Arkansas: The Natural State. Nothing is more natural than this remote wilderness deep in the Ozark National Forest in the northern part of the state. This wonderful wild place is known as Richland Creek Wilderness, where waterfalls, not-so-secret caves, thick forests, swimming holes, bluffs, colorful fall foliage, wildflowers, and more are to be found. There are a multitude of boulder-dotted creeks in the Wilderness, the main ones being Big Devils Fork, Long Devils Fork, and Richland Creek. Richland Creek is the largest of these, and at times even has enough water for kayaking. These creeks all have numerous waterfalls, cascades, and rapids. Hiking in this wilderness will take you far away from civilization and allow you to truly ‘get away from it all.’

I first visited the Richland Creek Wilderness in early November 2012, and made a return trip in early November 2013. Both of these visits coincided with the peak of fall color. The area had not received much rain prior to my visits, so the water in the creeks - and therefore the waterfalls - was low. I returned in the spring of 2017 to see the falls with a greater water flow.

The Richland Creek Wilderness: First Hikes

On my first visit, a solo trip, I left my home in central Oklahoma early on a Saturday morning and drove to the east, arriving at the Richland Creek Campground (one of several entry points) at mid-day. Pack loaded, I set off into the wilderness. My goal for the day was an area known as the Sandstone Castles, but first I had to find Richland Creek Falls, Twin Falls, and some long-lost millstones. During my hikes the trails were not marked and, in fact, were hardly what could be called trails – more like vague tracks interspersed with seemingly undisturbed forest. I had read somewhere that the first thing you do is cross the creek, so I crossed the creek.

Turns out the smaller creek to the west of the campground is the one you cross, not the larger one to the north, which is Richland Creek. Turning toward the west and beginning my hike along the north side of Richland Creek turned into a long afternoon of bushwhacking through the woods, up and down through small side creeks and thickets of underbrush. Eventually I crossed to the south side of Richland Creek – the side I should have been on in the first place – and the hiking was somewhat easier, though there still was not much well-established trail. I hiked westward until the creek bent to the south, then followed it a short distance to Richland Creek Falls. It is not a tall falls – only about ten feet tall – but it is about a hundred feet wide, and if fully flowing would be quite impressive. When I saw it, the falls wasn’t flowing across its entire width, but the combination of the water, the rock ledges, and the oranges and yellows of the trees in the distance made for a picture that I consider good enough to hang on one of my walls.

Next, I worked my way over to Twin Falls, where two smaller creeks - Big Devil’s Fork (right) and Long Devil’s Fork (left) come together. Twin Falls is comprised of two nearly 20 foot tall rock ledges from which the water plummets into a deep pool. There was barely a trickle of water on the day I was there. The sides of the stream below the falls are steep, but you can climb up a slope on the south side of the falls to get to the upper part of the ledges and continue to hike upstream. From Twin Falls, I hiked northward along, in, and above Long Devil’s Fork which is a fairly small stream, and during my hikes had minimal flowing water. According to the waypoint on my somewhat unreliable GPS unit, I should have come to the elusive millstones, but I never found them. I have since read that others have had the same difficulty and there is speculation that they were moved, pushed into the creek, or removed from the area.

It was starting to get late in the afternoon, and having just bushwhacked 3 to 4 miles up the streams at what was probably a one mile per hour pace due to the difficulty, I decided that rather than going back downstream to Twin Falls and then up the ridge to the Sandstone Castles, I’d just go straight up the slope to the west since the GPS showed the caves to be less than a half mile away. Big mistake! The slope from the creek to the top of the ridge was completely covered with seemingly every kind of thorn-bearing thing that there is – greenbrier and blackberries in particular – plus a large amount of fallen trees which required climbing over, under, and through.

With a full backpack in the warmth of the afternoon and on the side of a steep slope (nearly 45 degrees in places), this was not one bit of fun! Eventually I made it to the top of the ridge, rested in the shade, had a snack, and realized that I had failed to sufficiently fill my water supply at the creek. No way I was going back down, so I proceeded over relatively level and clear ground to my destination, the Sandstone Castles. The Sandstone Castles are essentially overhanging rock caves opening out onto the side of the bluffs. Sleeping in a cave is a unique experience. There are three good sized caves in the bluffs. Two are large enough to set up tents in – one has room for several tents and has a fairly level floor, and the other has an undulating floor, but a couple of tents will easily fit. Each of these shelters has at least one large entry and a smaller window, and the ceilings are quite high until you get into the far reaches. They have enough overhang that they are quite dry inside and would be a great place to wait out a rain shower.

Once I arrived at the caves and set up camp, I was starting to think about going to bed without dinner due to lack of water for my dehydrated meal. As I rested in my “home” for the evening, two other hikers (local guys Danny and Larry) showed up and I was able to obtain enough water from them for the evening and ate my well-earned meal. Danny and Larry strung hammocks on top of the hill above me.

