We’ve spent a pretty good amount of time in the Buffalo River area of Northwest Arkansas. It’s pretty close to where we live in Southwest Missouri, so it’s an easy day or weekend trip for us. Because of that, we’ve done a lot of the popular, recommended hikes. So, when we stopped in at the Buffalo Outdoor Center store and asked for hiking recommendations that weren’t on their sheet of popular hikes, one of the employees recommend Magnolia Falls, and we’re so glad that she did.
Quick Info About Magnolia Falls, Arkansas
NEAREST TOWN: Deer, Arkansas
TRAIL LENGTH AND TYPE: 2.1 miles total, out and back.
TRAIL DIFFICULTY: Easy trail with a bit of a scramble if you go to the base of the falls.
GOOGLE MAPS ACCURATE? It is! If you type Magnolia Falls into Google Maps, it leads you right to the trailhead! That said, you might want to download an offline map because cell service is reeeeally spotty around here.
IS IT KID FRIENDLY? Bear in mind that we’re still carrying our kiddos in our Deuter Kid Comforts, which I think is quite easy to do on this trail. But I would say this trail is very kid friendly until you go down to the waterfall. Then, I would want to be sure to have kids who feel confident on a slant and definitely keep a close eye on younger kids near the water and the bluff line past the waterfall, if you choose to explore that area.
Hiking to Magnolia Falls, Arkansas
This trail is one of our new favorites. We’ve done it twice since the initial recommendation a month ago. It’s a bit of a hidden gem because we’ve only passed a total of 5 people and we’ve had the waterfall to ourselves both times.
The trail starts just behind the wilderness sign you park beside. It looks like it was an old jeep road at the beginning, but then narrows down to a single trail shortly afterward. Tall trees tower overhead, creaking in the wind, and bathing you in that spring green that filters through the leaves.
There is a small creek crossing that you literally just step right over before the trail winds to the left. Around this point the trail begins to have a gradual downhill grade that you almost don’t notice until you head back up it. Also, along this section, up in the forest on the right side of the trail there is an old stone wall from early settlers. I’d love to learn more about the history of this area, and this wall in particular. The wall follows the landscape, even over the top of some large formations.
The trail continues down to a second stream crossing. This is where the trail splits and the path to Magnolia Falls is the spur to the left. From here, you simply follow the creek, crossing it one more time before you end up on the path that leads straight to the top of the falls that offers a pretty view of Magnolia Falls and overlooking this little holler before the edge of the bluff line.
While the view from the top is really pretty. That said, I highly recommend taking the added rock scramble down to the base of the falls if you feel comfortable and confident doing this. From the bottom of the waterfalls, you get a spectacular view of the creek continuing to the edge of bluff. We haven’t explored this area further, especially since we have our kiddos on our backs.
I have also heard that there are two other waterfalls if you go back to the where the trail splits and follow the path to the right. Those are called Woods Boys Falls and Hadlock Cascade. We plan to tackle these two falls in the near future as well and I’ll update this post when we do!
Hiking Gear I’d Recommend for the Trail to Magnolia Falls
These recommendations of hiking gear we have used or currently use and would recommend for this specific trail.
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