Outdoor Adventures in the Ozarks

     I've decided to have another go at Suzy Jimmy Falls on Richland Creek, back in December we only went a short way up Sugar Gap Road before encountering ‘no trespassing’ signs at a gate, and gave up on visiting Suzy Jimmy.  Today I want to try another possible route to Suzy Jimmy Falls that doesn’t involve any private property or Richland Creek crossings.    I park in a sharp turn north of Moore right on the berm at one of those ‘water diversion’ channels plowed off the side of the road. faint old road trace      Getting as far off the road as possible, it isn’t the greatest parking spot,  but it’ll do at least there's plenty of room for traffic to get around me.    I start out east straight down the little diversion channel, it’s a little steep but not bad I soon land on an old road trace.   After about 100 yards on the road are some bearing trees designating Richland Creek Wilderness boundary, about  100 feet ...

     Yesterday a big storm swept through the Ozarks  dumping almost four inches of rain, we decide to go find some waterfalls.  But where to go, we want multiple waterfalls in a relatively small area without a huge elevation gain.    We  drive up Hudson Mountain to check out Macedonia School Falls, The Hood Falls, Hood Pouroff and Hudson  Mountain Falls.   These are all impressive waterfalls after a big rain but they’re high up in their drainages, so they tend to dry up quick, they’re also pretty close together. misty mountain magic      We arrive on Hudson Mountain Road pretty early for us, not yet ten o’clock.  The road itself is in real good shape considering all the rain yesterday the shoulder however is a different story, very wet and muddy many areas with standing water.  Not wanting to get stuck on the side of the road we end up parking in a turn-around area just before a dirt berm across the road abo...

     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...