Some friends shared this great video with me. Most people don’t understand how great the whitewater can be in Arkansas and nothing beats a good winter snow melt.
As an aside, the Richland Creek area is the first place I ever took my son backpacking.
…made for a fun afternoon yesterday
More playing around with the helmet cam and the plastic insert we use for our leaf bags. Lisa and I had a blast…and really, no, we’re not sore this morning, no, not at all.
After a few weeks of unusually extreme cold and then just as the weather turns great we get hit with a cold, I finally got back out on the mountain bike. I had been curled up on the couch all weekend but on Monday I pulled it together and went riding out on the Camp Robinson Trails in North Little Rock. My main goal was to not throw up and to play with the new helmet camera I got for Christmas. I’ll give a full review on it later (once I get over various forms of user error).
I recorded just a short portion of Yucca Trail, one of the entry ways into the 35+ miles of trail at camp. These are well groomed trails built completely by mountain bikers. There is something for every level of cyclist out here. Yucca is just a nice warm-up. On this day, after finishing Yucca, we rode Port-A-Potty, Outer Loop and 10 Bridges. Yeah, a short but fun ride. Here is a little video. Can you guess the music? It wasn’t my first choice but didn’t want to spend on rights to what I wanted.
BTW, next time I’ll put someone in front of me, I know it would be better that way. I was just playing around.
The view across Sylamore Creek near Allison, Arkansas.
My job comes with perks. For example, yesterday I had to attend a meeting at The Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View, Arkansas. This is the off season for the Folk Center so I wouldn’t get a chance to enjoy the crafters, the music or even The Skillet Restaurant. I had a couple of hours of driving each way for a short meeting that could only happen at the Folk Center. So after the meeting I made myself figured out a little bonus trip.
I should point out here that living in Arkansas also comes with perks. No matter where I travel in the state, I have the opportunity to make side trips. When planned properly, in Arkansas, the journey is as good or better than the destination.
I decided to run up to the Sylamore Creek near Hwy 5 and 14 just north of Mountain View. It’s a beautiful area and home to some great backpacking memories. I didn’t have a lot of time but I was able to get down to the trailhead and walk the few hundred feet to the creek. Camera in hand of course. These are a few shots I was able to steal on a cold winter day.
My old truck had no problem negotiating the steep, icy drive down to the trailhead.
This is one of my favorite views on Sylamore Creek.
A closeup of the ice along the creek.
If you have a chance please fill out the survey below. It is something that Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism is doing to get a better idea of adventure sports participation in Arkansas. Thanks for your time.
Well the Eureka Springs trip was great and you can read more about it on Lisa’s Blog. Of course, I’m all about the hikes so I made sure that we made it back to Pedestal Rocks Scenic Area on the way home. We had really enjoyed hiking King’s Bluff trail and were looking forward to more beautiful scenery on the actual Pedestal Rock Trail. Along the way down Scenic Hwy 7 we did stop at an old favorite overlook to check out the Buffalo River Canyon.
Scenic Point Highway 7
Buffalo River Canyon
The Buffalo River Canyon sign is a must read. A few photos and we were off to Pedestal Rocks.
When we arrived at the trailhead we decided that we would eat lunch before our hike so we opened up the cheese, salami, bruschetta and some toasted bread for an awesome feast in the car. The only picnic table was taken up by a family. A quick cleanup and it was down the trail we went. We opted to do the trail in a counter clockwise direction so we could go by a point called The Arch first. It was a pretty cool area and was the beginning of the bluff line and a bunch of pedestals.
Lisa at The Arch
We kept hiking around the 2.2 mile trail enjoying the scenery, taking lots of photos and working off all the food we ate in Eureka Springs (well, maybe not ALL the food but we tried).
Joe (me) with a camera stuck to his face
Lisa with a camera stuck to her face
It was a great trip and I highly recommend Pedestal Rocks Scenic Area as a great stop on Scenic Hwy 7. This is an anytime of year destination. Maybe a sunset at King’s Bluff sometime….hmmmmm….
View from King's Bluff Trail looking West
The holiday season can be a bit stressful. Often in a good way as friends and family get together. For me, I look forward to an escape and this year Lisa and I did just that. Shortly after Christmas the small one went on her almost annual trip to pay homage to the Mouse with her grandparents, leaving us alone for the remainder of the holidays. So we decided it would be a good time to make a little trip out of town. A two-nighter to Eureka Springs, Arkansas was in order. A romantic stay at the Crescent Hotel, some shopping and maybe some little side trips.
I got to plan the side trips. Since our favorite route to Eureka Springs from Little Rock is taking Scenic Hwy 7 from Russellville to Harrison I decided that stopping at a place I had always wanted to visit was in order. Pedestal Rocks Scenic Area in the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest. It’s located about 6 miles East of Pelsor, Arkansas on Arkansas 16. It has great parking, a vault toilet and picnic table at the trailhead. There are two trails here, Pedestal Rocks Trail at 2.2 miles long and the King’s Bluff Trail at 1.7 miles long. We decided to do the King’s Bluff Trail first.
King's Bluff Trail
King's Bluff Waterfall
The trail is well kept and cleared of all the debris from the ice storm last winter although you could still see a lot of destruction in the woods. The trail goes to the right immediately and meanders down 0.8 miles where it opens up to views off the bluff. A waterfall was running to the right of the trail when we got there. Although much of the bluff has fencing to protect visitors it’s not everywhere and children should be watched and kept close.
