The cut along Forest Road 1205 in Newton County, Arkansas
Image was taken with a Sony Nex-7, Sony 16-80mm Zoom Zeiss lens @ 16mm (effective 24mm on Nex7), iso 200. This is a composite image taken in 3 vertical segments then stitched together in Photoshop CS6 to get the final image. Raw files were converted using Lightroom 4.1
If you have traveled the back roads of Arkansas much, you will have driven on forest road 1205. This single road passes some of the most impressive scenery in the state. 1205 runs pretty much north and south and for about half of it’s length it parallels Falling Water Creek. Falling Water Creek has some very impressive features including Falling Water Falls, which is a ledge drop that covers the entire width of the creek and is about 13 feet high. 1205 follows along Falling Water Creek, and then crosses over Richland creek, which is one of the best places to hike, camp and photograph in Arkansas. From the crossing of Richland, 1205 begins a long climb up the adjoining ridges and then tops out about 1000 feet higher at Dicky Junction. 1205 can be driven in a car, but there are places where it might be a bit tough as the road has started to really fall apart here it enters Newton County. There are many people who live along 1205 and it’s a road that is important as a U.S. mail connection.
Many people won’t remember back to March of 2008, but during this time in Arkansas there were several really heavy rains that fell in close succession to each other. The first one of these rains started a minor slide in a weak hillside along 1205. This spot was about 2 miles south from the Richland Creek Campground. The slide was minor and with some bulldozer work most of it was cleared up. In the next few weeks, more heavy rainfall caused a further weakening and eventually the entire mountainside slumped away. The damage was tremendous and for about 1/16th of a mile where 1205 had been was only a mass jumble of downed trees and huge rocks. Several times I attempted to hike through to the other side, but the damage was such that you really could not make much progress before coming to a huge tree or rock which required a long detour.
The plan was to have the U.S. Forest service repair the road and do a repair that would last. In the interim, Richland Creek campground was closed and one of the most vital links for transportation was no longer there. For about the next 2 years, not too much was done. Many people complained about the campground being closed, but the Forest Service felt that they could not get access to this area fast enough if there was an emergency. Traffic was routed back around the upper end of 1205 if you wanted to get to Richland.
Recent Comments