Jeff's Arkansas Hiking Blog: Slusher & Hurricane Creeks - Arkansas Ozarks - Newton County

3/17/2022 - Slusher & Hurricane Creeks Waterfalls (WF)

GPS Coordinates: (Latitude, Longitude, Elevation)

Parking area 1: 35.81015, -93.19871

Parking Area 2: 35.78805, -93.19256

Bear Crack Falls: 35.78857, -93.18941

Cascade 1: 35.78879, -93.18890

Cascade 2: 35.78893, -93.18866

Cascade 3: 35.78906, -93.18839

Cascade 4: 35.79068, -93.18588

Rock Formation 1: 35.79101, -93.18563

Rock Formation 2: 35.79142, -93.18554

Feature 1: 35.79148, -93.18517

Cascade 5: 35.79212, -93.18457

Cascade 6: 35.79227, -93.18435

Cascade 7: 35.79314, -93.18361

Cascade 8: 35.79581, -93.18027

Rock Wall: 35.79705, -93.17932

Cascade 9: 35.79939, -93.17664

Cascade 10: 35.79958, -93.17647

Cascade 11: 35.80176, -93.17745

Cascade 12: 35.80220, -93.17741

Cascade 13: 35.80347, -93.17633

Rock Wall 2: 35. 81146, -93.17626

Cascade 14: 35.81261, -93.17241

Cascade 15: 35.81270, -93.17117

Cascade 16: 35.81285, -93.17052

Feature 2: 35.81297, -93.17042

Cascade 17: 35.81292, -93.17022

Feature 3: 35.81301, -93.16990

Cascade 18: 35.81291, -93.16985

Hidden Falls: 35.81282, -93.16962

Nelson Cascade: 35.81305, -93.16962

Cascade 20: 35.81324, -93.16921

Cascade 21: 35.81334, -93.16909

Cascade 22: 35.81331, -93.16880

Cascade 23: 35.81330, -93.16861

Feature 4: 35.81367, -93.16752

Cascade 24: 35.81363, -93.16738

Onyx Falls: 35.81369, -93.16726

WF 4: 35.81376, -93.16704

WF 5: 35.81497, -93.17307

WF 6: 35.81453, -93.17357

__________________________________________

WF 7: 35.81359, -93.19677

WF 8: 35.81303, -93.19618

Cascade 25: 35.81298, -93.19571

Cascade 26: 35.81276, -93.19509

Cascade 27: 35.81261, -93.19487

Cascade 28: 35.81254, -93.19461

Cascade 29: 35.81256, -93.19392

Cascade 30: 35.81241, -93.19347

WF 9: 35.81227, -93.19313

WF 10: 35.81222, -93.19299

Cascade 31: 35.81206, -93.19242

Cascade 32: 35.81205, -93.19223

Cascade 33: 35.81202, -93.19202

Cascade 34: 35.81179, -93.19165

Cascade 35: 35.81091, -93.19053

Cascade 36: 35.80586, -93.19049

Cascade 37: 35.80465, -93.19099

WF 11: 35.80371, -93.19078

Cascade 38: 35.80300, -93.19184

Cascade 39: 35.80140, -93.19014

WF 12: 35.79315, -93.19184

Cascade 40: 35.79288, -93.19291

Cascade 41: 35.79286, -93.19323

Cascade 42: 35.79284, -93.19341

WF 13: 35.79082, -93.19371

WF 14: 35.79061, -93.19374

Cascade 43: 35.79051, -93.19362

WF 15: 35.79036, -93.19366

Markers

Blue Waypoint = Named WF

Black Waypoint = Unnamed WF

Orange Waypoint = Cascade

Running Person Symbol = Access Point

Hiker Symbol = Atv Trail

Stone Symbol = Rock formation

Binoculars Symbol = Feature

Car Symbol = Parking area

Level of Difficulty: What I did was tough since I wanted to cover as much area as possible on one hike. Going up and down the drainages is strenuous. There are many downed tree's that I had to climb over or hike up hills to get around. Some hills are steep and some are moderate but there being many tree's down makes it feel like it's an obstacle course at times. There are atv trails along both Hurricane Creek and the lower half of Slusher Creek which made it easy for me to hike along the creeks. There were 3 big crossings that I had to do. Getting back up to the top to the atv trail between the 2 creeks was strenuous but hiking along that atv trail was easy to moderate. Getting back up was tiring at the end from Slusher creek with a set of steep hills and me rushing to get back to the car before dark so I didn't have time to take more than one break while hiking up the hills to get out of there.

Hiking Statistics for Loop: 8.87 miles / The Ascent is 1905 ft and The Descent is 1,863 ft.

