Twin Falls of Richland Creek Wilderness

This is Twin Falls of Richland Creek Wilderness, near Dickey's Junction, Arkansas; there is another view of the falls at the end of this post.

Twin Falls bushwhack from Hill Cemetary

I made my first trip to Twin Falls of Richland Creek Wilderness this spring; I decided to make a solo overnight camping trip to give me a better chance at good light. The road that takes you to the trailhead at Hill Cemetary is located at Iceledo Gap close to Dickey's Junction, Arkansas. This is normally a 6-8  mile  roundtrip hike; since I had to backtrack to retrieve forgotten equipment,  I ended up doing a bit further than that. The trail takes you into some of the most beautiful terrain in Arkansas, but you have to work for it. The Park Service wants to keep the area primitive and pristine; so there is no trail for the last mile or so to the falls area. I would recommend a good map and at least a good compass, which is what I used, or a GPS unit. Be careful for bears, which are in the area; also, I wouldn't be really surprised to see the occasional mountain lion.  It is a bit of an adventure just to find the road to the cemetary, you have to traverse several miles of dirt/gravel roads just to get there; all of the area is beautiful, but very rural. I parked the car and headed down the road as quickly as I could. I used a couple of Tim Ernst's excellent guidebooks for general maps and directions to the falls. (next) image 1, image 2, image 3, image 4

This is the steep, rough road that takes you to the Hill Cemetary parking lot. I would recommend 4wd vehicles only. (next)

You have to hike/drive at least a half mile down this rough road to get to Hill Cemetary; there is a small parking area there. I had hiked almost to the cemetary when I discovered that I had left my tripod in the car! Just great; I dumped my pack in the woods hidden in brush and hiked back up to the car, retrieved the tripod, and then hiked back to the cemetary. This added about a mile of extra hiking and an hour less evening light. Oh well.  This road to the cemetary has several rough spots, including some big mudholes and several protruding rocks; it might be possible to get a car over it in dry weather, but I wouldn't risk it. A 4wd vehicle could get stuck in the right conditions; it's likely safer to park at the top of the road near the residence. (don't block the property's entrance!) (next)

Dogwoods were blooming on Big Devil's Fork when I camped there in the spring.  next

    Twin Falls is created by Long Devil's Fork and Big Devil's Fork creeks; this water in turn flows into Richland Creek a bit downstream. Both of these creeks have some beautiful cascades  of their own  further upstream; since I visited the area in April, dogwoods were blooming in spots. One such cascade is here:

this view of Big Devils Fork was taken right before dark.  next

this is a view of Twin Falls taken at first light. next