upper sparda creek waterfall

[zwoerner10]

does anybody know about the upper sparda creek waterfall? i have seen pics but haven't read anything about it in the creek descriptions. just wondering where it was so maybe could get a chance to run it

[A Savage spanke]

spainhower? (sp?) there is another one above that you can hike up to

[waterhog]

there is another one above that one that your talkin about spanke where the two main forks come together a 7 footer into a 12 footer

[JTarver]

I have to admit, I've been curious about spainhour falls for awhile too. Is it difficult to hike up to..or the other falls that spanke is talking about? Directions would be great, as I'm thinking about hiking up this weekend or next.

Also, anyone got any pics of them being run..or running. Videoof course would be even better.

Thanks,
Joe

[A Savage spanke]

I think on fish's page (owp) there are some pictures of Noah Fraiser running it, although I could be wrong. A 7 foot into a 12? seriously? That sounds awesome, I'm from Clarksville and I've never heard about this

[FarPastGone]

Theres also a 40ft version of Gorilla on one of the upper branches up near Spainhour.

-Matt

[zwoerner10]

thats awesome! im going to try and go check it out on sunday. anybody with some good drections please let me know. i know how to get to the first bridge where you can put in and also further up the creek to the second bridge where you can put in but dont know where to go from there. if you know that would be awesome and also about how long the hike is.

Thanks,
Zach

[A Savage spanke]

I don't think the road is accessible anymore, but I believe there is an old 4x4 trail the leads straight there. If you can find that you could just walk it, or perhaps drive it, I really don't know and could be wrong all together. Good luck though

[JohnG]

The Arkansas Waterfalls Guidebook by Tim Ernst has three Spadra Creek waterfalls on page 132 = Spainhour 16 feet, Lucy 17 ft, and Aspen 37 feet. He shows parking on county road 4430 and a long 7.2 roundtrip hike or continuing on FR 1422a, which crosses the creek 6 times and is therefore pretty wet if the falls are going good.

[zwoerner10]

cool thanks for the info...do you know if Aspen and Lucy falls are runnable at a high level?

[kayakdoc]

The road to the falls is a spur off the road of the usual putin. It does cross the creek about 5-6 times below the popular waterfall. I'm pretty sure that when the creek has enough water for the fall to be runnable, the lower road will be impassable. Another option would be to hike down from the first dirt road that heads south off of low gap road west of Ozone. There is a small forest road that heads east down into the canyon from this road, but it would be a hell of a hike. The forest service has now blocked ATV's from this area but a jeep would make it when dry or a little wet! From what I heard locally the shale has really been eaten back, since Noah Frazier's run off of Spainhour falls probably around 1992+/-?
Spadra creek into town when that was running would be huge at the level for Spainhour to have flow. It does occasionally get up to the 15-17ft level compared to normal running levels of 5-9 ft.
Mike Hillis