My friend and I met at the Post Office in Deer, which is along Hwy 16. We then got onto Parker Ridge Road and drove to where we took a left onto another country road.. We drove to the the parking area that is a short drive down that road. I parked my car at that parking area by the atv trail that's by the tip of Slusher Creek, which is parking area 1 while my friend drove to parking area 2 with his truck. I road with him to parking area 2. The parking area is right in between 2 drainages. My plan was to go down the drainage to our right and come back up the drainage to our left to get back to his truck. We hiked along an old road to the drainage on the right and came to the top of a bluff and falls. We used the hills to the right to get down below it. This is Bear Crack falls. We took photo's and I marked it. Then we continued on down the drainage and we were on another old road for just a little while. We came across 4 cascades in the drainage before reaching a couple of nice rock formations and a feature. We had to work our way over, under and around downed tree's. We passed by 3 more cascades before reaching Slusher Creek. We decided to go counter clockwise so we took a right and went to wear Slusher Creek runs into Hurricane Creek. It was a short hike along Slusher creek before we reached Hurricane Creek. We took a left when we reached Hurricane Creek and found and old road so we hiked along the old road as we hiked up stream along Hurricane Creek. The old road goes a ways down there. We passed by 5 bigger cascades in Hurricane Creek while we were hiking along the old road. We eventually reached the drainage on the right that I wanted to explore. My friend didn't want to hike up it with him feeling sore so he waited down by the old road and Hurricane Creek for me. I started heading up the drainage and as I was a 3rd of the way up, I'd seen another smaller drainage to my left and though that I could cut over to that on my way back and come down that. I came across 5 cascades and a couple of features while working my way up. The drainage got narrower and the hills got steeper as I got further up. I came to this nice cascade in the drainage that I named Nelson Cascade. I could also hear water running off the bluff to my right so I hiked up the hill to my right and seen this falls that's hiding with branches in front of it so I named it Hidden Falls. I took photo's and marked Hidden Falls and then headed back to the drainage and did the same with the cascade before continuing on up the drainage. I came across 4 more cascades while working my way up and then I could see a good size waterfall while standing in front of the 4th cascade. This is a neat bluff area. I worked my way around a big boulder there and could see the big waterfall. This is Onyx Falls. I took a 10 min break there as well as photo's and marking the waterfall. When I was done there, I used the hills to the right while looking at the falls to get above it. I worked my way up the hills to coordinates 35.81360, -93.16724. I looked at my gps and hiked a little ways at that level and then worked my way down hill and back into the drainage. I then worked my way up to wf 4. I took some photo's and documented it and then checked the time it was. I decided that it was time to cut over to that other smaller drainage and then work my way down that and back to my friend. I then decided to go back up the hill and back down the hill to get back below Onyx falls that I used earlier to get above it because I was up too high for that other drainage. After I got down below Onyx falls, I followed that bluff line and level to cut over to the other drainage. The hike over was moderate to strenuous in a couple of places. When I got close to reaching the drainage at the level I was at, I could see a wf. When I reached the drainage, I took some photo's of the falls and marked it before heading down the drainage. As I was working my way down, the hills were steep. I came across wf 6 before getting back down into the bigger drainage. When I got back down into it, I took a right and headed back down to Hurricane Creek. I eventually reached my friend and we started walking along Hurricane creek. I looked at my gps and send that we should cross over and start working our way up the hills to the high point in the middle of the 2 creeks. We started working our way up at coordinates 35, 81180, -93.17856. WE worked our way up the steep hills at first that got more gradual halfway up at an angle to the right and we eventually reached an atv trail at coordinates 35.81332, -93.18774. While we were hiking along the road, he told me that he did not want to bushwhack anymore with him feeling very sore so he told me that he wound just follow that atv trail out to the gravel road where my car is so I gave him my key to drive it to his truck. Once we were just above the tip of Slusher Creek, I told him that I'll see him in like 1 hour. I took a left and started bushwhacking down to Slusher Creek. I came across wf's 7 and 8 before passing by 6 more cascades. I took photo's and marked them all. It was getting late so I knew that I had to move fast. I was hiking fast now and took quick stops at the next 2 wf's and the next 7 cascades. After I stopped at wf 11, I could see an atv trail up ahead so I hiked along that which goes along Slusher creek which made the hike easier. I hiked along the atv trail until I reached the drainage on my right that I had planned on going up to get back to my friends truck. I took the right and started hiking up it. It was starting to get dark out and very fogging. As I worked my way up this drainage, I came across another wf and 3 more cascades. I marked them all and then came to a smaller drainage on the left and decided to follow that to get back up to the atv trail. I started up that at coordinates 35.79269, -93.19355. As I was working my way up that steep part, I came across 3 more wf's and another cascade. I finally reached the atv trail at coordinates 35.78882, -93.19234. I followed that back to my friend and his truck. I just got back before pitch black dark.