Funnel Falls
"There's no better place to find yourself than sitting by a waterfall and listening to it's music" - Roland R. Kemler
Funnel Falls actually consists of two separate falls aptly names East Funnel Falls and West Funnel Falls. The East falls is the more scenic of the two as eons of water flow have carved a funnel in the side of the cliff which allows the water to snake down in a thin line to the creekbed below. These falls can be found off highway 341 near Big Flat, Arkansas in Searcy County.
Inside Info - This is now one of my favorite destinations but it's not the easiest place to find. First things first and that is the directions link above only takes you to the dirt road turnoff of highway 341 northeast of Big Flat. Going north on highway 341 you turn left on Rand Rd/FR #1118 and drive 6.8 miles until you get to the intersection with Spring Creek Rd. You'll turn right and go another 8/10 of a mile and park on a small Jeep trail on the left side of the road. You'll cross the road on foot and head into the woods straight down a small hill until you come to an old logging road. One thing that bears mentioning is that there are a couple of small Jeep trails on the left side of Rand Rd that are within a couple of tenths of a mile from each other. You park at the FIRST small Jeep trail. The second one is a little larger and looks more traveled but the first one is the one you need to park in. Ok back to the hike. Once you get to the logging road keep following it until there is a pretty severe turn to the right (looks like it's taking you back up the hill). At that point you'll see a trail to the left heading downhill. Go downhill and keep following it until you get to the falls. The 'trail' is not prominent and at times looks more like a water runoff than a true trail but it's really not hard to follow. The falls are probably one a 1/4 mile or so from the old logging road. West Funnel Falls is a pretty standard pouroff off the side of a bluff but East Funnel Falls is where this area gets its name. Approach the falls with extreme caution! Really no warning is necessary once you see the situation with the East falls as the water has carved a huge hole into the side of the bluff. There is an arch rock formation that I stood on when I took the front-on pics and videos of this truly unique waterfall but I cannot recommend others do this because one minor misstep would be disastrous. Once we were done viewing the upper part of the falls, my daughter wanted to see them from below so we set about trying to find a path to the bottom of the bluff line. About 50 - 100 yards west of the falls (this is just a guess since the distance was hard to determine given the irregular path we took), the bluff line started to flatten out and we found a safe way to climb down. My daughter is only 11 years old and I would never intentionally put her in harms way. I say this only to convey that the path to the bottom of the bluffs is quite safe although there are a couple of slick spots. The view from the bottom isn't quite as awe-inspiring as the view from the top but still it's a completely different look so I do recommend it if you have the time. The hike back up the hill to the Jeep was actually pretty tiring so that changed my mind on the difficulty of the hike from 3 stars to 4. Otherwise it wasn't a bad hike at all. In fact it rained most of the time but due to the thick canopy of trees we didn't get very wet.
Final Word - One of my favorite hikes and favorite waterfalls. Be advised that the dirt road once you leave highway 341 is very ROUGH. In fact I had a flat tire and had to change it in a pouring rainstorm. I tried to get the tire patched but the tire place said it was destroyed because a large rock had caused a crack in the tire rather than a simple hole. So yes it was a very bumpy ride. As previously mentioned I had my 11 year old daughter with me but she is an experienced hiker and she handled it like a champ. However I would be extremely hesitant to take a younger child or one that was inexperienced on this hike. The bluff line around East Funnel Falls is extremely slick and extremely dangerous. It's a 100 ft drop to the bottom and a fall would either be fatal or cause serious injuries. Given the location of them I imagine it would be hours before help could arrive because in addition to being remote, there is also no cell service. Please be careful.
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Trailhead Pic
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Difficulty - ✹✹✹✹ (out of 5)
Scenic Beauty - ✰✰✰✰ (out of 5)
Directions - Click Here
Funnel Falls actually consists of two separate falls aptly names East Funnel Falls and West Funnel Falls. The East falls is the more scenic of the two as eons of water flow have carved a funnel in the side of the cliff which allows the water to snake down in a thin line to the creekbed below. These falls can be found off highway 341 near Big Flat, Arkansas in Searcy County.
Inside Info - This is now one of my favorite destinations but it's not the easiest place to find. First things first and that is the directions link above only takes you to the dirt road turnoff of highway 341 northeast of Big Flat. Going north on highway 341 you turn left on Rand Rd/FR #1118 and drive 6.8 miles until you get to the intersection with Spring Creek Rd. You'll turn right and go another 8/10 of a mile and park on a small Jeep trail on the left side of the road. You'll cross the road on foot and head into the woods straight down a small hill until you come to an old logging road. One thing that bears mentioning is that there are a couple of small Jeep trails on the left side of Rand Rd that are within a couple of tenths of a mile from each other. You park at the FIRST small Jeep trail. The second one is a little larger and looks more traveled but the first one is the one you need to park in. Ok back to the hike. Once you get to the logging road keep following it until there is a pretty severe turn to the right (looks like it's taking you back up the hill). At that point you'll see a trail to the left heading downhill. Go downhill and keep following it until you get to the falls. The 'trail' is not prominent and at times looks more like a water runoff than a true trail but it's really not hard to follow. The falls are probably one a 1/4 mile or so from the old logging road. West Funnel Falls is a pretty standard pouroff off the side of a bluff but East Funnel Falls is where this area gets its name. Approach the falls with extreme caution! Really no warning is necessary once you see the situation with the East falls as the water has carved a huge hole into the side of the bluff. There is an arch rock formation that I stood on when I took the front-on pics and videos of this truly unique waterfall but I cannot recommend others do this because one minor misstep would be disastrous. Once we were done viewing the upper part of the falls, my daughter wanted to see them from below so we set about trying to find a path to the bottom of the bluff line. About 50 - 100 yards west of the falls (this is just a guess since the distance was hard to determine given the irregular path we took), the bluff line started to flatten out and we found a safe way to climb down. My daughter is only 11 years old and I would never intentionally put her in harms way. I say this only to convey that the path to the bottom of the bluffs is quite safe although there are a couple of slick spots. The view from the bottom isn't quite as awe-inspiring as the view from the top but still it's a completely different look so I do recommend it if you have the time. The hike back up the hill to the Jeep was actually pretty tiring so that changed my mind on the difficulty of the hike from 3 stars to 4. Otherwise it wasn't a bad hike at all. In fact it rained most of the time but due to the thick canopy of trees we didn't get very wet.
Final Word - One of my favorite hikes and favorite waterfalls. Be advised that the dirt road once you leave highway 341 is very ROUGH. In fact I had a flat tire and had to change it in a pouring rainstorm. I tried to get the tire patched but the tire place said it was destroyed because a large rock had caused a crack in the tire rather than a simple hole. So yes it was a very bumpy ride. As previously mentioned I had my 11 year old daughter with me but she is an experienced hiker and she handled it like a champ. However I would be extremely hesitant to take a younger child or one that was inexperienced on this hike. The bluff line around East Funnel Falls is extremely slick and extremely dangerous. It's a 100 ft drop to the bottom and a fall would either be fatal or cause serious injuries. Given the location of them I imagine it would be hours before help could arrive because in addition to being remote, there is also no cell service. Please be careful.
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Trailhead Pic
This is where we parked, the trail is on the other side of the road from the Jeep
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