We picked a road trip from Tim Ernst's book entitled Arkansas Nature Lover's Guidebook: How to Find 101 Scenic Areas in the "Natural State" . He called it the Falling Water Scenic Drive because it follows Falling Water Creek on the edge of the Richland Creek Wilderness Area. Driving on this 1.5 lane dirt road could lead you past multiple waterfalls, albeit in some seasons they are not as remarkable as others. We did not expect much, if any, water as this part of Arkansas had little rain over the summer and into fall. But, we wanted a road trip and after about 250 miles we returned home satisfied with our day.
We started at the crack of dawn and had fog most of the drive until we got to Falling Water Creek. The fog started to lift as we drove along the creek.
We passed through several small towns. This one, in particular, has seen better days. It says a lot when Main Street dead ends!
Tim gives excellent directions in all of his scenic drives. Set your odometer when he tells you and it is within a 0.1 mile tolerance. I kept asking Tom, as he was on the creek side, "Do you see any water down there?" "Not yet!"
Having not seen any water, we were happy to see this trickle exactly where Tim told us to stop. It turned out that if it looked like a car could park just barely off the road it was a spot worth hiking down to the creek and exploring.
The creek bed was interesting, even if the waterfall was not that impressive.
Back on the road . . . It is hunting season here and this road was seeing more traffic than I would have imagined. Hunters in camo in big pickups (they expected to bag a BIG one). Some were on horseback. I felt sort of OK in my bright red pullover. Tom was not dressed for safety so I wanted him close by.
While there was not much water, it did pool in places and that provided some opportunities to capture a nice image.
This spot is called Six Finger Falls. I suspect that when the water is running at higher levels this spot would become a 'die for image'.
About mid-afternoon we decided we had explored enough and we were hungry. I had not packed a lunch. Decision, decision, head back (long way before food) or drive on 25 miles more toward Jasper. We opted for Jasper
Just seven miles shy of Jasper we found this lovely restaurant. The parking lot, in the middle of the afternoon was overflowing. Must be good, we thought. We parked illegally and rushed in. We waited 30 minutes for a table. The food was awesome!!!! We later found out that the Cliff House was listed in the top ten restaurants in Arkansas. We agree!
The wind was howling and it was cold but I wanted a panoramic scene from the balcony. This is looking left.
Looking right.
Down the middle.
Neither of us had taken our cameras in to the restaurant. Before we got back into the car Tom said, "I just have to get one shot." You know how that goes. LOL
On the road home. This particular photograph reminds me of the hundreds of miles we drove while staying in Mountain View.