Hike #7 - Mt. Kessler

Today we took on another local favorite, Mt. Kessler.  Mt. Kessler is going through a lot of changes.  Most of the trail is on private land. (Email ahead for the required waiver if you ever plan to go: kesslergreenways@pgtc.com.)  Because it has gotten so popular, and visitors were consistently blocking the landowners' driveways, they recently extended the trail to a new trailhead at Ozark Mountain Smokehouse for more parking.  The city also now owns and is developing the access on the other side of the mountain.  We've done that once, and it is another place the kids classify as a "walk" instead of a "hike."


The highlight of Mt. Kessler is Rock City and comes about 3/4 of a mile in (it used to be 1/4 mile in). This is a short stretch in the trail with some very interesting rock formations that are just begging to be climbed.  This is a really enjoyable trail all the way that is never overly strenuous in any one spot but definitely gets you worn out before you are done.  Eventually you get to the "top" of the mountain and there are at least four trails that go off for several miles in various directions.  We would love to get to explore them, but by the time we get to them, we are ready to head back every time.  Last time we were here there was a really good sign pointing the way to all of the different trails.  Now the sign is either broken or some markers have been purposefully taken off.  We honestly aren't looking forward to the changes coming to the trail as the city takes the lead.

Travel time from home: 15 minutes
Today's miles: 4.5
Remaining miles: 70.37

Hike #6 - Prairie Grove Battlefield

Today will likely be our easiest hike of the year, although everyone deserves it after our last outing.  Prairie Grove is a Civil War battlefield with a mile+ paved trail past the historic buildings and other landmarks.  Normally our kids consider a paved trail to be a "walk" not a "hike," but we figure it counts because it is a state park.  It works great too because grandma and grandpa are in town for Spring Break.

The visitor center is very nice here with a neat interactive museum and videos explaining the significance of the battle.  One of the most interesting features on the trail is two very old trees that are different species but over time have grown together and are now intertwined.

Travel time from home: 25 minutes
Today's miles: 2.06 (although the kids did many more running among all the buildings)
Remaining miles: 74.87

Hike #5 - Hemmed-In Hollow

Today we pushed ourselves to the limit and almost bit off more than we could chew.  Hemmed-In Hollow is the tallest waterfall between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains.  There are two ways to get to the falls.  By boat (canoe) it is a 3/4 mile hike from the Buffalo River.  By car is a 2.5 mile hike with a 1,000 foot descent to the falls and 1,000 foot ascent back to the car.  As we are gluttons for punishment, and we had done the from the car hike once before, we decided to hike from the car to the falls, to the river, back to the falls, and then back to the car.  Let's just say we were all proud to make it back in one piece.

The hike is almost immediately steep.  There are several very steep parts and some downed trees to navigate around.  We had an extra advantage today in that it was raining too!  We were still in leaf-off stage, so we got some nice views of mountains, the Buffalo River, and its famous bluffs.  There are great rocks, trees, and moss all the way.  Between the trailhead and the falls there are three backpacking camp sites, which would make a really fun trip.  The last one is less than a mile from the falls.  Both times we have hiked this, the spots have been occupied.



The flow at the falls was pretty light, but it is still wonderful.  Even with no water, the rock formation that is the hollow is impressive.  From here we did the spur to the river which we had never done before.  The river was flowing well and we saw several canoes go by.  The kids decided to make a rock bridge from the shore out to a little island.  Of course their bridge was so rickety that anyone who stepped on it wound up in the water anyway, but they were not deterred.

Then came the 2.5 miles out and 1,000 feet up to get back to the car.  At about mile 6, everyone hit a wall, but we were sure we were close.  At mile 6.5, we assured the kids it was only another five minutes.  20 minutes later at mile 7, we assured them it was again only another five minutes.  At this point dad tried to run ahead, drop off some kids at the car, and come back to carry another kid, but dad quickly realized that we still weren't close enough to the car to do that.  When we finally reached the parking lot, our tracker said 7.71 miles.

This kid was champ of the day.  His five-year-old legs take two steps for every one of dad's steps under normal circumstances.  For the last mile he could barely lift his feet and probably took five steps to every one of dad's.  Even though he put in the equivalent of about 15 miles, he never complained and walked the entire way.  He earned his nap on the way home.

Travel time from home: 1 hour, 25 minutes
Today's miles: 7.71
Remaining miles: 76.93

Hike #4 - Mt. Sequoyah

If we are going to hit our 100 mile goal, we can't rely totally on big Saturday trips.  We are going to have to take advantage of the great things close to home in Fayetteville.  Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. day, so we took advantage of the day off to add some local miles at Mt. Sequoyah.    

Mt. Sequoyah has two official trailheads with four or five trails marked on the map.  Over the years though hikers and bikers have made A LOT of extra trails with who knows how many trailheads.  We use the trailhead on Happy Hollow Road, which has some parking and a short paved path to a really nice pavilion with picnic tables.  The trails then meander up, down, and across the ridge.

