Alum Cove Natural Bridge

About a week ago, we took a little drive over to Alum Cove Recreation Area to hike the "Natural Bridge". It took us a little longer to get there than it should have, but it was well worth the drive. (Hint: Find the SHORTEST way possible BEFORE you leave the house. Once near the Buffalo River, cell service is scant and so are your chances of searching for the next direction...)

I have to say, a good GPS (or in our case, our phone when it would work) helped a lot because the signage to get to this was NOT easy.

But we were determined, and we finally made it.

This hike is a short hike...1.1 miles. It is also not particularly strenuous other than a few inclines. However, I will list it as moderate due to those. (To get an "easy" label, it has to be about as flat as a pancake which is near impossible in our state) It was a kid friendly hike though, as well as dog friendly. We took our pup for the first time; she LOVED it.

After making our way down the hill (gradually and with several benches along the way), we came to the Natural Bridge almost immediately. I wasn't expecting that! This bridge is really neat; it is over 130 feet long and one of the longest natural bridges in the area. There should be a creek beneath it but we have been without rain for quite a while. When you are on the bridge, you don't realize how incredible and vast it is until later when you are UNDER it.
The path is fairly narrow and mostly dirt/rocks. But we didn't have any difficulty maneuvering it.
There were typically "stairs" if you had to go up or down. That helped quite a bit.

The scenery throughout the hike was beautiful.

There were several "bluffs" to walk around/through.
Just look at these rocks...amazing!
The kids had a grand time running through and climbing some of the rock formations.


I imagine this is a creek during the wet times of the year...

Absolutely beautiful
This is a view (a sneak peek) UNDER the natural bridge. I told you, you can't get the full awesomeness unless you go under it...)
And one more view from the top of the bridge before we headed back up the hill (which to me was the hardest part of the hike :)
All in all, this was a kid friendly hike. In terms of scenery, it was one of my favorites. I think there is even a waterfall IF we had had any rain). It was very peaceful (other than when my kids were all talking at once) and a good starting hike for the pup who had no trouble keeping up even with her short little legs.

I hope we get to go back!

Happy hiking!

Devil's Den: The Lake Trail

Last weekend, I was ready to be out in some fall weather. But our time was fairly limited. So we hopped in the car and drove on over to Devil's Den. We have been there several times, but I was determined to try a new trail. The Lake Trail sounded perfect. It is 1 mile round trip (not a loop), and is on the "easy" list.

Unfortunately, I failed to read the fine print on the Devil's Den State Park site. The lake has been drained for some repair. Oops!

The path itself follows Lee Creek to Lake Devil (when there is a lake).
The one part of the trail I was really looking forward to was the suspension bridge. I saw a perfect "photo" op in my future. Apparently I didn't read the fine print on that one either. I had totally forgotten about the whole flooding issue we had in the spring when we had some torrential rains. As we approached the bridge, I noticed it looked a little...out of sorts.

Then I realized it was completely taped off due to the debris still left from the floods. No photo ops here, at least not the kind I had planned on. :)

As you approach the dam, you can't help but be struck with the beautiful rocks they used to build it. The water near the dam is typically a blue/green color from what I have read. But for right now, it is a very deep brown.
Here is Lake Devil. Well, where Lake Devil normally would be...
Looking out toward Lee Creek
We saw a lot of what I would guess was flood damage. Even then, it was beautiful. I imagine when we have had more rain, water would be flowing along some of these areas.
On our return to the car, my oldest son remarked how beautiful the trees were lining the path. I agree! He insisted I take a picture.
This wasn't actually on the trail but as we drove away from the trail to visit another one, this guy (about as big as my hand) was crossing the road. I had to take a picture but I did use zoom...it gave me the heebie jeebies!

The trail itself was easy and probably is fairly scenic when there is no flood damage and no drained lake. Very kid friendly. However, it wasn't quite enough for my kids. They wanted more adventure. So we headed over to our usual Devil's Den trail (which I cannot believe I haven't posted about before; I will have to fix that this week) for some rock climbing and more hiking fun.

As I emerged from the end of the trail, I was struck again at how beautiful our state is...especially in the fall!


Happy hiking!
Reba

Lost Valley

Sad note/update:
Due to torrential rains this past rain which lead to some serious flooding, the trail at Lost Valley is closed until further notice.

On Sunday afternoon, I was in the mood for a hiking adventure. Out next two weekends are kind of busy, and I was afraid we would miss that "good weather" window for hiking. Mark had some church obligations at home, and Joshua needed a nap. The other two seemed content being at home. So I asked Maria to join me. Down the road we went...

We went to a waterfall I will blog about soon but it was a very short hike. So we headed over to Lost Valley. Lost Valley is right outside of Ponca near the Buffalo River. It is a 2 mile trail. I would rate it moderate. We went a year ago, and had I blogged about it the past few months, I would have listed it as easy. Apparently in all of the excitement, I had forgotten certain things like the gazillion steps you walk up to get to some of the higher points...

The start of the trail is very easy and stroller friendly (if you need that). It is a wide path and fairly flat.
I was so happy to see how green everything was. I was getting a little distressed on our recent hikes...there hasn't been much green. Apparently our heavy rains in the last week helped a lot. It was like the world came alive. I needed that this weekend.
The first part of the trail is like I said...fairly flat and wide. It is like a beautiful stroll in the woods. We did constantly watch for snakes since I have seen more than one picture of a copperhead hanging out in Lost Valley. Thankfully, we didn't see any.
One thing we did see...butterflies. They were everywhere. We counted them for a while but lost count eventually. There were a lot of these (I know no butterfly names) plus some other kinds. I think God knew my heart needed that too...butterflies always lift my spirit.
The creek wasn't as full as I thought it would be with our recent rains, but there was some water flowing.
This is the point we picked up the pace...we started "climbing" on rock steps from this point on. I still feel it in my thighs...

We decided to check out "Natural Bridge" first which was just right off this path.
I have to admit, I never see a natural bridge. I just see this "waterfall" which is actually one part of a waterfall...it is like it is in phases.
Okay, maybe this is the "natural bridge".
I really wish I knew more about flowers. These were so pretty and not a flower I typically see on hikes.
Beautiful. It was all just beautiful.
There is the middle section of the water fall. It is rather high and was flowing well.
Here is a look at the waterfall from above. At this point, we were climbing the steps to the cave. Part of the waterfall is actually INSIDE the cave. I went in there last time but didn't this time. It is a TIGHT squeeze (think "commando crawl") and very dark. So even being in there, I could hear the waterfall but couldn't really see it. We just climbed to the entrance this time which is a hike in itself. If there is any dangerous part at all, this is it. It is a fairly narrow climb up. I know people have fallen but I think there was horseplay involved...
On our way back down, we had to stop by the waterfall one more time.
Just think green...
I almost stepped on this "green leaf" which turned out to be a moth.
This trail loops. It is shaped like a needle. The first part of the path "in" is also the path out. But partway in, you loop around until you are back at that main path heading out. Make sense?
Saw these feathers on our way out. I don't think this bird had a happy ending but the feathers were beautiful.
It really is a neat hike. Other than some climbing (walking up numerous steps) and that one danger area by the cave, it is a very family friendly hike. I recommend it for beginner hikers (in good shape :).

A bonus? If you leave the trail close to sunset, you might catch a glimpse of the elk that live in the area. They are a popular tourist sight.

Happy hiking!
Reba