Falling Water Creek

I wish I knew who was in charge in giving Falling Water Creek its name, because they did a great job with it. It is a very accurate and apt name - the creek tumbles over several beautiful waterfalls as it makes its way towards its confluence with Richland Creek. One of those waterfalls is Six Finger Falls, which isn't very tall but it stretches wide across the entire width of the creek.





The crown jewel of the creek is Falling Water Falls, which is a scenic little spot (although one that does seem like it's getting too popular now). I was shocked to drive by and not see a single other person there, which is so rare it's like finding a diamond. So I pulled over and hurried to get a few pictures while I had the place to myself.

Keefe Falls

This has been a really good Spring for waterfalls, with lots of rainy days providing lots of fuel for lots of waterfalls. So a few weeks back I decided to make a quick trip up to the Ozarks to try to see one waterfall, which was completely dry the last time I hiked to it. The falls were Keefe Falls, which sit near Falling Water Creek. Like the name suggests, there are lots of places with falling water along this creek.



The trail to Keefe Falls is pretty short and is fairly easy. The trail follows and then runs above a small creek, which drops by and frolics past several large boulders.





There were lots of wildflowers blooming along the trail, including this patch that had a grand view overlooking the creek.



It was a nice day to be out in the woods, and I was surprised that I didn't see anyone else out along the trail. But the trail does appear to be fairly popular with horseback riders (you have to be careful and watch your step in a few places because the horses have left a few little surprises along the trail for hikers to step around).



The trail soon reaches Keefe Falls, which is 78 feet tall and sits at the end of a scenic little grotto.







And one last shot of the lush vegetation surrounding the trail along the way back to the car, which made for a scenic little hike.

Ladderbucket Falls

Ladderbucket Falls sits in the lower reaches of the Ozark National Forest, which means that it is relatively close to home (it still takes a bunch of driving down bumpy dirt roads to get there). A few weeks back I met up with Matt and we decided to visit the falls one evening before it got dark. So after the driving, and a bit of hiking, we finally made it to the creek below the falls.



And soon we made it to the 36 foot-tall falls, which spill out into a scenic little grotto. The falls were running well after some storms dumped a bunch of rain the day before.



The falls get their unique name because there used to be an old ladder and bucket sitting out along the bluff line by the falls. We looked, but didn't see them this time.



And one last shot before we hiked out. We passed by another waterfall, the 84 foot-tall John Mountain Falls, but by then it was getting too dark for pictures. Guess we'll just have to go back again to get a good shot of that one.

Junction Bridge

The Junction Bridge has probably the best view of the downtown Little Rock skyline - its perch over the Arkansas River provides a good angle of the buildings and their reflections in the water.



It was too cloudy that day for there to be a colorful sunset, but the sky did turn a deep shade of blue as it got dark.



I was playing around with a fisheye lens, which allowed to get a much wider and pretty cool view of the bridge structure and the skyline.





And one last shot, from along the riverbank on the Northside looking back at the bridge and downtown.

Argenta

Tulips growing in front of the Argenta Drug Store, along Main Street in downtown North Little Rock. The store was founded in 1880, which makes it the oldest continuously operating pharmacy west of the Mississippi River. I grew up in NLR, and I remember taking trips to downtown in the 1990s when the only thing open along Main Street would be Argenta Drug and City Hall. Now the difference is so striking - there are numerous shops, restaurants, galleries and a theater open along Main. The new Argenta Plaza is under construction, along with hundreds of new apartments. Quite a lot of change has happened in front of this little pharmacy over the years.