Penhook Falls

Penhook, Hitchhiker, Oasis, Waterslide and Concrete Slab Falls

Hector, AR - 5.3 Miles - Moderate Out & Back

This location has an impressive amount of unique waterfalls. A good portion of the hike is on a ATV/horse trail and the remainder is a short bushwhack. This hike gives our hike on Bear Creek a serious run for it's money. I would for sure consider this a top 3 favorite! Penhook Falls is featured in Tim Ernst's Arkansas Waterfalls Second Edition guidebook.

In regards to parking, we messed up slightly. Forest Road #1376 is located off of Highway 27 North of Hector, AR. This road follows alongside the Illinois Bayou and eventually crosses Snow Creek. There is small pull-off/parking area right before you reach Snow Creek. When we reached the pull-off, there were a few vehicles parked, so naturally I assumed this is where we would need to park as well. We walked across Snow Creek and took off hiking up the road. About a half of a mile into our hike, we came to a second parking area. If we would have parked here, we would eliminated about a mile and a significant portion of elevation from our hike. This was one of those times that you had to look at the physical benefits of literally going the extra mile.

Right past the second parking location, the road narrows into an ATV/horse trail. We saw a lot of horse riders in the area this day. We hiked down this trail for approximately half of a mile until we came to a small drainage area that crossed the trail. We turned to the right and followed the drainage downhill until we came to a pretty steep bluff. From the top of the bluff line, we could see a the creek and Oasis Falls below. From this point we followed the bluff line in hopes of finding a break and eventually came to a spot that we could hike down and into the creek bed.

Once we got down into the creek bed, we discovered that we were very close to four beautiful waterfalls. The first one that we came to was Concrete Slab Falls. My only minor injury of the day occurred at this waterfall. In an attempt to get closer and take a photo standing behind the falls, I slipped and got my leggings hung up on a log. The log put a hole in leggings and left me bleeding.

Concrete Slab Falls

We then located Penhook Falls (pictured above), an impressive forty-one foot tall waterfall. The hike to both Concrete Slab and Penhook are up creek beds with slick, large boulders. Downstream, we found Waterslide Falls and Oasis Falls (pictured below). From the hillside above, you can view both of these beauties at the exact same time.

Oasis Falls - Bottom, Waterslide Falls - Top

Waterslide Falls

Hitchhiker Falls

Our final waterfall of the day, is called Hitchhiker Falls. To access this waterfall we first hiked back to the original ATV/horse trail. Continuing past the original drainage that we followed, we found a second drainage to the left and followed it until we reached Hitchhiker. This area was very messy and difficult to maneuver. There were a lot of large boulders and uprooted trees that created obstacles.

Hitchhiker Falls was the tallest out of all of the waterfalls that we visited in the area. It was also the most difficult to photograph due to the brush that blocked the base.

According to Tim Ernst's Arkansas Waterfalls Second Edition guidebook , there are a few other waterfalls in the area that we missed and will be back soon to find. If you are a waterfall fanatic, I highly recommend this hike .

December 4th, 2022

Name: Oasis Falls, Waterslide Falls, Penhook Falls, Concrete Slab Falls and Hitchhiker Falls

Navigation: AllTrails App

Difficulty: Moderate

Elevation Gain: 869 Feet

Distance: 5.3 Miles

Disclaimer: In the event that you choose to pursue any adventure described on this website, please proceed with extreme caution. All opinions are subjective and will vary from person to person based upon experience and skill. Additional research should be completed before attempting any of the hikes portrayed in this blog.

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