Best Trails near Jasper, Arkansas

Like others have said there is no trailhead at first. You will walk down what looks like a private drive and eventually hit the spot where the trail starts. There are two trails at that point, go straight left. The tree has an orange marker. It’s an easy hike to the top of the falls. If you decide to continue on the trail is marked with orange hiking tape. Sometimes you have to really look but they are there. Lots of leaves on the forest floor and everything was wet making it slippery so be careful if you continue on. It was s good workout continuing on due to the steepness of the terrain. The waterfall was flowing good due to the recent rain. Will do again next year when things are green!

Great trail for experienced hikers and beginners! Beautiful overlooks and some good bouldering spots

Rough road to get there , very short hike in the rain with two falls flowing !!

great place becareful driving down recommend 4x

Beautiful hike! The road down to Kyles Landing is rough but saw several cars that made it. We had some water flowing so the waterfalls were running. This is a physically demanding hike if you are not in shape. At one point the trail splits, one goes along the creek bed and on goes up and is higher up but follows along the creek. Going to the Eye of the Needle is not for someone afraid of heights. You will use ropes to scale straight up 20-30 feet and then another section at a step angle where you will rope the rest of the way to the top before going through the tunnel to get to the Eye of the Needle. Will be back to do it again!

Very nice hike along the river. Several waterfalls. Was closer to 6 miles and took 3 hours. A bit more technical hike with rocks and some slippery parts.

This Trail has a Jungle feel to it, which i thought was the best part. Easy Hike.

awesome sites to see! Tough spots for sure, but worth every strain. Wear hiking shoes and travel light.

This trail is pretty awesome and difficult in the sense that you have to pay attention to where you're stepping all the time. Some parts were a bit difficult to maneuver and I didn't even attempt climbing the rope at the end ,but my boyfriend made it up to the top. We went on a Tuesday in September and we were the only ones on the trail the whole time. Keeping that in mind, there are a lot of spider webs when you're the only one on the trail. We will be returning to this trail as it was very interesting.

Good hike. I agree that the signs and trails are unclear. Our trip was in fog so we didn’t experience the vistas much.

On the loop trail between the beginning and the plane crash site is a diversion off the trail to a couple of small cave up above. Nice unexpected addition.

Simple hike to the falls. Nothing like the sound of water and the spray.

If you want to make it challenging, climb the slippery bank to get the view from on top.

We liked this trail. Use bug spray and take hiking sticks. At the trail loop we went left, at top trails we went right and then took the west trail around to the north trail bluff. North trail bluff has a great vista. The west trail had good vistas but both would be amazing as leaves turn.

We liked this trail better than Lost Valley trail.

A little confusing on which trail to get to the view point. We got the map at the beginning and tried to use it but it didn’t come in handy at all. We ended up just winging it for our first time. We went left and looped around to under the bluff line then went up the stairs, followed the west trail then went north to the view point. The view was great! Who makes those maps anyhow??

Bug spray is absolutely necessary, but a great hike

Short easy hike into the falls - only small twin falls when we were there in late Sept., but still pretty. The drive to the trail head from the highway is rather long (steep, rough, and downhill) considering how short the hike actually is.

The trail map at the trailhead was a little confusing - it says it’s only 0.8 mi to the top, but doesn’t really indicate the direction to go to get there. I think to get to the views fastest, you need to go left when you get to the “loop trail” and then when you see the sign for “top trails” head up to the right. From the loop trail the views were a little obstructed this time of year (early fall) with all the trees still in full foliage.

This was my first backpacking trip and so I might be slightly biased on the rating of 4 stars. It was a great first experience! Though, there were plenty of struggles along the way. My husband, who has been backpacking a few times before, said it was kind of a dud compared to other trips he's been on.

