Boxley Valley

The next morning, I woke up early and headed off towards Boxley Valley to get some more fall color pictures. I drove through the small town of Deer (population 800) and stopped to get a quick shot of this old house.



And ironically (in the Alanis Morissette way) right after I left Deer, I ran into an actual deer. It was standing in the road, and while I slammed on the brakes it decided to jump right in front of the car. We collided and the deer rolled over the hood, then hit the ground and ran off into the woods. I'm surprised that there wasn't more damage to the car - the headlight is busted, and the front bumper and side are messed up. And while it wasn't all that bad, it still left about $2500 in damages on my poor car.

I safely made it down to Boxley without any other animals attacking my car. Boxley Valley is one of the prettiest places in the state of Arkansas. It is a cornucopia of photogenic places, and I was eager to head back there (even if I had just been there a few weeks before). I stopped at this old barn, and while the photo with the regular camera didn't really turn out, the infrared camera made an interesting exposure. There was a bit of mist and fog hugging the top of Cave Mountain in the background.



Just down the road was this old barn, which always makes me laugh because the window and open gap make it look like a happy face.



Further down the road is the old Boxley Mill, which dates back to 1870. It was in operation until the 1940s, and is now preserved by the National Park Service.







And the old springhouse. I wish I knew more about the history of this little building.



I stopped at this old house, which doesn't look like it's lived in anymore (I'm guessing because someone wouldn't have left the window open on a cold morning like this).



The side of the road was lined with cars as people stopped to see the valley's resident herd of elk. I drove by but didn't stop, instead I got this pictures from the window of the car. The damage from the deer encounter resulted in the car making a loud metallic screeeeech everytime the door opens, which would probably scare away the elk (and anger all the photographers and elk-watchers nearby).



One of the oldest buildings in Boxley is this structure, which was built in the 1850s as a home. It was later converted into a barn.



This great old barn was built way back in 1915:



This was a fun little road to drive down...



The road heads up to the old Beechwoods Church, which was built in 1918.







The church sits by the Beechwoods Cemetery, which is the oldest cemetery in Boxley Valley. The oldest grave here dates back to 1848



Also nearby is this old building, which may have been used as an old schoolhouse at one point:







And one last shot, of yet another old barn. This one was built way back in 1920:

Hurricane Creek

After leaving Haw Creek, I met up with Zack and we decided to drive over to Hurricane Creek to try to see a few more fall colors. Hurricane Creek is another classic Ozark stream, flowing past huge boulders, deep pools and bluffs. The creek is protected by the 15,177 acre Hurricane Creek Wilderness Area, which prevents the land from forever being developed or tarnished.

The wilderness area can be accessed by the Ozark Highlands Trail and only a few maintained roads. The road we followed passed by an old homestead, which is all but gone. The only remnant that people once lived here is this lone, solitary chimney.



Eventually we made it to the creek, which did have some really nice fall color.









And one last shot from the creek, as it was starting to get dark:

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.