Hiking

Pack Rat Falls and Haw Creek Falls

  • May 19, 2014

I took a quick trip to North Arkansas to visit two waterfalls I had not been to before: Haw Creek Falls and Pack Rat Falls. Haw Creek is extremely easy to find and very picturesque; however, the sun was stark that day which makes good waterfall photography all but impossible. I’ll have to revisit when I can get better shots. My favorites came from Pack Rat Falls and the hike along the way. That area is gorgeous!

Haw Creek Falls is visible from the road at the Haw Creek Camp area. So, first my two “blah” photos of Haw Creek. I blended two shots for the first and it just isn’t all that great. One regular for detail in the trees and foreground and one with my 10 stop ND filter to get the silky water over the falls. There is a lesson here. There is only so much you can do with a landscape shot if you’re there when conditions aren’t great. I suppose I could have taken time and gone for alternate shots, but I wanted to spend my time along the canyon to Pack Rat Falls instead.

Now, onto my favorite part of the trip! To get to Pack Rat Falls, you go to the back of Haw Creek camping area. You’ll find a small trail that run alongside a creek. You’ll be going upstream. It doesn’t look like much because most of the water goes underground at some point which is misleading.

As you go upstream, you’ll come across several cascades along the way.

It’s only a quarter mile to Pack Rat Falls, but it’ll feel like more because you have to zig-zag back and forth across the creek all the way. Some parts are steep and slippery!

What I loved about this small canyon is that there is a ton of moss and ferns. I’m a sucker for moss, ferns, and water! The combination is gorgeous! You almost feel like you’re in a rain forest with all the green along the way.

There is a wide variety of types of rocks, trees, and bushes. Some of the trees had enormous leaves that did a decent job of blocking out the sun which helped for photos.

I easily turned what could have been a short hike into a long one. There were just too many gorgeous spots to stop and setup for a picture. I could have spent all day here!

Then, we finally made it to the top. What an awesome place!

I hope you enjoyed this post! Leave comments below if you have time. I love hearing from everyone!