Pros:
*This trail isn't over traveled, especially on the week days. If you're looking to get away and be mostly alone, you won't meet too many people out there.
*There are some sites that were created for backpackers looking to stay in the back country, but you can just as easily create your own campsite and then leave no trace that you were there. One of the spaces that is created for back country camping is said to have Adirondack chairs built out of stone right along a creek that you can swim in. When you get about 2 miles in and reach the first sign on the trail, do not take the trail that goes up the hill, rather take the trail that verges away from the main trail. Not all of our group got to see this site. We camped about half a mile from there, because we didn't know about it. This would have been much preferred, if we had known about it!
*When you do get a chance to see a view of the mountains - it is gorgeous! There's a stretch where you can see the view through the trees right before you come back down the hill to the trail head.
*Wildlife - we didn't see any bears or any signs of bears. We did see a few white tail deer. We did not see any critters - raccoons, opossums, rabbits or squirrels. But there were plenty of bugs: mosquitoes, worms, millipedes, dung beetles, rhino beetles, lots of spiders (big and small), and hoverflies (flies that looks like bees). Spiderwebs on the trails were not very problematic either.

Cons:
*The dirt road to get to this trail is a little difficult in a car - it's a long dirt road, that winds up and down some pretty steep, rocky hills - but it is doable. Most people we saw back there had trucks or SUVs. You know you are starting to get close to the trail head when you have to drive across an area that flows with water. We did this in our car and we were completely fine! However, I would recommend being very careful if you're in a car and it is spring, when the waters may be much higher! There are some people who live back along the road so it appears to be pretty well-maintained. It's a beautiful drive, but definitely be careful driving over the rocks.
*Hiking this trail in the fall meant that water was fairly scarce if you didn't know where to go - as first timers, we didn't really know. Reaching a water source was very important for us and on a couple of different occasions, became a source of some concern. The places on the map where it said you should be crossing water and seeing water, did not have any water the majority of the time. These places were instead extremely rocky and sometimes very slick.
*Around the 3rd mile in, after seeing the sign that can take you to the creek, the main trail starts to climb. It is an uphill trek for what feels like an eternity and for what is really around about a mile. In terms of difficulty, when people say that this trail is moderate, I think the ratings are a bit skewed. The water crossings we did have were not bad! While crossing some of the slick, rocky areas was difficult, it was the uphill climb that made this trail difficult. Anyone seeking to do this trail, needs to know in advance that it is seriously a big heaping helping of SUCK. It's the part of the trail that makes you start to think about why you're doing what you're doing and whether or not it was a good decision to get out there and do it. That's the hill that tests your faith, endurance, and strength. BUT - if I could do it with a 35 pound pack on my back, ANYONE can do it!
*Poison Ivy was prevalent along the trail, as well as, some plants with thorns that overhang the trail.
*One of the main reasons we picked this trail is because we thought we would get to swim in a creek and see the old homesteads and cemetery. We saw some of these sites, but they really didn't end up being all that we had hoped for. It turned out that having a pack on, hiking and toughing it out with friends, setting up and tearing down camp, and just being out in nature was worth way more than the sites we had hoped to see.
*We weren't ready for the trip to end so soon. When we reached the second sign, we got a bit confused about where we were. We walked down the old horse road and ended up back at the car by surprise. We finished a day ahead of schedule. FYI there is ONLY ONE trail head. Take the trail to the right if you want your hike to continue.

There's so much more that could be said - ultimately, it was a great experience and a trail we would recommend, as long as you willing to embrace the suck that comes with the big uphill climb. It's beautiful countryside and well worth the effort and time! Enjoy!

Good 3.7 mile hike if you do all the loops. Two vistas, one north and one south. North side is prettiest. When your on the middle loop it has a jungle feel, more moist feeling then Devil’s Den. Following the ridge line was my favorite part.

What an amazing trail. It is not to difficult. It is a little tricky getting to the bottom of the falls. So peaceful.

Great route for autumn foliage lovers. Also great to take advantage of when it’s raining or you’re too sore to hike from all the activities in the area. Sometimes when the weather isn’t conducive to hiking, I come from hours away just to enjoy the scenic drive.

