Visiting the Ozarks

Years after my first trip to Arkansas, I returned under much better circumstances: better weather, a better time of year, and a much better camera. This time I made a dedicated trip into the Ozarks of northern Arkansas, and it completely changed my impression of the state.

One of the things I liked most about the Ozarks was how rural they felt. There are country roads, small towns, farms, and the occasional barn, but there are also enormous stretches of forest where very little development interrupts the landscape. In this part of the country, it’s one of the better places I’ve found to simply disappear into the woods for a while.

Driving Through the Arkansas Ozarks

The Ozarks aren’t mountains in the same sense as the Rockies or even the Appalachians. Much of the landscape is actually an uplifted plateau that has been deeply eroded over millions of years, leaving behind rolling ridges, cliffs, valleys, caves, and countless streams.

That might not sound as dramatic as towering alpine peaks, but when nearly everything is covered in thick deciduous forest, the landscape can be beautiful.

I took these photographs along Arkansas Scenic Highway 7. Believe it or not, part of this area is sometimes called the “Grand Canyon of Arkansas.”

Whoever came up with that name has obviously never been to the Grand Canyon.

The Ozarks are beautiful, but rolling forested hills and valleys can’t really be compared with one of the largest and most spectacular desert canyons on Earth. They don’t need the comparison anyway. The scenery here is impressive for completely different reasons.

Wildlife Along the Way

I didn’t see any bears or elk, but I did come across plenty of smaller wildlife. The reptiles included several lizards and a three-toed box turtle that I spotted in the middle of the road.

I normally don’t pick up hitchhikers, but I figured this guy had a decent chance of getting run over. Plus, if I’m being completely truthful, I really wanted to try my macro lens on him.

So I moved him out of danger and took advantage of the opportunity for a few close-ups.

I had already noticed some of the reddish coloration around his head when I picked him up, but the macro lens and flash revealed much more detail. His front legs were equally interesting. The scales were so thick that you could barely visually tell where his elbow was.

Glory Hole Falls

All the exposed rock throughout the Ozarks creates some interesting geography, and one of the strangest examples I visited was Glory Hole Falls.

Instead of simply flowing over the edge of a bluff, the creek has eroded a hole directly through the rock. When enough water is flowing, the creek disappears through that opening and emerges underneath as a waterfall.

Unfortunately, conditions were fairly dry during my visit, so I didn’t get to see the waterfall at its best. The formation itself was still worth seeing. Without someone standing beside it, the photographs also don’t give a great sense of scale. The opening is several feet across and looks particularly strange when viewed from underneath the massive rock shelf.

Hiking to Whitaker Point

One of the highlights of my trip was hiking to Whitaker Point, also commonly known as Hawksbill Crag. It’s probably one of the most photographed places in Arkansas, and once I got there it was easy to understand why.

The hike itself was part of what made it enjoyable. What begins as a fairly ordinary walk through the woods eventually reaches a series of cliffs and overlooks above the surrounding forest. The views become increasingly impressive until you finally reach Whitaker Point itself, where the rock projects outward above the valley.

It isn’t an enormous mountain or a particularly difficult hike, but the combination of exposed rock and seemingly endless forest makes Whitaker Point one of the most beautiful places I visited in Arkansas.

Deeper Into the Forest

Some of my favorite photographs from the hike weren’t necessarily of famous landmarks. At one point I came across a massive boulder sitting by itself among the trees. Elsewhere, gusty winds suddenly sent leaves raining down through the forest even though it was still deep in summer.

Those little moments were a big part of what I liked about hiking here. There was always something around the next corner, even when it wasn’t marked on a map.

Caves and Creeks

The Ozarks are filled with caves, overhangs, springs, and creeks created by water slowly eroding the underlying rock. Conditions must have been unusually dry when I visited because one creek bed I crossed had completely dried out.

Nearby I came across an enormous natural rock shelter. Standing underneath it, I couldn’t help thinking about how useful a place like this would have been to people living in the region centuries or thousands of years ago. It offered a huge amount of natural protection from the weather.

Not everything was dry. I eventually reached a wider, slow-moving creek with remarkably clear water. I could easily see fish swimming beneath the surface.

Considering how dry some of the surrounding creeks were, I imagine these waterways can look completely different after a major rainstorm.

Small Creatures Everywhere

Once I started carrying the macro lens around, I ended up photographing plenty of creatures that I probably would have walked right past otherwise. I couldn’t identify every species I encountered, but there was no shortage of insects hiding among the vegetation.

Frogs, Woodpeckers and One Mystery Bird

The only amphibian I managed to photograph was a well-camouflaged frog. I probably would have walked straight past him if he hadn’t started jumping around and given away his position.

The woodpecker was the exact opposite. He was making so much noise above me that finding him wasn’t difficult at all.

Earlier in the hike I encountered an even larger bird somewhere high in the canopy. I couldn’t see what it was doing, but it was making an enormous racket while leaves and small branches came crashing down around me. Maybe it was building a nest. Maybe it was hunting for something. Maybe it was just having a tantrum.

Eventually it flew away, and through the thick foliage I caught only a quick glimpse of what I thought might have been a large hawk.

A Different Side of Arkansas

My trip through the Ozarks ended up showing me a completely different Arkansas from the one I had experienced on my first visit. There weren’t many famous monuments or major cities to visit. The appeal was having miles of forest, country roads, cliffs, creeks, caves, wildlife, and hiking trails with relatively little development in the way.

Whitaker Point was the obvious scenic highlight, but some of the things I remember best were much smaller: finding the turtle in the road, crawling underneath the rock at Glory Hole, spotting fish through crystal-clear water, and listening to some unidentified bird throw half a tree at me from somewhere above.

For a state I originally wasn’t sure had much for me to see, the Arkansas Ozarks ended up being one of my favorite wilderness areas in this part of the United States.

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