It was pretty cold on this visit so we were properly bundled up. The cold was a good thing for us. Lot’s of icicles on the rocks, no leaves on the trees so we could see stuff that we probably would have missed on a warm weather hike.
From here the trail continues for about half a mile along the bluff and is just beautiful. Not far into this part you get to see some of the namesakes for Pedestal Rock Scenic Area. You can see not only the some of the “pedestals” out away from the bluff but also you can see the cracks and weathering that will create future pedestals. We saw no wildlife to speak of on this trip partially due to the time of year and probably because of it being a popular area. Their were two or three other groups out there but no one got in anyone else’s way. Another good reason to be out here in the cold. Fewer people.
As we hiked I quickly realized that we had way too many photo opportunities and it was taking awhile to get around this short trail. So we decided to only do the King’s Bluff Trail today and do the Pedestal Rock Trail on the way back through in a couple of days. Besides it’s a great little leg stretch on a long car ride. I’ll post more on the other hike in Part II. For now, enjoy some of the sights we witnessed that day on the King’s Bluff Trail.
Icicles on the King's Bluff Trail
A "Pedestal"
AnotherPedestal
Lisa on King's Bluff
Every year Lisa and I figure on a place to go to get away from the chaos that is Christmas Day. This usually results in a cold hike often times at our park of choice, Pinnacle Mountain State Park. This year we decided on a different venue for the hike so Christmas morning with the young one secure at her grandmother’s house we set out for Lake Catherine State Park between Hot Springs and Malvern.
We visited Lake Catherine last Labor Day for a picnic, some hiking and a little horseback riding. We had a great time exploring the Horseshoe Mountain Trail. This trip we had decided on the Dam Mountain Trail. A little bit longer trail that would take us past the waterfall that is one of the icons of the park and all the way down to Carpenter Dam which creates Lake Catherine. Neither one of us had been on this particular trail since we usually have kids with us that limits our hiking distance.
For a few days before Christmas, Arkansas was hit with steady rains. The good news would be that the waterfalls would be flowing nicely. We were a little worried that the drive from Little Rock would be tough due to some flooding on I-30 the night before. Luckily it was all cleared up before we headed down to the park.
We pulled into the park around noon, it was very quiet. The temperature was hovering around freezing and there were only a couple of cars at the trail head. The three main trails in the park Dam Mountain, Horseshoe Mountain and Falls Branch all start at one trail head. All three are National Recreation Trails. At the first trail split about 100 yards up the trail we saw a sign saying that the Dam Mountain Trail was closed. Bummer. We walked on knowing that the actual trail didn’t start until just past the waterfall. So on we went.
We figured out pretty quickly why the trail was closed. The water was really rushing over the falls and the park obviously didn’t want to have anyone injured trying to cross the swollen creek. It’s great when there is so much water that a few “surprise” falls happen. You can see one to the right of the main falls in the photo.
Water pouring over the Lake Catherine Falls
We decided to go on and continue on the Falls Branch Trail which took us past several other smaller waterfalls.
A little ways up the trail from the falls are these beautiful stone steps
We followed another stream past several smaller waterfalls
A Quick Moving Stream
A Beautiful Waterfall
Another Cool Waterfall over a Growing Tree
We continued to follow the Falls Branch Trail until it intersected with the Horseshoe Mountain Trail so we took a left and went up the Mountain following it all the way around to the original trail intersection near the trail head. At this point we decided we had plenty of time to go the other direction on the Falls Branch Trail. We stopped at one of the bridges for this silly shot.
Nice bridge next to a waterfall
The far end of the bridge had more stone steps and another waterfall
End of Bridge Steps and Waterfall
Once we got to the top of the Falls Branch Trail we came back to an earlier intersection that allowed us to take another left and finish the section of the Horseshoe Mountain Trail that we hadn’t done on this trip. So basically we hiked all the trails in the park except for the one we came to do, the Dam Mountain Trail. Oh well, another reason to return to a wonderful park. Ham and cheese sandwiches in the car and back on the road home for more family fun.
P.S. I got a new helmet cam for mountain biking and other treks down the trail so be watching for more videos! Oh, and tell me what you got for Christmas to enhance your outdoor experience or what outdoor holiday traditions you have.
Attila the Hun Mountain Bike Race near Hot Springs, Arkansas
09. No charge to ride on State Park Mountain Biking Trails.
08. Diversity! — Mountains, timberlands, tough climbs and ripping downhills.
07. Two words — Sweet Singletrack
06. 100’s of miles of trail
05. Arkansas Mountain Bike Championship Series
03. The Camp Robinson Trails (CARP) can’t explain it, you have to ride them.
02. Two, yes two IMBA Epic Trails The Womble & Syllamo
01. Mountain biking season is 365 days long.
Post a comment for your reasons to go mountain biking in Arkansas!
Just got back from a great mid-day, 15 mile bike ride hitting the Big Dam Bridge, Pfeiffer Loop, North Little Rock River Trail and Burns Park Mountain Bike Trails on a beautiful day. This is just a warm up to the late afternoon/evening eating festivities. A great ride on a cool day.
I also wanted to say that I am very thankful to live in such an awesome place where there are so many outdoor activities available. Arkansas is truly blessed with great rivers, mountains and wetlands. Also, thanks to family and friends who enjoy or tolerate our outdoor passions. Now have some food and hit a trail. Happy Thanksgiving from the folks at Arkansas Outside!
