Another visit off the beaten path

I decided to follow up last week’s article by telling you about one of the trips Earl and I recently made that definitely qualified as “forest therapy” for us.

A trip to Kings River Falls is a great half-day outing from the hometown area if you want to see some authentic Ozark back country, hike along a scenic river, and if the benefits of the “forest therapy” aren’t going to be offset by the worry of getting a little red dirt on your vehicle.

We made our recent trip to the falls with my sisterElaine and her husband Steve, a couple always ready to join us for a little outdoor jaunt.

Located on the western edge of the Ozark National Forest, Kings River Falls Natural Area offers everything nature lovers could ask for. To get there requires getting off the beaten path, for sure, and that is just part of the adventure. If you aren’t familiar with the area, you will want to start with good directions. Reaching the destination involves traveling four to five mileson two or three different county roads and you don’t want to miss a turn.

Although some might consider it exciting, my guess is that the benefits of “forest therapy” greatly diminish and might even be reversed for most folks who become lost on seemingly-endless, sparinglytraveled, back roads of Madison County.

After following highway 16 east from Fayetteville for well, let's just say a long stretch of scenic highway, we then turned onto a dirt road at Red Star. This is not the most direct route from the hometown area, but it is the one we were most sure about until doing more research later, so we stuck with our “a bird in the hand is better than getting lost in the bush” strategy to get there. Also influencing our travel plans was the fact that there were a couple of other stops we wanted to make in the Red Star area, so that route worked out best for this particular visit.

The Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission Web site recommends turning off Highway 16 near the community of Boston (between Fallsville and St. Paul) and heading north on County Road 3175 for a little over two miles, then bearing right on County Road 3415 for another couple of miles. A turn left where the road comes to a T takes you across a bridge and then to the parking area. There, the trail head is marked with a wooden sign.

The mile long path trails along the edge of Kings River and offers fairly easyhiking and many irresistible photo opportunities. Even in dry season, there were nice pools of water peacefully reflecting the gorgeous fall foliage of overhanging branches.

The area along the river bank around the falls is perfect for resting, relaxing, picnicking, picture taking and exploring. During our visit, the waterfall was small due to lack of recent rain but still pretty and made a nice, smaller pool of water below.

Elaine and I couldn’t resist the urge to remove our tennis shoes, roll up our pant legs and wade around in the cool - OK, actually COLD - water. This lasted a few enjoyable minutes until Steve announced a snake sighting in the water from his vantage spot high on the ledge above us.

I am still not sure if this warning was true or if Steve just wanted to see just how fast Elaine and I could get out of the water without falling in. Maybe he wanted to see if we would add “river bathing” to our “forest therapy.” As cold as the water was that would not have been a good thing. And Steve might still be out on one of those Madison County back roads waiting for a ride.

For more information, visit www.naturalheritage.com and click the natural areas link.

Annette Rowe is a freelance writer and a speechlanguage pathologist at Siloam Springs High School. She may be reached by email at awalkinthepark50 @yahoo.com.