[outdoors] Whitaker Point / Hawksbill Crag + Glory Hole Waterfall

The Upper Buffalo Wilderness Area has no shortage of hiking trails. Especially good day-hiking trails...which are right up my alley. D might be of another opinion, as overnight backpacking is more his cup of tea.  Me? Well I'm happy to have a day exploring the great outdoors capped with AC and a down comforter.

The Upper Buffalo Wilderness (part of the Ozark National Forest) is one of 154 national forests, operated by the U.S. Forest Service. Most of the trees here are oaks, hickory and pine. In the 12,108 acres of the wilderness, the only official trail is the one leading to Hawksbill Crag. This area is remote and pretty uninhabited!

Check out this cool National Forest locator map.

We set out with a pretty ambitious agenda for our day. Knowing we wanted to see Hawksbill Crag / Whitaker Point , we decided to tack on a hike to Glory Hole Waterfall (let's take a moment to get our giggles out of the way).

See why we were set on seeing this? Beautiful.

// flickr // exploretheozarksonline.com //

After a pretty hour and a half drive over hills and into valleys (with a couple large coffees and breakfast), we hit the Glory Hole Waterfall trailhead. It is NOT marked from the highway, so use GPS coordinates (35.828473, -93.390474). Understand that there isn't any designated parking here, so pull over onto the generous shoulder off the highway at your own risk. The trail starts as a jeep road that we didn't feel like testing our Outback on - a bit muddy and rutted out. With the extra 1/4 mile to the trailhead, it's a 2.5-mile round trip. The trail winds down along the unfortunately named Dismal Creek and dumps you at the base of the overhand and Hole. It's a 30-foot fall that bore straight through the limestone rock overhead. Pretty fun to take some time exploring inside the overhang and watching the water rush out.

Overall, it's a quick, fairly easy hike to a unique waterfall that's absolutely worth it...all jokes aside.

// our pics //

Next up...one of the most iconic places in our state, Whitaker Point. Outside of Boxley Valley, Cave Point Road took us waaaaay up a dirt road to the trailhead. When I say 'waaaaay' I mean about 5 miles. At the top there's some parking and a dedication to Governor and Senator Dale Bumpers who was dedicated to preserving Arkansas' natural beauty. Seems it's aptly placed!

Check out these awesome photos from the interwebs. Isn't this place amazing?!

// fineartamerica.com // thousandwonders.net // buffaloriver.com //

The hike to Hawksbill Crag is about 1.5 miles (3 round trip). You wind down through a forest and creek and hit Haley Falls below you. It's a wide, trickling fall, so you could easily miss it! We opted to continue along and get to the Crag - next time it would be nice to hike down around the falls. But we pressed on, followed the bluff line and kept anticipating the view of the Crag. At last we got to see our first glimpse from an overlook - breathtaking. Made me wish we had come at sunrise or set for that beautiful light. Next time. And there definitely be a next time.

// view from Hawksbill Crag // our pics //

[travel] + [outdoors] + [history] Central Arkansas

What to do with a long weekend? Visit family, eat your weight in BBQ+catfish and explore Central AR of course.

day one

Explored D's hometown of Stuttgart (rice and duck capital of the world, no less). Saw the rice fields and mills, D's childhood church and school, and took in the slower pace of a smaller town. Even went to Mack's Priarie Wings - sponsor of the World's Championship Duck Calling Contest at Stuttgart's annual Duck Festival. Had some local insight in finding the best BBQ - Craig's BBQ in DeVall's Bluff. The secret is ordering the sliced BBQ pork sandwich (medium) paired with the cheeseburger. Both come with Craig's apple slaw...just wow.

// Must remember to work out when we get home.

day two

Ventured out to Arkansas Post National Memorial in Gillett to check out the first European settlement of the lower Mississippi (and home to Quapaw people, whom Arkansas was named for). Quick run-down of Arkansas Post's history: founded in 1686 by French explorer Henri de Tonti, Spanish gained control in 1763, U.S. took ownership as part of the Louisiana Purchase in  1804. Voila! And not to be overlooked, we ate catfish steaks and hush puppies in DeWitt at The Catfish Shack. Cornmeal breading, big pieces of fish, creamy slaw and tartar made for a perfect lunch stop.
The Potlach Conservation Center was next on the agenda. This place is special because of a teeny tiny little bird that they band and release - hummingbirds! We were able to talk with Tana, one of the educators and leaders of the banding program. Can you imagine the patience involved in catching and tagging these quick little guys?

Another southern meal at dinner - hot n' spicy shrimp boil at a local cajun joint. The waitress meant it when she said "don't let 'em touch your lips"! Another awesome meal, this time topped off with a shake at Stuttgart's Sonic. Perfect small town night.  // Must remember to work out when we get home (again)!

day three

Off to Little Rock for some history and hiking. But first, a quick donut and coffee fuel-up at Stuttgart's Daylight Donuts for my fave apple fritter. Then on the road!
Poked around the Arkansas State Capitol (reminded me of Wisconsin's) while the General Assembly was in session. A beautiful building finished in 1915. From there we popped over to the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site. The nine students enrolled into LRCHS in 1957 by the NAACP, after the Supreme Court's Brown vs The Board of Education, changed the course of civil rights history. Even with the 101st Airborne at their side, those students endured taunting, abuse and worse for the span of their enrollment at LRCHS. Shows how far the US has come with equality and upholding the 14th amendment, and how far we still have to go.

The SoMa area of Little Rock is a new, downtown, urban district that is ready to explode with sustainable restaurants, art installations, community shops, and local flavor. We met a friend for lunch at farm-to-table Root Cafe and followed up with a scoops of sweet corn ice cream at Loblolly Creamery at the soda fountain in the Green Corner Store. Couldn't think of better fuel for our afternoon adventure...hiking at Pinnacle Mountain State Park.

The West Summit Trail rises to just over a 1,000-foot elevation in a three-quarters-mile ascent. Another puffer! It's a rocky path, but very well-maintained and very well-traveled (yep, spring break week means lots of families). Even the pup was able to scramble over the rocks to get the top. The views are breathtaking - Little Rock, Lake Maumelle, Arkansas River Valley and Ouachita Mountains. If we didn't have to scoot back to Fayetteville, we would have started later to see sunset. Instead we had time to toss the frisbee and play a little bocce ball before hitting the road. But in true explorer fashion we needed to make one last culinary pitstop at Arkansas' original Whatta-Burger, Feltner's. Fun spot, good burger, shake and fries!

[outdoors] Hemmed-In Hollow

When spring weather hits in Northwest Arkansas people don't stay put, they hit the trail! Ponca Wilderness Area and the Buffalo National River offer a wide variety of outdoor activities - from day hikes to float trips to multi-night camping. Knowing that we've been hit with a good dousing of rain, we opted for a waterfall hike to Hemmed-in Hollow just outside of Compton, Ark. The 1,400-foot descent is just over 2 miles and is no joke - your lungs will be burning on the climb back up! Bring your H2O and snacks...and a swimsuit...if the weather's nice. The falls rise 210 feet and are the tallest between the Rockies and Appalachians and are truly a special spot! Be sure to see the falls from below and look up, you get a beautiful view of the water pouring down overhead.
Side note: We popped into JB Trading for lunch and picked up a guidebook for future hikes in our new home.  Plan your trip here. And try out the Yonder app!