Jeff's Arkansas Hiking Blog: Steel Creek Waterfalls

3/6/2020 & 2/24/2023 - Steel Creek Waterfalls (WF) The Coordinates and description are broken up into 4 parts - On Google Earth also

GPS Coordinates: (Latitude, Longitude, Elevation)

Parking area: 35.76814, -93.20545

WF 1: 35.76921, -93.21038

Boulder Down Falls: 35.76973, -9.3.21316

WF 3: 35.76922, -93.21296

Cascade 1: 35.76991, -93.21365

Cascade 2: 35.77029, -93.21378

WF 4 & 5: 35.77042, -93.21389

Cascade 3: 35.77029, -93.21449

Cascade 4: 35.77056, -93.21431

Cascade 5: 35.77080, -93.21448

Cascade 6: 35.77123, -93.21492

Cascade 7: 35.77171, -93.21513

Cascade 8: 35.77182, -93.21539

WF 6: 35.77192, -93.21520

WF 7: 35.77212, -93.21523

Cascade 9: 35.77227, -93.21532

Cascade 10: 35.77282, -93.21557

Cascade 11: 35.77360, -93.21562

Cascade 12: 35.77382, -93.21559

Cascade 13: 35.77465, -93.21548

Cascade 14: 35.77502, -93.21549

Cascade 15: 35.77580, -93.21555

WF 8: 35.77616, -93.21477

WF 9: 35.77688, -93.21677

Cascade 16: 35.77742, -93.21704

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Cascade 17: 35.78296, -93.21669

WF 10: 35.78682, -93.21356

WF 11: 35.78802, -93.21233

WF 12: 35.78838, -93.21204

WF 13: 35.78851, -93.21195

Cascade 18: 35.78903, -93.21204

WF 14: 35.79185, -93.21068

Cascade 19: 35.79200, -93.21075

Cascade 20: 35.79239, -93.21113

Cascade 21: 35.79413, -93.21217

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Cascade 22: 35.79712, -93.21310

Cascade 23: 35.79740, -93.21345

Cascade 24: 35.79735, -93.21360

Cascade 25: 35.79750, -93.21393

Cascade 26: 35.79762, -93.21523

Cascade 27: 35.79777, -93.21549

Cascade 28: 35.79798, -93.21600

WF 15: 35.79883, -93.21578

Cascade 29: 35.79962, -93.21704

Linn Creek Falls: 35.80185, -93.21861

Cascade 30: 35.80173, -93.21890

WF 17: 35.80207, -93.21926

Cascade 31: 35.80218, -93.21932

Boulder Slot Falls: 35.80260, -93.21973

WF 19: 35.80284, -93.21984

Rock Feature Cascade: 35.80295, -93.21990

Cascade 33: 35.80309, -93.22007

Cascade 34: 35.80373, -93.22036

Cascade 35: 35.80412, -93.22036

Cascade 36: 35.80505, -93.22044

Freeland Shelter Double Falls: 35.80545, -93.22057

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WF 21: 35.80769, -93.21284

WF 22: 35.80774, -93.21272

Cascade 37: 35.80748, -93.20918

Cascade 38: 35.80581, -93.20825

Cascade 39: 35.80562, -93.20827

Cascade 40: 35.80324, -93.20750

Natural Spring: 35.80260, -93.20725

The Slot of Steel Creek: 35.80240, -93.20741

Cascade 41: 35.80264, -93.20772

Cascade 42: 35.80104, -93.20812

Cascade 43: 35.80084, -93.20841

Cascade 44: 35.80062, -93.20841

Cascade 45: 35.79864, -93.20936

WF 23: 35.79731, -93.20929

Markers

Blue Waypoints = Named WF'

Black Waypoints = Unnamed WF

Orange Waypoints = Cascade

Running Person Symbol = Access Point

Hiker Symbol = ATV Trail

Car Symbol = Parking Area

Binoculars Symbol = Feature

Level of Difficulty: What I did was tough and long because I wanted to cover and see as many parts of the creek as I could during daylight on this one hike. Hiking along the ATV trails makes the hike easier and more moderate in areas where you can be on an ATV trail. Hiking down and up drainages can and will be strenuous going up and down hills to get around tree's that are down in the drainages. Having to hike around and climb over downed tree's makes the hike tougher. There were descent level terrain parts along the main creek when I was hiking along there.

