King's River Falls
Cascading Falls Feeding King's River Falls
Over Memorial Day weekend I was bored with sitting at the house and called up my friend David to see if he wanted to go on a hike. It looked like a nice day so we decided to visit King's River Falls. We used Tim Ernst's Waterfall book to find it. It was an hour and a half drive down to the King's River Natural Area. I had visited this spot several times some 15 years ago, but this visit triggered no recollections of my past ones. This was a different access than I remembered.
We started out but it quickly began to sprinkle then rain. The shower last for a short time, but I had a poncho with me, so I used it. I think I got more wet from sweating under the poncho than I would have gotten without it. We hiked the well marked trail alongside Mitchell Creek then turned towards the river. The water was up and moving swiftly. The trail was on the rocky side so I had to be cautious and I wore my knee brace for additional support. We crossed a foot bridge and then the trail paralleled the King's River and we followed it downstream.
We hiked past several smaller falls before we got to the King's River Falls. Each was quite beautiful and we spent some time taking pictures and checking out the area as best we could. We met quite a few folks hiking the trail, both going to and coming from the falls. One gentleman who was packing some serious camera gear said he had visited this place eight or nine times and this was the most water he had ever seen.
We could hear the water roaring before we reached the main waterfall. It was very loud and then we finally arrived and had our first look at King's River Falls. Quite spectacular to say the least. I am not quite sure how tall the waterfall is but the amount of water rushing over was awesome. We stayed here for some time, enjoying the view and visiting with the folks who had also come to see it. They were from all over, Texas, Missouri, Louisiana and of course Arkansas. There were quite a few from Fayetteville. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves
This hike was fairly easy. There was plenty of trail head parking to accommodate visitors. The trail was about 1.4 miles round trip, well marked, and flat. It was a fun day despite getting wet and we thoroughly enjoyed the trip. I would encourage anyone visiting the area to take some time and visit this gem of the Natural State. The whole family can hike this trail, and your pets also if you have them on a leash. Northwest Arkansas is full of these beautiful sites, grab the family and make time to see them.