Richland Creek

I headed over to pay a quick visit to Richland Creek, which had some nice fall colors. Richland Creek is a beautiful place, even when there isn't much water in the creek. It's one of the prettiest places in Arkansas - lots of boulders sticking out of the serene water. It's one of my favorite places to take pictures, but also one of my least favorite places to go hiking.

There aren't many trails along Richland Creek. The ones that are there tend to fade out and disappear. Add on a layer of fallen leaves covering up everything, and it makes finding your way a bit trickier. And the terrain is rough and unforgiving - I broke a tripod out there a few years back.

I set out from the campground (still closed), and made the crossing over Falling Water Creek. During my previous times out there, this crossing was a wet one. You can either wade the creek or carefully try to make your way across using rocks and tree limbs that are sticking out the water. But it was so dry that Falling Water Creek was nothing more than just a series of large puddles.

I got across and headed up the first big hill, and found the faint trail that runs above the creek. I followed where I could and eventually dropped down to the creek. I set up the tripod and got a few shots of the fall color reflected in the still waters of the creek...




I wasn't the only photographer out there - in fact there were over a dozen other photogs out along the creek. They were part of a Tim Ernst photography workshop (this is the second time that day that we bumped into that workshop). I politely kept my distance, but I probably wandered through the background of a lot of their pictures.


I headed back on the trail and went back towards the car. Along the way, while trying to find the trail again, I went over this fallen tree. It had a leaf perched perfectly on it, so I stopped and took a few pictures (I swear I didn't put that leaf there!).


After that, I headed home. Luckily I had a few days off from work in the upcoming week. It would be just a few more days until I would be able to get back up to the Ozarks...