JFKGreers-CollinsCreekTrail-BridalVeilFalls
John F Kennedy Campground
I booked a campsite at the John F. Kennedy Campground located in Heber Springs, Arkansas, near the shores of Greers Ferry Lake. The lake looks like it was created by the dam and feeds the river flowing through the park. The park is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It offers camping sites for tents and RVs, as well as amenities such as a boat ramp, playground, picnic areas, and a swimming beach. Trout fishing was the big draw on this day. There was a trout farm right behind my campsite. Interestingly, this was one of the places where Kennedy spoke only weeks before going to Dallas.
The temperatures dipped into the mid-20’s during the night. As I began to stir, the sun was shining directly on the car and it was getting very warm inside. I made oatmeal and coffee for breakfast. There were birds all around me. A cardinal flew to the tree above me. It sat there singing for about 20 minutes. The bright red on the background of bright blue with the starkness of the trees made for an interesting photo. Hawks, Herrons, Buzzards, and an Eagle flew over the river as I prepared breakfast.
I sat in the sun on one of the portable camp chairs sent to me by Subaru, enjoying the crisp and clean air that added to the tranquility of the moment. In the background, the sound of flowing water could be heard, occasionally interrupted by the passing of a fishing boat.
I was here to hike and photograph Collins Creek and Bridal Veil Falls but it was difficult to leave the serenity of this place.
Collins Creek Trail
The Collins Creek trail is rated easy by AllTrails. It is only 1.2 miles long and is rated at 4.5/5.0. A short distance from the parking lot are the waterfalls. Most people were stopping here to get selfies with the falls. I met Vinny and Carrie sitting near the falls. We were discussing were the water for the falls came from. Vinny suggested the water is pumped in from the lake nearby to keep the falls running for tourists. I was skeptical that the park would spend money to pump water over. After further reading, it seems you were right Vinny. The pipe that is visible at the top of the creek pumps 40,000 gallons of water per hour into the stream.
Bridal Veil Falls
Bridal Veil Falls was not on my radar, but Vinny and Carrie told me it was worth visiting. I actually liked this hike even more than Collins Creek. It was a more challenging trail and the falls were fun to visit. It’s a short distance from the parking lot to the viewing platform which provides a view of the falls from above.
AllTrails says this is an easy .4 mile hike. This is true if you only hike to the platform and back. There are other unmarked trails that loop around the falls. These are more difficult trails. Hiking to the bottom of the falls is a challenge in certain parts depending on how you go down.
Once you arrive in front of the falls, it is fairly easy to cross to the other side by stepping across large rocks. You can even walk behind the falls. It reminded me of the falls in Robert Tramen State Park in New York. I met Brittany and her daughter London near the pond. I found the names interesting and asked Brittany why she named her daughter London. She said she liked the name. I was thinking it must have something to do with Britain.
Campgrounds
I stopped at Old Town Esspresso and bought a Protein Shake. I spent about 90 minutes trying to find a place to camp near Buffalo National River, my destination in the morning. The campgrounds were either closed until march, didn’t take tents, or required in person registration. I wasn’t going to drive two hours to discover there were no campsites. I called reserveamerica.com and they had a campground that was a 40 mile drive in the morning.
I decided to drive to Harrison, Arkansas and stay at the Walmart. The drive there was spectacular going through the Ozarks at sunset. I kept pulling over to take photographs.
