With such a dry winter, the weather has been perfect for searching the Ozark National Forest for a waterfall.
This week, Sean Bailey was joined by 5NEWS photographer Brett Roberts and their dogs, Robert's blue heeler, Aero, and Bailey's puppy, Skye.
They started at the 82-acre Shores Lake, and then took off down the White Rock Shores Lake trail loop. They soon hit a fork in the road, where they turned west to follow along Hurricane Creek.
"You can see the water over through there and a little island up there. There's the falls right up here that we are going to hike to and then we are going to be following this creek bed for a little while in a glade. When we come out of that glade, we will crest a hill," Roberts said.
As they were traveling along, the path was sandwiched between the creek and the beautiful rocks above. The adventurers even had to cross a few tiny creeks.
Brett pointed out a subtle change in scenery along the path.
"As we get towards the creek, the tree cover will actually change. Right now we are in a pine and oak forest mainly," she said. "As you get down into the river bottom, the trees will actually change to a different species because of their proximity to the creek."
Eventually, they hit the beautiful White Rock Creek, en route to the White Rock Creek Cascades.
After hiking up and down a few hills, the adventurers reached the falls.
It takes a total of about three miles to get to the waterfall. According to Tim Ernst's Arkansas Waterfall guidebook, these are the White Rock Creek Cascades, which are about 10 feet high.
It was a perfect resting stop for the puppies to get water and to relax in the hammock.
Although the Adventure Arkansas crew decided to hike back to the entrance, the entire trail loop continues 13 miles, going up White Rock Mountain and also connecting to the Ozark Highlands Trail.
Segment Sponsored By: Adventure Subaru
Directions to Shores Lake: http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/osfnf/recreation/wateractivities/recarea/?recid=43485&actid=82
