Haw Creek

Haw Creek is a classic Ozark stream, which meanders for several miles before emptying into Big Piney Creek. The most popular spot along the creek is Haw Creek Falls, which has a pleasant campground that offers access to several waterfalls. At the end of October I drove by Haw Creek while trying to get a few pictures of fall colors, and made a stop at Haw Creek Falls. The falls aren't all that tall, but they are almost always scenic. Plus it's really not that often that we get fall colors and waterfalls flowing.





This year doesn't seem like it's going to be the best for fall colors. But the trees along the creek were showing off a little bit.











I walked up the creek for a bit, careful to not slip and fall in the water (SPOILER: I would do that the next day at the Buffalo River).



Since I had the infrared camera with me, I thought I'd bust it out to see how the fall colors looked in infrared:



I sat the camera bag down by this old tree, which has roots growing out on the exposed rocks long the creek. The roots looked like an octopus grabbing onto the rocks.





I walked back to the car, and then drove across the old Hwy. 123 Bridge over Big Piney Creek (built 1931). I stopped for a quick shot before driving up the hill towards Hwy. 7.

Hot Springs

From Chewaukla, we travelled back into Hot Springs National Park where we made a quick stop at the old electric mill on Stone Bridge Road.





The mill was built in 1921 and was used to generate electricty for a nearby house. The home and mill were both built by the Fordyce family (which if that name sounds familiar, they also built the Fordyce Bathhouse on Bathhouse Row).





To get into Hot Springs we headed down Hwy. 7 (or Park Avenue), which runs by a few old motels. One of those is the Tower Motel, which gets its name because it sits by an old Victorian home (built 1901) which has a distinctive tower. The home, with the motel next to it, does give off a certain Bates Motel vibe.



Just down the road is the old Park Avenue Motel, which features this old neon sign. It looks like the building is now used for apartments.



I turned onto Fountain Street to look for a place to park. Nowadays, most people hurry down this street to reach the road that heads to the Hot Springs Mountain Tower. But this area has a history, which is mostly hidden and forgotten now. This area was known as Happy Hollow. It supposedly got its name from African Americans who lived in nearby mountains who would come here in the 1870s to do washing in the springs. According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, they would sing songs of praise as they worked. Church services and revivals were held here, which because of the rejoicing, led to this area being named Happy Hollow.

In the late 1800s, an amusement park was established here. The park contained a zoo, a shooting arcade and a souvenir shop. It was also a place to get those cheesy photographs made, where people would look like they were sitting in an old bath tub, riding a donkey or sitting at a bar. The amusement park operated until the 1940s, but there isn't much left now. There is an old motel here called the Happy Hollow Motel that is still operating. The rest of the valley is occupied by the Park Motel and for parking lots that seem to be used for the Arlington Hotel. There is also this old motel, which sits empty and abandoned.



Along Fountain Street you will also find the start of the Grand Promenade, which runs behind Bathhouse Row.



Fountain Street runs into Central Avenue right at the feet of the imposing Arlington Hotel.



The current Arlington was built in 1924 is one of the most iconic hotels in Arkansas. Throughout its history it has hosted a wide range of guests, like Babe Ruth, Al Capone, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Tony Bennett and Yoko Ono. The old place will soon undergo a much-needed rennovation.



Across the street is the old Medical Arts Building, which was built in 1929 and has been mostly abandoned for decades. But it was recently purchased for $1.175 million and will soon become an upscape hotel.



Later one we drove up one of the mountain roads that provides views overlooking the city, and buildings like the old Army and Navy Hospital. The massive hospital was built in 1933, and recently was used by the state of Arkansas as a Career Training Institute. But the state closed the institute in 2019, and the building has been empty ever since. Last year, Preserve Arkansas included it on their list of Most Endangered Places. The old hospital dominates Hot Springs, and it's sad and dismaying that it is now left empty. Hopefully it doesn't meet the same fate as the Majestic Hotel.



