Booger Hole

Along Osage Creek near the town of Compton is a small waterfall with the amusingly odd name of Booger Hole. It's a neat waterfall, and one that you can drive right up to. But one wonders how it got its name. You'd think whoever came up with it could have just dug a little deeper and picked out something a little better.

Broadwater Hollow

The next waterfalls were at Broadwater Hollow, which sit within the boundaries of the Buffalo National River. I drove up to the small town of Compton, and then followed a dirt road down to the trailhead. The first waterfall there is Paige Falls:



Despite only being about eight feet tall, the falls are quite scenic.



From here the creek makes it way downstream to another waterfall - Broadwater Hollow Falls.



These falls are taller (21 feet), and the sounds of the water hitting the rocks echoes across the hollow. It's a pretty spot.



Along the hike back to the car, I stopped to get a few last shots of this neat spot in the creek:

Sandy Spring Hollow

The next waterfall we went to was along a small creek in Sandy Spring Hollow, deep in the woods near the small town of Deer. The waterfall wasn't all that tall (maybe about five feet or so), but it empties into a deep pool of clear turquoise water. A large boulder, covered with moss and lichen, sat in the water near the falls.







On the way out was this old abandoned house, left to crumble away in a field.







No guard dogs were around to bark at us for stopping to take pictures, but we were under the watchful gaze of this cow that was sitting along a nearby fence line.

Big Creek Cave Falls

The next morning, I met up with Matt Kennedy (a good friend and great photographer) to go visit a few waterfalls. The first stop was the scenic Big Creek Cave Falls. As the name suggests, this is a waterfall that pours out of a cave, which soon flows into Big Creek (which as the name also suggests, turns into a large creek that eventually flows into the Buffalo River).

We followed the trail, which ran by the site of an old homestead. The only evidence of the homestead that we could see was the rusty remains of an old car. Wonder how long it's been sitting out in these woods?



There are a lot of caves in this area, and at one point the trail passes by one cave that has a small creek running out of it. The geology here is really interesting. The bluff has been eroded in a way that it makes the rocks look like cement blocks.



And the view of the creek from under the bluff:



And then the trail runs over and finally meets up with Big Creek Cave Falls, a spectacular waterfall that drops 30 feet from a cave on the side of the bluff.



And the view of the falls, taken after scrambling up some loose rocks and dirt.



Luckily it was cloudy and cool that morning, perfect weather for waterfall pictures.



From here the trail continues on, passing by a side creek with this small waterfall.



And if you follow this creek, you see another waterfall pouring out from a cave.



The entrance to the cave has been blocked off, in order to protect the bat population. The small sign here says that tampering with the bats would get you a $100,000 fine.







And after that we started the hike back to the car. Along the way we passed by this collapsed old barn, so I got a quick picture before we headed off to another waterfall.

Sweden Creek Falls

The next stop was Sweden Creek Falls, which sits within a Natural Area protected by the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission. It is a really scenic spot, with the 81 foot waterfall being the star attraction. I've been here a few times before, and each time I followed the main trail to the bottom of the falls. But there is a side trail that actually instead runs along the top of the bluff, ending above the waterfall.

It's an easy and pleasant hike, and soon I was at the spot where Sweden Creek tumbles over the bluff. On its way, the creek has carved a little chute through the rock, almost like a tiny slot canyon.



And the view of the falls from the top:



A few other people appeared while I was taking pictures. One of them, a guy who was probably in his 20s, picked up a huge rock and then stood on the very edge of the bluff. He then threw the rock over, which slammed into the pool of water below with a loud smack. He looked up at me with a grin and then nodded his head, in the universal Dude code of "big rock make big splash." And I have to admit it was pretty cool, but luckily there weren't any hikers down there...