In the morning, Larry, Danny, and I proceeded to hike back down to Twin Falls – much easier than the route up – and then on down Richland Creek and back to the campground. On the way, we came across a mama black bear and her two cubs – scared them actually, as we came out from behind a room-sized boulder and there they were. They scampered back across the creek and up the slope on the opposite side in record time. I never realized how quickly bears can move! I had my camera on a chest-mounted camera holder (a Cotton Carrier CCS Camera Harness-1). It takes just a couple of seconds to get the camera off, but by the time I got it up to my eye, the bears were nearly out of sight. I got only a blurry shot of a black object in some trees – certainly nothing you can tell is a bear.

Overall, even with the excessive amount of bushwhacking and the terrible uphill battle against the thorns, I enjoyed most of my hike, and returned again the following fall. By this time, there was a more established trail in many places, but because it is isolated and seldom visited, the trails are pretty vague in many sections. This second trip I hiked with my regular hiking buddy Ward Combs. We left the campground, stopped at Richland Falls, then continued to Twin Falls, and finally directly up the trail (such as it was) via the Big Middle Ridge to the caves of the Sandstone Castles. From Twin Falls to the caves is about 1.5 miles, all uphill. In total, from Richland Creek Campground to the Sandstone Castles, including a side trip to Richland Creek Falls, it is about a 7.4 mile (round trip) hike. Even though the distance is relatively short, the hike is not “easy”. Also, don’t forget to fill up water at the creek before you begin the climb!

A Third Hike in the Richland Creek Wilderness

On my third visit to the area in May 2017, instead of starting at the campground, we set off from the north end of the wilderness at Hill Cemetery. The “road” to the cemetery is a rough eight-tenths of a mile single lane route through the woods. From the cemetery, we followed the Big Devils Fork to the south. By entering this way, we avoided the high water of Richland Creek and potentially deep water crossings yet were still able to enjoy several waterfalls along the creek. The trail from the cemetery is not well-marked, but once found it is not hard to follow – it is just quite narrow, “rustic,” and is overgrown in places with a variety of plants, including an abundance of poison ivy. We followed the creek south to Millstone Falls (a short side trip off the trail). Millstone Falls was flowing bank to bank, but we didn’t try to descend to the creek downstream of the falls due to the steep banks and rushing water, so I took my pictures from above. Next, we continued to Devon Falls which is on a smaller side stream.

Further downstream is Don Hamilton Falls, which we skipped since it was off the trail and down a steep rocky slope. At some point after we passed Hamilton Falls, the trail fizzled out and we bushwacked through the woods and down several hundred feet of elevation, all of it quite rocky and treacherous, to Twin Falls. The reward was worth it, as Twin Falls had a substantial flow of water over both falls. I happily took a number of pictures while we rested up for the next part of the hike – the mile and a half uphill trek (about 750 feet of climbing) to the Sandstone Castles. The total distance from Hill Cemetery to the Sandstone Castles, including the stop at Twin Falls, is just over 5 miles. From the castles back to the car – the last part on a gravel road – is also about five miles, mostly on a “primitive” partially overgrown trail.

This is one of the most scenic areas in Arkansas, and yet is still isolated enough to provide plenty of solitude during your visit. Few people get as far into the wilderness as the locations in this article, partly due to the untamed nature of the area. In my three visits, I’ve only seen one other person camped in the Sandstone Castles, and that was on a beautiful spring weekend. It’s a place well worth making time to visit and enjoy.

Other Nearby Attractions

Pedestal Rocks Scenic Area is between Sand Gap and Ben Hur on Highway 16 and contains more bluffs and overhanging rock features with a few cave-like sections. A fairly short hike on a well-established trail takes you to these bluffs.

Along FR 1205 (Falling Water Road) on the way to Richland Creek Campground: Falling Water Creek has several waterfalls along its course including Falling Water Falls and Six Finger Falls. Both of these are just off the road. A multitude of smaller falls is found in the streams that flow into the main stream, and are mostly a short hike from the road.

The 240-mile long Ozark Highlands Trail skirts the south and east sides of Richland Creek Wilderness as it winds its way through northern Arkansas.

Need to Know

Information

Ozark National Forest, Big Piney Ranger District (479) 284-3150 (Big Piney District Office). Bans may be in effect for entering caves on some U.S. Forest Service lands. Check with the National Forest for current conditions and possible closures. The areas in this article were open at the time of my visits.

Getting There

The closest towns are Ben Hur, Jasper, Marshall, Pelsor/Sand Gap. For getting to and from the trailhead and exploring other destinations in the state, the Delorme Arkansas Atlas & Gazetteer can be useful.

Best Time to Go

Fall through spring are the best. In summer it can be extremely hot and humid. Dogwoods bloom in late April and early May. Fall color usually peaks in late October. Water flow in streams can vary from nearly nothing during a drought to deep and fast after heavy rains.

Maps and Books

USGS Moore AR quadrangle. Tim Ernst has several books related to hiking in Arkansas including the Ozark Highlands Trail Guide.

The Author

Steve Ancik is a landscape architect by profession whose hobbies include mountain biking, hiking, backpacking (getting there is half of the fun!), and photography. He lives in Edmond, Oklahoma. All photographs in this article © Steven L. Ancik.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in Issue 36 of TrailGroove Magazine. You can read the original article here for additional photos and content.