Today we just wandered.  There are no exceptional features on any of the trails, but it is a great way to get to nature close to home.

Travel time from home: 5 minutes!
Today's miles: 4.3 miles
Remaining miles: 84.63

Hike #3 - War Eagle Trail

Today we headed to War Eagle Trail at Withrow Springs State Park.  Even though it is January, long sleeve t-shirts cut it today.  The first impression is that this trail was hard to find for two reasons.  The first is that the trail head is before you actually pass the "Welcome to..." state park signs.  The second is that the parking area is on the opposite side of the road from the trail and there is no discernible path from the road.  Once we realized that the trail goes under the road, we were set.

This is a nice easy trail for the first mile and then very strenuous for the last quarter mile.  It is a spur trail, so you have to hike in and then hike back out the same path to the car.  It runs along the clear, blue War Eagle Creek.  Even though I say the first mile is easy, there are a few narrow spots including a bit with a guide wire to hold onto.  About half a mile in, there is a cave that can normally be explored, but is currently closed due to White Nose Syndrome.  The trail does have a small but steep switchback here to get past the cave.

At the end of the first mile is a wonderful spot in the creek that has some neat rapids and a big swimming hole.  There are some beautiful cliffs hanging over the water that I think would make a great cliff diving spot if it wasn't January.  I would want to swim out under them first to check it out.  However, we wisely decided that if we stopped here, we would never motivate the kids to do the tough last quarter mile.  This steep rocky trail has some great views which come with some cliffs that require you to keep an extra eye on kids.  We did stop at the waterhole for quite a while on the way back out.

Travel time from home: 35 minutes
Today's miles: 2.37 miles
Remaining miles: 88.93

Hike #2 - Lost Valley

Today we headed to Lost Valley near Ponca, Arkansas.  This is one of our favorite spots!  There are some great unique features.  We also came with friends today for a total of six adults and nine kids.  The first half mile is a fine-gravel path that is smooth enough for a stroller if needed.  This easy path ends in a nice little water hole that is usually about a foot deep.  The water hole is filled by a small waterfall that flows through a cave.  You can climb up the waterfall, through the cave, and come out the other side.  This isn't even the best part of the trail!

From here the trail gets more rugged with rocks and some up and down leading to the second very beautiful waterfall.  Here you can cross the creek to a rock overhang that is great for kids to explore.  There is a rock fort that has been built over the years, which is where our kids like to eat lunch and add some rocks.

The last feature of the trail gets more treacherous, but it is definitely worth it.  The second water fall that we just left also flows out of a cave.  You can also hike into this cave and there is a third waterfall inside the cave.  The 9, 7, and 5 year olds made their way into the cave with dad and friends and really enjoyed it.  (Full disclosure: this was their second trip into the cave and the first involved a little more hysterics.)

This is a really exceptional hike.

Travel time from home: 1 hour 15 minutes
Today's miles: 5.5
Remaining miles: 91.3

Hike #1 - Devil's Den

So, I have decided that one of the most difficult parts of this is going to be deciding which pictures to use.  There are so many great shots along these trails, that it is hard to narrow it down, but on we go.

Apparently there is a thing called First Day Hikes that is promoted by the American Hiking Society (also a thing).  The goal is to get people active in the new year, and parks have been encouraged to offer special guided hikes today.

We headed to Devil's Den State Park for our "First Day Hike." Devil's Den also had some overnight "ring in the new year" backpacking hikes, which may be fun in the future.  We tried out three trails today, the Devil's Den Trail, Lake Trail, and CCC Trail.  This was the first time we had done hiking in the cold.  We bundled up and there was no complaining at all.

The Devil's Den Trail is considered a moderate 2 mile trail that we had done before.  Our kids didn't have much trouble with it, and there is really only one spot that gets a little tricky. There are some narrow spots with a fall to either side that would make your day pretty unpleasant.  The midpoint and highlight of the trail are a couple waterfalls that are very pretty although not very powerful.  The most enjoyable part for us today was getting off trail a bit.  We could hear some more falling water off to the side.  We hiked over a short hill and could see the waterfall, but between us and the falls was a downed tree over a creek bed.  The tree was very wide, and you can tell from wear that it has had many hundreds of feet go across it.  So the danger was very little, but it still felt like an adventure.

Next we did the Lake Trail.  Lee Creek runs through the park and near the visitors center a dam pools the water into a small lake with a very powerful though man made waterfall.  This trailhead is near a nice clear shallow waterhole that would be great if it wasn't January.  There are some nice picnic tables and grills on both sides.  This trail is an easy half mile along the blue water, past the spillway waterfall, and across a modern cable bridge that crosses rapids.  Much to the kids' enjoyment there is also a nice playground at the end.

Finally we did the CCC trail, which was the park's "First Day" guided hike.  This was only about a quarter mile easy trail that walked past the ruins of the old CCC crew who built this park and most of the others around the state.  We were impressed with how well the kids paid attention to a guided tour.  They asked lots of questions.

Travel time from home: 35 minutes
Today's miles: 3.2
Remaining miles: 96.8