Devils Fork Falls

     Most of the hiking that I have done has been in and around the Ozarks Mountains region in Arkansas. All of the places I mention here are in this area. I have done some hiking in several other states such as Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, Tennessee, Maine, and Idaho but my home state of Arkansas is still my favorite.

• Whitaker Point - The spot shown above is tucked away in the Upper Buffalo Wilderness Area just inside the northern boundary of the Ozark National Forest. Breathtaking, but potentially dangerous, point that juts out over the Whitaker Creek gorge.

• White Rock Mountain - This is a beautiful spot north of Shores Lake. The Ozark Highlands Trail goes right by this spot. Beautiful panoramic views from all around the "rim trail" that goes around this peak.

• Indian Creek - This rugged hike starts at Kyles Landing on the Buffalo River and goes up into the Indian Creek gorge. This is, in my opinion, one of the very best hikes in Arkansas. The gorge gets narrower and narrower until you come to a dead end which has two waterfalls: one on the creek coming "through" a bluff and one on the left coming out of the mouth of a cave (shown above). Awesome. The more agile folks can climb up the very steep right side and go through the "keyhole" and continue on upstream to the "eye of the needle". The "eye of the needle" is an eroded hole through another bluff that cuts off the creek. If your into rock climbing you can climb up through the eye, it is not extremely difficult.

• Twin Devils Fork Falls/Upper Richland Creek - This area is accessible from the Richland Creek Campground. The falls are shown at the top of this page. It's a rugged hike but well worth the effort. Just up Richland Creek from the Devils Fork Creek is Richland Creek falls.

• Lost Valley - This spot is also in the upper Buffalo River valley at Boxley. Easy hike to some very pretty waterfalls and caves. Shown above is my son in front of one of the waterfalls at Lost Valley.

• Kings River Falls - Short hike to a nice falls on the very upper end of King's River.

• Pedestal Rocks - This is an easy hike to an eroded bluff line that has left rock pedestals standing separated from the bluff. Great views from here also.

Pedestal Rocks

     I also enjoy backpacking. I haven't had time to do more than just a weekend trip, so the places that I have gone to are usually relatively short backpacking trails. One of the nicest trails that I have been on is the Caney Creek Trail in the Ouachita Mountains of southwest Arkansas. If you go on a nice weekend in the fall you can expect to see quite a few people, especially if you start at the east trail head. The last time I went there we started at the west trail head and we only saw two other groups of two people. If you start on the west end you have to cross the Cossatot River, which is probably why you don't see nearly as many people on that end. This is not a problem as long as it hasn't rained much in the week or two previous to your trip. The water is pretty shallow.

Enjoying the view - Little Missouri River - AR

      Another good backpacking trail in southwest Arkansas is the Little Missouri River Trail. This is an easy trail that follows along the Little Missouri River. I was somewhat disappointed with the trail because in some areas there are old roads that the four wheelers run around on and we saw several of them. But all in all it's a nice trail, not too strenuous, and it has some really pretty spots along it.

     I have been to three different places in the Texas hill country to backpack and the best place by far was at Lost Maples State Park. Pedernales Falls has a "trail" but it is a popular spot and there were way too many people and mountain bikers for me. Enchanted Rock is also a cool place. The hike up to the top of the "rock" is somewhat challenging, especially if your out of shape, but is worth the trip. This spot is very popular also, especially with the rock climbers.

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