Trails of Arkansas (& now California)

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Waterfalls of Little Rock

The vast majority of Arkansas' most impressive waterfalls are found in the northwest and north-central part of the state. These make for great hikes/bushwhacks following a big rain and descriptions for finding them can be found in many of Tim Ernst's guidebooks.

But what about those of us in central Arkansas that don't feel like driving 2-3 hours (in the rain) to see a waterfall? Well, we are in luck. Little Rock happens to have quite a few hidden waterfalls that, while maybe not as spectacular as some along the Ozark Highlands Trail, are still spectacular and surprising to behold in the state's largest metropolitan area.

I got the idea for this post after reading Mason's recent post on some waterfalls he found in Riverdale, in and around Grandview Park and Rebsamen Park. I lived in this part of town for several years and never heard of or came across the falls and cascades he discusses so I was excited to see his great photos and am hoping for rain during my next visit to Little Rock.

Nearby Allsopp Park also has some nice falls during and immediately following big rains. Yet another nice, large, cascade that looks great after a rain, is located near the north side of Kanis on Rock Creek.

By far my favorite waterfalls in the area and, in fact, the whole state, are the 4 or 5 falls that form over the Emerald Park bluffs after a big storm. Located in North Little Rock, you can still catch great views of them from the Little Rock side of the river along Riverfront Dr. and Rebsamen Park Rd.

I've included some photos and a map below. I'm sure there are other great falls in Central Arkansas. Do you know of some?

Floodplains and Utility Right-of-ways - Perfect For Trails

Floodplains and utility right-of-ways (think sewer, power, and gas lines) are perfect places to put trails. Many types of development are prohibited in floodways and floodplains, so why not use them as park land and greenspace and put in some trails? Because streams run into other streams, trails along floodplains would naturally form a branching trail network. This idea is already slowly being put into practice in both Little Rock and Fayetteville. Many of these towns' longest trails run along creeks. See the multiple trails along Rock Creek and Coleman Creek in Little Rock and along Scull Creek, Mud Creek, Clabber Creek, and Hamestring Creek in Fayetteville.

Trails along utility right-of-ways, or "Utilitrails", make great sense as well. Utility companies have to pay to regularly clear vegetation along their right-of-ways, putting in a paved or crushed gravel trail would decrease the amount of maintenance required along these routes and open up potential opportunities to split maintenance costs and work with city governments or trail-related volunteer organizations. Some of the trails at Hindman Park in Little Rock are great examples of Utilitrails as they were built and maintained in a partnership between the local wastewater utility and MBNA neighborhood association. The trails at Conner Park in Little Rock are connected to the trail in River Mountain Park by a power line.

Chenal Trails - Guest Post By Griffin (And My Dad)

This past weekend, while I was backpacking and floating the Buffalo, my young nephew Griffin was doing some field research for me back in Little Rock. Having noticed what appeared to be a dirt trail when dropping off the recycling with my dad, Griffin decided to investigate. The map below shows what he found. A nice 1-mile stretch of dirt, gravel, and paved trail through a forested area that connects to a few different parts of Chenal Valley. According to my field team, this trail is easy for adults and has lots of interesting features for kids to explore. The trail can be accessed from Chenal Valley Dr. and, I believe, also from Marcella Dr. and Courts Dr.

Buffalo River Trail - Tyler Bend to Gilbert

The Buffalo River Trail is a relatively new trail that runs along parts of the Buffalo River. It is still under construction but, two sections, from Boxley to Pruitt and Woolum to Gilbert are complete. The trail connects to, and in places overlaps, the much older and longer Ozark Highlands Trail.

Some friends and I wanted to get in some backpacking practice nearby before taking a larger trip this summer and decided to do the short, 5.6 mile stretch between Tyler Bend and Gilbert. We parked at the Collier Homestead trailhead and backpacked east through some nice open woods that still showed signs of a recent controlled burn. The trail parallels the road into Tyler Bend for nearly two miles before reaching the Hwy. 65 bridge. The trail then crosses the bridge, passes under it, and continues east along the north side of the river.

Where the trail crosses the gravel road, we took a detour down the road to camp on the gravel bar at Shine Eye. We had the place to ourselves and the river, bluffs, and night-sky were amazing.

The next day, we walked back up the road and continued along the trail. Just north of the gravel road is a steep uphill section that took us to the top of the bluff and around a major bend in the river. After a while, we came upon the remains of what must have been a nice house with an amazing view.

A short distance from the house, there is a fork in the trail. If it has rained hard recently, you might want to turn left and head down to Hwy 333 to get into Gilbert to avoid both a long, very muddy section of trail and crossing (Very Far From) Dry Creek. Otherwise continue straight and head down into the flood terrace. The dense river cane and other vegetation give his section a jungle-like feel.

For the final leg of our backpacking trip we waded across Dry Creek, hiked a short distance along the Buffalo, and into Gilbert. After eating, we floated from Tyler Bend to Gilbert. Since the river was at 9.5 feet and really moving, I don't have any photos of that much-shorter-than-usual trip. Including a brisk, brief intentional dip in the river, the float probably took an hour. In case you are reading this to plan a float, 2.5-4 hours is more typical for a relaxing paddle along this scenic stretch of the river.

Photography Fun

I got a new digital camera and have been having some fun learning how to use it. I enjoy photography and it's been awhile since I did any (not counting iPhone or basic trail photos). This post was created in 2015 but I set the date in the past to keep it a little hidden. Here are some of my favorite photos taken on my old film Nikon or my new digital one. For more photos by me, feel free to checkout the photos page on this blog, or follow me on Instagram or Pinterest.

Here are some photos I made using a laser pointer (aka best dog toy in the world). Most exposures were 30 seconds.