Hiking Statistics for Loop: 9.71 miles / Ascent is 1,735 ft. and Descent is 1,787 ft.

I drove to the town of Deer, which is along Hwy 16 and turned onto a gravel road called Parker Ridge Rd. I had hiked part of this creek before and had been to The Slot before but I knew water would be running better this time so I wanted to cover as much of the creek as possible with the amount of daylight that I would have. I reached the parking area at 9:50 am and got started hiking at 10:00. Steel Creek is on the same side of the road as the parking area is. I had a rout drawn to go down a drainage, then cross the creek and up another drainage on the other side. Then back down and upstream along the creek and when I reached the fork, I would go up to the left and come back down on the right to make a big loop to cover it all. I didn't go down this drainage that I was about to go down during my first hike to Steel Creek. I looked at my gps and started following my rout that I had drawn which first takes me along the drainage and down to Steel creek so I headed straight into the woods from the parking area. I started going downhill some at coordinates 35.76844, -93.20854. I eventually reached the first waterfall. It's a small one but I took a couple of photo's and marked it on my gps. I'd seen that there was a smaller drainage to my right so I worked my way downhill over to that. I decided to use that to get down into the big drainage. So I'm working my way down where I'm on the side of the big drainage and come to the top of a WF in the smaller drainage. I crossed the water and used the hillside to my right to get down below the WF at coordinates 35.76980, -93.21323. This WF is Boulder Down Falls. I took some photo's and marked it on my gps. I looked downhill from that and could see I was just about down into the bigger drainage. I worked my way downhill and seen there is another lower part to that WF. When I got down by the water, I decided to head upstream first to see if there was anything up there to see and I came across WF 3. It is a nice little one so I took photos and marked it. I then decided to head downstream towards Steel creek. I had to go around and over downed tree's while working my way down this drainage. I came across 2 nice cascades as I was working my way down first. As I continued hiking downstream, I then came across WF's 4 & 5 that are right next to one another. This is a nice little part of the drainage. I took photos and marked it before continuing on. I then came across 6 more nice cascades as I was working my way down the drainage. I took photo's and marked each one. I then came across WF' 6 and WF 7 just after that. I spent some time at those 2 taking photo's and taking a little break. I continued on with the hike when I was ready and came across 7 more cascades before reaching a little drainage to my right. I hiked up that a little ways to see if there was a WF or cascade and this is where WF 8 is. After I took some photo's and marked it, I headed back to the main drainage and took a right to continue heading down stream. I then came across WF 9, which was on my right. After I was done there, I continued heading down stream and came across one more cascade before reaching Steel Creek.