Heading back down the hill, we stopped to get one last shot at this old house by the Arkansas School for Math and Sciences. The house looks like it has been abandoned in the past, altough it sits in such proximity to the school that it looks like it's being used for something (storage, maybe?). Hope they take care of this one too.

Chewaukla

The 47 hot springs in Hot Springs National Park aren't the only springs around Hot Springs. A collection of ruins now sit at the site of five natural springs, which sit just outside of Hot Springs in an area called Sleepy Valley.



In the 1930s, investors constructed several buildings around the five springs. The largest was the bottling factory, which apparently once had marble floors. Tourists who visited Hot Springs would also journey here to partake in the waters, which were said to have healing qualities.





The Chewaukla name comes from the legend of a Native American chief (possibly Quapaw?), who travelled to the Valley of the Vapors to seek relief from his various ailments. When the waters of the hot springs weren't working, his daughter took him to the cold water springs in the nearby Sleepy Valley. He drank from those waters and was healed. Because of this, he named his daughter Chewaukla, which supposedly translates to "Sleepy Water." After that, the springs were conisdered to be holy ground.





Who knows if the legend of Chewaukla is actually true, or if it was something invented to help lure in tourists later (kinda like the legend of Petit Jean?). But what was once supposedly a holy ground and then later a tourist attraction now lays nearly forgotten, crumbling and nearly completely hidden by trees.





The buildings were abandoned in the 1980s, and have suffered the same fate as most other discarded places. Part of the main building burned at one point, and the roof collapsed long ago.





Sadly, the ruins of Chewaukla are like so many other places in Hot Springs. Little bits of unique architecture and history that are vacant and neglected, and which shouldn't be so easily discarded. Hopefully no more of the city's places will meet such a fate (like the now abandoned Army and Navy Hospital).

On The Buffalo

A few weeks back, we camped up by the Buffalo River with some family. We stayed at the JB Trading Co. by Compton, which offers a bougie camping experience with platform tents or even tiny homes. It's also conveniently located to the Buffalo, with Ponca and Boxley just about 20 minutes away.

So on Saturday afternoon, I took my nephews for a tour of some of the Greatest Hits of Boxley Valley. It was also a good excuse to take the infrared camera out again and get a few more pictures of the beautifully picturesque valley. The first stop was the area by the trailhead for the Buffalo River Trail. There you'll find this old barn, which was built in the 1920s.





Nearby is this little structure, which might have once been an old root cellar?



We made a short detour up Cave Mountain to check out the view from Hedge's Pouroff. The waterfall wasn't running, but the view from the edge of the bluff (which is guarded by this ancient cedar tree) was still worth the drive.



We headed back into the valley and made a quick stop at the old Boxley Baptist Church (built 1899).



Nearby is this dirt road, which runs by an old barn and onto some private property.



For a little comparison, this is the same view on a foggy day in color...



Boxley Valley has maybe the highest concentration of old barns in the state. It's tempting to stop at every single one to take pictures.





Tucked away in the woods, almost completely hidden from view, is this old springhouse:



For another comparison, here's a shot of the same springhouse with a waterfall running beside it (taken right after a heavy rain):



This row of trees were growing next to a cemetery that contains the oldest marked grave in the Valley (1848), which is also the final resting place for many of the original settlers of the Valley.



At the end of the Valley sits the old Villines homestead, which was built between the 1850s and the 1940s. The oldest building is the two-pen log house, which is believed to have been constructed in 1854.



There are signs on the house asking people to not enter the fragile interior, so this was taken while peeking through the open door. You can see an old (and not very comfy-looking) bed, along with squares of light coming through the window. On the wall are bits of newspaper, which was used as insulation back in the olden days.



Down the hill from the home was the old barn:



Nearby was this old barn, which was also built in the 1850s. It was originally a home, but was converted into a barn sometime in the 20th century.



And one last shot. We headed over to the Steele Creek access on the river. The light and shadows along the river didn't look great with the infrared camera. But I did manage to at least get this shot of the smooth and scuplted river rocks along the shore: