Looking For Secluded Hiking

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Cecil Creek

It was early January and my younger sister called. Her business trip had been canceled and she wanted to know if I would like a visit for a few days, arriving January 14 and leaving January 17. She was bringing along a friend from St Louis. She said they wanted to go hiking but were nervous about the new surging virus variant. They asked if I could find them some places that would not be overrun with people. Given it would be a weekend, I knew that the park would be busy. I asked Bill if he would like to come along while I searched for the less traveled roads.

It was very late morning on Wednesday January 12th when we headed out. The temperature was 60 with a promise of a bit warmer, with sunny skies and a mild breeze. We headed down to the Erbie area of the Buffalo River, one I know very well. I remembered an old abandoned road that my friend David showed me before he passed away. It led to a spring and beyond that an old homestead. I thought that might be a spot  I could take them, but it requires you to cross Cecil Creek twice, once over a well built low water slab and then once on foot  over an old broken down low water crossing.
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Outcrop Along Cecil Creek
We began by walking along the old road, which sat next to a beautiful hay field. We often see deer in that field. Several times, many years ago when hiking the river, we waded across and found ourselves in the field. I was not too worried about the water in the creek because I felt we could easily ford or rock hop across. Of course it takes forever for us to get somewhere, we are always stopping to take pictures! Several times we made our way through the brush down to the creek to examine different formations and outcrops.  Cecil Creek is quite beautiful and there are several different hikes you can take. Most start at the Erbie Church area parking lot. Once we finished goofing off along the creek we made our way down to the washed out low water crossing.
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Creeks Are Beautiful Too

We finally made it to the old washed out low water crossing.  To our dismay the water level was slightly higher than we had hoped, making just walking across impossible. Normally this would not be a problem, since (following the advice of the "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy") I always carry a towel in my backpack. However I had left my backpack in the car so removing our shoes and socks, crossing, then drying off was not an option either. Another problem was Bill did not bring his hiking stick. We always recommend using one when wading across a creek, to stabilize yourself if you start to slip on a slimy or moss covered rock. Also when anticipating river or creek crossings we would usually have a spare pair of socks and shoes in the vehicle just in case of accidents. Alas we had not done that either. We ranged up and down the creek for a short way, looking for an alternative way across but didn't see one, so stopped here, rested for a time and then turned back.

I needed to use a bathroom so on the way home we stopped at the horse camp, located in the Erbie area. This is actually quite a nice place. There was no one there, but in season it can get very busy. There is space for more that 20 trailers, picnic tables, fire pits, lantern holders plus potable water and a nice toilet. The best feature is that it is FREE! After taking care of business we headed back to Harrison.
To add insult to our injured pride, once I got home and checked the weather the forecast had changed dramatically. The weekend forecast was for 4-8 inches of snow (see home page picture). My sister contacted the folks whom they rented the airbnb from and they were kind enough to allow them to move their visit to late February with no loss of funds.
The Ozark Mountains of Northwest Arkansas is an area for all seasons. There is always some place to explore, a museum to visit, the Buffalo National River for floating and hiking, plus several wilderness areas and national forests. You can't go wrong booking a vacation to our neck of the woods!