I hiked this trail and completed back in 2008 I didn’t remember it being as rough as it is. The group I was with had 4 adults and 11 children ranging from 1-14 YO. It is probably be most beautiful trail I have hiked in Arkansas. We were unable to complete it as we came to a point that we felt was just too risky attempt with the children. I personally feel like we lost the trail. I hope to get attempt this again with my children so they can enjoy the scenic views at the end.

I drove my 2007 accord through the road and it was not bad ( you just need to drive slowly.

The falls was barely dropping!!
I would love to come to this falls after a heavy rain!

Someone finally went it and whacked some weeds back off the trail but highly recommend lots of insect repellent. Both times we’ve hiked this trail we’ve had terrible bug bites afterwards. Plane wreck site is interesting to see but watch out for the black snakes slithering about

Trail is not maintained very well... A lot of work to get to the scenic spot, and have overgrowth blocking the view.

Me and my boyfriend completed this hike on 8/17. The area had heavy rainfall for 3 or 4 days prior so the falls were gorgeous! It is definitely one of the most challenging hikes we have done but it was well worth it. As previous reviews have mentioned, I don’t recommend bringing your kids or dogs, everything was extremely slick (may have been from all of the rain) and the paths were narrow and primitive. There are several little falls along the river but the eye of the needle is at the very end with a large fall coming out of the cave. The ropes up to the eye are well maintained but it’s still pretty steep and not for the faint of heart. Just be very cautious if you choose to go. Looking forward to hiking it again in the fall!

Not a long trail. Runs along rocky stream to falls. very beautiful end of trail. Finding where to start it is a bit of a trick. It looks like a private road. Must park on opposite side of 74 in small 2 car parking area. ...Walk down the dirt(rock) road past private pond on your left ...could be muddy water on track road. Keep going until you see the National Forest Marker...that's where the real trail starts. It can be tricky to see the full falls to the bottom. The main trail ends at the top. Thr cascading water to try falls was a great place to rest and enjoy the beauty. ...Trail is not marked and not a groomed. I would do it again!

It was very grown up so we couldn’t finish. It was be disappointing. I had hiked it before and it was great but even the little benches along the way were rotted out.

Man, what a snoozer. The drive alone was considered the hike.

The “falls” were barely dripping water when my friend and I got there; there were spiderwebs that had to be knocked down every step; and the “waterfalls” were dinkier than any other.

Save yourself the gas and the maintenance your car may need after the drive, it’s definitely not worth it.

This is not a easy trail at all so please don't bring kids and/or pets on this trail! If you walk across the creek it can be slippery on the rocks and can easily hurt yourself as well. There is a trail along the creek but it can be dangerous as it's not wide and at times is close to a 100ft drop. When you do get to the Eye of the Needle there are ropes to climb to help climb up and do use them because if you lose your balance it's not good. Other than the dangers this is a hike that's worth it! Hiked with a friend and we enjoyed all the views that the trail offers!

Made this hike solo on 6/30/18. The most recent rain was 3-4 days prior so the creek bed was fairly dry and it was possible to stay on it without getting too wet. Make no mistake, this is a strenuous hike. Even in the peak of summer there are pools of water that leave the rocks slippery and there are sections that require mild acrobatics to climb. There are some beautiful views and wildlife on the creek bed path. At the end of the creek bed there is a cave which is easy enough to climb up to but I did not enter - there is a sign posted about the bats suffering from White Nose. Close to it there are two ropes that can be used to climb further on to the Eye of the Needle. I did not do so as I did not think it would be worth the risk of injury, and I would definitely recommend taking a partner if you plan on scaling the rope climbs - the nearest help could be 1.5-2 mi of rough terrain away. Took me about 4.5 hrs with multiple stops just to sit and observe the surroundings on the way. Overall, this is a great hike. The physical challenge just adds to the feeling of accomplishment at the end.