I took a right to head upstream along the creek and knew that I would have to find a way to cross the creek. After hiking just a little ways upstream, I decided to just cross the creek now so I did with me knowing that the drainage on the other side that I wanted to hike up was coming up to my left very soon. I knew that my feet would be soaked from this crossing. After I made it over to the other side, I started hiking upstream along the creek and working my way to that other drainage. The drainage is a good size so I really wanted to check it out. When I reached it, water was not running that good along it for some reason when many other parts were running good. I took a left to hike up it and after I got a certain ways, I stopped and looked at the time. I knew that I started my hike later and I knew that I wanted to cover other parts of the creek very badly including the part where I knew the slot was at, so I decided to turn around and skip that part. I headed back to Steel creek and then seen an ATV trail going to the left just before the creek so I got on that and hiked along that upstream. I passed by another nice cascade while hiking along the ATV trail. I got off it at times to see if there was a Cascade or WF in the creek I eventually just stayed and hiked right along the creek. I then came across WF 10. I took some photo's and then continued on hiking upstream. With water running as good as it was, many odd cascades and falls were running that are usually not running. I then came across WF's 11, 12 and 13 that were all running descent and would not be running without heavy rain. After I marked all those and took photo's, I continued hiking upstream and came across another cascade. I then looked up ahead and could see a nice falls running good on the right side of the creek. I started heading up that way and eventually reached WF 14. It was running good. I took photo's of it and a video as well as marked it. There is a big boulder down next to it but from listening to the water, it sounded like their was a nice cascade in the creek on the other side of the boulder. I hiked around the boulder and seen the cascade. I took photo's and marked it. I then got in between that cascade and the WF and took another video with me in the middle of both. When I was done there, I continued hiking upstream and could see from a distance that there was another good size cascade in the creek. When I reached cascade 20, I decided to take a nice break there and eat some food, relax and enjoy the area. When I was done eating, I took photo's, a video and marked it before I started hiking upstream again. I looked at my gps and could see that the fork on the map was coming up soon. I came across another nice cascade while working my way to that fork.

When I reached the fork, I headed upstream to my left like I had had planned all along. I didn't go up this drainage during my first hike to Steel Creek. As I was working my way up the drainage and over and round downed tree's, I came across 7 nice cascades. I had to deal with the hills and downed tree's a lot along here. I eventually worked my way up the drainage to where WF 15 was to my right. I took some photo's and marked it before heading on. I ended up on an atv trail for just a little ways from there before being right back into the drainage. I came across another nice cascade. After passing by that, a ways up the drainage, I heard water dropping loud over to the right. When I eventually reached the smaller drainage on my right, I could see a tall WF was up there. I took the right to reach Steel Creek Falls. I took many photo's there as well as a video and marked it. I decided to take a short break there also. When I was ready to continue on, I went back down to the main drainage and continued hiking up it. I came across another nice cascade before reaching WF 17 on my right. WF 17 looks like the water comes out of a hole or crack in the rock. It wasn't running that good so it needs even more rain possibly than the others along this drainage to to be running good. I came across another cascade while working my way up the drainage to the next WF, which is Boulder Slot Falls. It is tough getting through the down tree's to get in front of Boulder Slot falls but I worked my way so that I could take photo's, a video and mark it. I was on the hill to the right working my way to get down and in front of the falls. After I was done there, I did not want to go back through some of what I just went through so I climbed up the hill to the left of the falls at coordinates 35.80253, -93.21971. I had to climb up higher than I wanted to and then went along the hillside for a little while before heading downhill at coordinates 35.80263, -93.21988 to be back down in the drainage. I then reached WF 19 as I was working my way up. I took photo's and a video standing right in front of it. Then I had to go uphill to the left of the falls to get above it. I also had to climb over and through downed tree's. After I was at the top of that in the drainage, I continued hiking up the drainage. I came across another 5 nice cascades that I took photo's of and marked them all. I could see on my gps that I was getting close to the top of this drainage so I knew it was going to be time soon to cut over to the other drainage which is more part of the main creek and head downstream along that. I could see from a distance that I was going to reach a nice waterfall if I kept hiking up the drainage so I stayed in it. I eventually reached Freeland Shelter Double Falls. This is a very nice waterfall. There is another waterfall to the right of this double falls. I could see that someone or some people camp there with the big fire pit and rock wall built there. I took like a 20 min break under the shelter there. When I was ready to continue on with the hike, I went to my left along the bluff and up the hill at coordinates 35.80544, -93.22047 to get above the falls. After getting up the hill, I worked my way along it and down the hill to where I was standing at the top of the falls. I then looked at my gps and could see it was just about time to work my way uphill to the right to cut over to that other part. I went up the drainage a little ways further and then headed uphill to my right at coordinates 35.80570, -93.22031. I kept going uphill until I was at the top right in the middle of the drainage and the creek.

