Bearcat Hollow

I've known Zack Andrews and Matt Kennedy now for about 17 years (give or take a few months). They are both outstanding photographers and great friends. We've been out hiking to lots of waterfalls across Arkansas, hitting places like Twin Falls at Richland, V-Slot Falls, Cossatot Falls, Acord Hollow, Compton Double Falls, and Bowers Hollow Falls. And we still try to meet up to do some hiking every year, even if we aren't in as good as shape as we were 17 years ago.

So this time we hiked into Bearcat Hollow, which sits north of Richland Creek. The hike starts out easy enough, following a dirt road and then the Ozark Highlands Trail. But then you leave the well-marked OHT and then descend into the woods. There was a faint trail here, probably mostly used by rock climbers. But the woods were already overgrown with briars and poison ivy, and we lost the trail. We bushwhacked downhill, getting snagged by thorns and attracting the attention of a large number of ticks.

Eventually we made it to the top of the falls. But to get to the bottom required hiking along the bluff line for a bit until there was a decent opening where you could safely drop down. But we did finally make it to the waterfall, which drops 35 feet onto a large rock sitting in a pool of turquoise water.



The sun was breaking through the clouds, so we spent a good amount of time here waiting for the light to change. It gave me plenty of time to pluck off the ticks that were trying to climb up my legs (I found more than a dozen of them on this hike).





Matt and I hiked to this waterfall back in January of 2019, and it was interesting to see how different it is in the Spring. There definitely was a lot more green - there was now a thick carpet of ferns growing behind the waterfall.



While taking a long exposure photo here, the tripod head wasn't tight enough and the camera swiveled just a little bit. I kinda liked how the resulting shot (which was taken completely by accident) turned out.



And one last shot of the ferns behind the falls. After this we made the hike back up the hill, through the thorns and ticks. All together, it was about a four mile hike to the falls and back.

Bearcat Hollow

The other weekend, I met up with Matt and went to do some hiking around Bearcat Hollow, which was said to hold a few neat waterfalls. The hollow is located in the Ozark National Forest in the upper Richland Creek valley, and isn't the easiest to get to. We drove several hours, and then had to ford Richland Creek to reach the trailhead (luckily I wasn't driving since my car would have probably melted in the water). Along the way we passed by this old barn, which sat in a field along with some dedicated guardcows who did not look very pleased that people were stopping along their fence taking pictures.



The hollow is in a fairly remote area, and some parts of the hike were pretty steep and difficult (especially since I've gotten pretty out of shape). But we were a little surprised to find some faint trails through the hollow - apparently this is a popular little spot for rock climbers. We finally made it down the hill and to the creek, which ran past huge boulders and had a few neat waterfalls on it. The largest is Bearcat Hollow Falls, which has been estimated to be about 35 feet tall.



The waterfall splashes onto a few large rocks sitting in the turquoise pool below, which look like they must have fallen right off the bluff line sometime long ago. The falls were also surrounded by lots of trees, so this will definitely be an amazing waterfall to see in the Spring.



While we didn't see any bearcats there, the hollow did have a few more waterfalls.



This waterfall is about 25-30 feet tall, and it falls into a small pool that sat next to a large moss-covered rock. There was a nice collection of fallen leaves that were nestled in the moss like it was pillow.



And one last shot of the falls, taken before starting the hike back up the steep hill towards the car. It was a neat area, definitely one worth visiting again.