Late summer conditions in Arkansas are typically dry, dry, dry! With a slight chance of rain in the future forecast, I’m fairly certain that things won’t change in the near future. That doesn’t stop me, however, from daydreaming about the soggier months and waterfalls.
I thought I’d share a few photos from a Richland Creek adventure in April. When water is plentiful, Richland Creek comes alive! It’s a waterfall hunter’s paradise!
Seasoned Richland Creek hikers understand that the hikes to some of these falls can be challenging….
….and even dangerous….
…but worth it!
Of course, many beautiful specimens adorn the wilderness, which makes the hike more bearable.
The great thing, however, about the waterfalls of Richland Creek is that some of them are easily accessible. A great example, Falling Water Falls, is visible from the car window!
The U.S. Forest Service has great information on their Richland Creek Website. Waterfall season is still probably a few months away, therefore, this trip down memory lane will have to suffice for now. I think I can keep myself occupied since there are so many interesting things to see and do in the Natural State year round!
Shootin' The Breeze 
Those pictures are gorgeous! How did you get the one of the snake? I would be terrified to be within range of even a long lens.
When my husband and I tried to “become hikers” sometime around 2002 or 2003, we bought all the equipment (the easy part) and then went out to the Ouachita Mountains. We were living in Dallas at the time. There were too many daytime trailheads to be able to get away from children, loud people, and litter so we were a little disappointed and never tried it again. I wish that we’d seen this location. I think it would have made the difference in our passion to try again.
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Thanks Beth! Kurt stumbled upon the snake when hiking through Richland Creek a few years back. I wasn’t with him on that hike. If I remember correctly, he snapped the shot fairly quickly, which is absolutely more than I would ever do! The Richland Creek Wilderness is in the Ozarks, and there are numerous trails (footpaths) there. There are hikers present, but it is never super crowded simply because this hiking is a bit tougher than what you might find in the Arkansas State Parks. We’re not bit on crowds, and litter is unnerving, but please don’t let that keep you from exploring! If you notice in a lot of my hiking blogs, we really try to avoid crowds. That means getting up at the crack of dawn, or finding trails less traveled. When you explored the Ouachitas, did you ever go to the Flatside Wilderness Area? That would be a fantastic place to go when the leaves change color next month!
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No, we didn’t make it to much after that trail. Really, what happened was that we had to double back to get to our next destination and thought that it would be easier to take the actual rode instead of going back the way we had come. We didn’t realize that the road, having been designed for cars, would be absolute hell for hikers on foot with packs. The hills were not very walkable and we would sit down until we heard a car coming, at which point we’d hurry to stand up and go so that it didn’t look like we didn’t know what we were doing. Eventually, cars would pass us laying on the ground and not caring. We ended up getting back to the car and going to a buffet. It’s one of my favorite life lessons about biting off more than you can chew. We have move to Virginia now and are trying again with kayaking. We have learned to take baby steps.
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I can relate to “biting off more than I can chew!” If you ever decide to visit Arkansas again, I will be glad to give you some hiking suggestions! Oh and there’s great kayaking in the Richland Creek Wilderness as well!
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