I hiked along the top of the ridge a little ways but knew that I was going to have to hike downhill eventually to be back in the creek. I did not want to go straight down where I would miss a lot of the upper part of the creek. I started hiking downhill at coordinates 35.80649, -93.21416. I was hiking downhill at an angle to my left to try to cover more of the upper part of the creek. I looked at the time and could see that I was running out of time. It was after 4:30 at that time. When I reached a drainage, I decided to go down that instead of keep working my way at an angle to where I would end up in the creek much further up it because of the time it was. So I didn't get to see this time, the far upper part of the creek. When I started heading down that drainage, I came to the top of WF 21. I worked my way to get down below it. I took some photo's and marked it. Then I continued hiking down the drainage and reached WF 22: I took some photo's of it and then continued working my way down towards the creek. I reached an ATV trail at coordinates 35.80787, -93.21215 and decided to hike along that for a ways. It crosses the creek so I stayed on it and crossed to the other side and continued hiking along the ATV trail but kept my eyes on the creek because I could not remember exactly where some of the good size cascades or the Slot was along there. I wish I had time to cover the far upper part of the creek that was to my left while on the ATV trail and crossing the creek. I got off the ATV trail a couple of times to go take pictures of the cascades and stayed down there until I reached coordinates 35.80408, -93.20765 and then headed back up to the ATV trail. I hiked along that a short ways and then at coordinates 35.80356, -93.20706, I decided to head back down to the creek with the ATV trail getting further and further away from the creek. After I got back down next to the creek, I stayed down along the creek for awhile now. I reached one of the nice cascades just a little ways down. I took some photo's and when I was done there, I continued hiking downstream. A ways down, I reached one of the best areas of the creek where The Slot of Steel Creek and the Natural Spring both are. I could first see that the water was coming out of the Natural Spring good to my left and then when I went down the small hill and turned to my right, I could see and hear water gushing out of The Steel Creek Slot. It was running better this time for sure. I went inside and took a long video from inside there. I took many photo's also. When I was done inside there, I got out from where the slot is and went to the cascade close to those 2. I wish I had more time to spend there but it was getting close to 5:30 pm now. I hiked along that part heading downstream right along the creek and took many other photo's while in that area. Eventually, I reached another good size cascade in the creek. I stopped there to mark it, take photo's and a video before heading on. I came across 3 more small cascades before reaching the last good size cascade. I spent a little while there marking it and taking photo's. I then had to hike up the hill to my left to continued along the creek unless I just wanted to walk straight through water constantly. I eventually could see another WF running into the creek with another cascade in the main creek to my right so I headed down to it and had to do a little climbing down by the falls to get into the creek. I was down in there to mark the WF and to take photo's of that and the cascade. The rocks were very slippery. I was trying to be careful but ended up stepping too far to my right, which was closer to the water while taken a photo and I slipped and got myself soaked. When I was able to get up and out of the water, I tried to dry my phone and camera off as quick as possible. I then thought to myself, It's time to work my way out of here now with the time it was and me being soaked. I climbed back up to the top of the falls and continued hiking downstream along the hillside. I eventually got back to the fork. I took a very short break and then looked at my gps to see where that ATV trail was up the hill. I started working my way up the hill at coordinates 35.79537, -93.21065 to get onto the ATV trail. It wasn't as far up the hill as my gps showed that it was. I was back on the ATV trail at coordinates 35.79398, -93.20800. I hiked along that ATV trail all the way back to Parker Ridge Rd. You could also park at the intersection of this ATV trail and Parker Ridge road at coordinates 35.78181, -93.20468 if you only want to hike part of the creek or directly to The Slot of Steel Creek and back. I then took a right onto Parker Ridge Rd and hiked along that back to the parking area that my car was parked at. I got back to my car at 6:21 pm.

If you want to hike directly to The Slot of Steel Creek, you could hike along the ATV trail most of the way. I provided the coordinates to The Slot of Steel Creek so on your gps, you can see when that will be just down the hill to your left while your hiking along the ATV trail.