Outdoor Adventures in the Ozarks

       A few days ago a long slow moving storm front swept across the mid-section of the country, as a result Arkansas is out of the drought and the ‘burn bans’ have been lifted.   Many areas received over a foot of rainfall in the three days it took the storm to pass through the state.   Flash-floods were widespread all over the Ozarks but now just a couple days later all is back to ‘normal’. Falling Water Falls (always impressive)      This morning not really knowing what to expect, I drive south to ‘ole reliable’ Richland Creek Wilderness.   North on Falling Water Road, I’m not seeing much storm debris on the road in fact FR1205 is in great shape.   I stop at Falling Water Falls, although I’ve been here many times the falls are always worth a quick look.   With the upgrades complete there are now two sets of stone steps, first to the top and second to the base of the falls. on top of Falling Water Falls      W...

     Getting into a designated wilderness area in the Ozark Nat. Forest or Buffalo Nat. River can be a challenge, especially since there aren’t supposed to be any maintained roads or even trails.  Ponca and Hurricane Creek seem to be the exceptions, Ponca has maintained trails crisscrossing the entire wilderness and Hurricane Creek even allows vehicular travel right through the middle of the wilderness. jagged bluffs      Even though it has legal vehicle access and the OHT, Hurricane Creek Wilderness remains one of the least visited wildernesses for me.  I’ve only  been in the ‘official’ wilderness area twice (see: 84 Sexton Cemetery and 90 Hurricane Knob ).  I have decided today to explore Hurricane Creek Wilderness some more, after all access is pretty easy. trailhead next to road      Down in the southwest corner of Hurricane Creek Wilderness is Sugar Creek with a drainage just over three miles long emptying into Big ...

As October winds down, it’s shaping up to be one of the hottest on record and also one of the driest.   Evidently the lack of rain has an adverse effect on the fall colors , well they still seem pretty awesome to me, so we have decided to go for a ‘country drive’ to admire the autumnal display.   I have picked Richland Road for our little tour since the lack of rain should ensure easy crossings of both Buffalo River and Richland Creek. out on The Narrows We head for Woolum, planning to drive down North Richland Road (SC 14) from north to south.  Taking N. Woolum Road out of Pindall is the way to go since the S. Woolum Road out of Saint Joe has fallen victim to High Banks of the Buffalo.  If you do come down S. Woolum, detour around the road closure on Oakland Road, it’s a little rough with multiple creek crossings see: 129 Robertson Hole . N. Richland Rd. near Buffalo Richland confluence Passing through Woolum we see loads of horse trailers over in the campground, a...