Sally Ann Hollow

The other weekend, I met up with Matt Kennedy and checked out a promising looking area in the Ozarks, with the hopes that we would find some neat waterfalls. So we met in Conway on Sunday morning and drove up to the hills, heading towards Sally Ann Hollow. This hollow is a scenic but rarely visited area that is just filled with waterfalls.

The hollow is in the Ozark National Forest (in Johnson County), and we arrived to see some bright clear skies and the sun shining down. Which makes for pleasant hiking but not the best conditions for waterfall photography. Clouds and storms were predicted to move in later on that afternoon, so we started the hike into the hollow. I was happy to see there was plenty of water in the creek, and we passed by several small waterfalls. Since the sun was out, we didn't stop to get any pictures yet.

After some walking we eventually reached a waterfall that is about ten feet tall. When we went to get a closer look, some clouds moved through and I hurried to get a quick picture. After just a few minutes the clouds moved on and the sun came back out.



I don't think very many people have been back in this hollow, but unfortunately we still saw some faded beer cans sitting on the ground. Probably the main reason why this area isn't visited more often is that there are tons of downed trees in the hollow. It actually looks like a tornado may have passed through here. At one point the entire hollow was covered with fallen trees, which blocked our way like a barricade. After scrambling up the steep hillside we finally made it through, and were treated to some more waterfalls. Luckily the sky had finally clouded up and we started taking a bunch of pictures.



This waterfall dropped down through three different levels, and this is the top and middle tier of the falls. All together the falls were probably about 20-30 feet tall.



Along the creek there were numerous wildflowers and ferns growing. This patch of fiddlehead ferns were growing right by the creek, just below the top level of the waterfall.





There were some really neat waterfalls in the hollow, including this waterfall where the creek drops about 15 feet and then cascades down the steep hill for maybe 70 feet or more. It was hard to find a good angle that managed to capture how scenic the falls were.





The cascade ends here, in a small grotto where the walls are covered in thick moss.



We had started to run out of time, so we started to head back to the car. Along the way, I stopped at a few small waterfalls that we passed by earlier when the light was too harsh for pictures.





There are more waterfalls in this hollow that we missed on this trip, so it definitely needs a return visit. Hopefully that will come soon!