Waterfall Trails In The Ozarks

[mic]

Any recommendations on hiking to active waterfalls in IL or eastern Mo? My wife wants to get some pic's with the leaves turning.

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

Graham cave state park has a couple, your better off going after it rains. It is west of st louis, not really sure if it is what your looking for. They are not spectacular by any stretch of the imagination, but they are natural.

[jdmidwest]

Most falls are wet weather ones. Pickle Springs Natural has some small ones.

[cnr]

Southern Illinois has some nice waterfalls. Like the Missouri falls they may be weather dependent for good flow.

http://shawneehillsoutdoors.com/burden-falls-shawnee-national-forest-southern-illinois/

[moguy1973]

Tom Sauk has a 3mile trail that travels by the highest waterfall in Missouri. It is a wet weather waterfall though.

[ozark trout fisher]

Rocky Falls near Eminence is well worth checking out, though it may be a bit further than you're looking to go. The Ozark trail runs through that area. Beautiful, remote country. It's a great place to be during the fall, or any other time for that matter. If you hike atop the falls you can see for a good ways and there are plenty of excellent opportunities for photos.

The stream wouldn't have a great deal of volume now, but Rocky Creek is a permanent stream and there is enough flow for it to be pretty impressive year-round. I stop by there and spend a few minutes every year on the way back from deer camp. It certainly has a special place in my heart.

[mic]

OTF... Thanks for sharing. I'll put that one the list.

[REDSOXWSCHAMP]

Not exactly in the ozark mtns. but south of harrison,ar in the boston mtns. there are several good water fall trails. Lost valley has several falls including a natural bridge

[Al Agnew]

It's too bad that the state park people were unable or unwilling to buy up the land on Jonca Creek that adjoins Hawn State Park. It came up for sale a few years ago. I've hiked down Jonca Creek several times, and it has a long stretch where it has cut down to the underlying granite, with semi-shut-ins and two nice waterfalls, one about five feet high and the other about 8 feet high. Not real high, but the creek flows year-round with enough volume in the spring to make them pretty nice. Unfortunately, it's all private, and I haven't talked to the new owners yet to see if they would let me hike down it again; the old owner was an absentee who was never around to tell anybody they couldn't.

Another nice little waterfall with the remains of an old mill dam as well is on Wallen Creek, just off the MDC land at Hughes Mountain, on the upper part of Big River. Wallen Creek goes along the base of Hughes Mountain in a beautiful small shut-in just before it runs into the river. Unfortunately as well, it's mostly private land with no real good way of getting into it off the public land of Hughes Mountain. There used to be no problem parking along the side of M Highway at the bridge where it crosses Wallen Creek at the top of the shut-in, but these days it's pretty heavily posted. Still, with a little investigation one should be able to figure out who to ask for permission.

The wet weather falls in Pickle Springs Natural Area can be impressive after a heavy rain, but are mostly dry. Same is true of the nearby Hickory Canyon Natural Area. But if you have some wet weather in the fall and then a long cold snap in the winter, the ice falls in those two places can be very impressive. I've seen some ice falls that were 60 feet high and more than 10 feet thick at the narrowest. With some serious investigation, you will find that the LAD Foundation land that makes up Hickory Canyon actually includes another complex of box canyons and waterfalls that does not have a trail leading into it, but can be bushwhacked from the main parking area, and it's actually considerably more impressive than the easily accessible area. It once had a trail into it from a completely different parking area, but too much trash and vandalism led to that trail being closed. Don't get me started on the cretins that love to leave their trash in these areas, and far worse, think it's a good idea to spray paint graffiti on the rock formations. Just once I'd love to catch one of them in the act.

[stlfisher]

Hike the Taum Sauk trail in the winter time after a snow....wife and I did this once and the waterfall was still half running water and half frozen creating hug icicles...it was a pretty scenic trail.