cub Hollow      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 ...

     Leatherwood Lake  the Eureka Springs City Park  is a couple miles north of Eureka Springs off Highway 62 .   Here we find just about everything you'd expect at a ‘city park’ like a soccer field, baseball diamond and picnic area.   But Leatherwood Lake has much more to offer the outdoor enthusiast including a campground, rental cabins, rental canoes, kayaks and peddle boats for use on the ‘no wake’ lake. Lake Leatherwood      And the best thing here I think , is the miles and miles of hiking and mountain bike trails (horses also welcome). Today we’ll explore the park a little and check out a couple trails while we’re at it.   After parking just up the bank about 50 yards from the little marina, at the lowest of three or four parking areas we head north on lakeside Fuller Trail. small creek along Fuller Trail     Fuller Trail is well maintained and easy to follow in and out of small drainages staying pretty close to the...

     Today the weather forecasters are calling this 'the pick day’ of the week for outdoor activities with highs near 70° before more snow arrives later in the week.  I’ll head up to Drury Mincy and do some nearby hiking while I have the chance (for more at Mincy C.A. see: 111 Bee Creek   & Cornell Road ).   Off Gunnison Road, I head up the steep gravel road into Mincy Conservation Area, about half a mile to the parking/trailhead area on the south side of the road.  This is ‘Bear Mountain Trailhead’ with parking for four or five vehicles. Bear Mountain Trail with white blaze      Bear Mountain Trail heads out south in the woods then downhill pretty quick, the trail is easy to follow with white  ‘hiking trail’  blazes .  The steep trail has lots of loose rock, soon arriving at what I’m assuming is Bear Cave shown on the very ‘basic’ Conservation Area map.    From here standing on the trail it doesn’t look...

     Drury-Mincy Conservation Area (4,089 acres) is across the state line in Missouri next to Bull Shoals Lake, another ‘close to home’ place I have been wanting to check out.  Today looks to be a good opportunity, since most of the snow has melted and weather predictions say: 'sunny with highs in the low sixties'.    Drury-Mincy has two separate sections: Drury Conservation Area (DCA) to the northeast, and the larger Mincy Conservation Area (MCA) farther south, at the south end of Mincy is Bee Creek, that’s where I start exploring. Bee Creek at Bull Shoals Lake      Pulling into MCA along Bee Creek I follow the road as far as I can, Bee Creek flows into Bull Shoals but the road turns north before reaching the lake.  Crossing Bee Creek four times with no bridges each ford is deeper than the one before.  After the fourth  crossing the road leaves Bee Creek heading up the hill covered in sheets of solid ice.    Near the...