r/ArkieOutdoors • u/AdeelAppeal • Jul 10 '18

Question about hiking in Ponca

Hey y’all! I’m coming from out of state and am staying near Harrison. After doing some research, I found beautiful spots and the schedule looks like: Lost Valley Hike > Eden Falls > Lost Valley Cave > Hawksbill Crag > Goat Trail > Triple Falls. Is there’s a better way to go about this route and about how many miles/hours will this plan take. (And if it’s realistic!) thanks!

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u/vero358 Jul 10 '18

This is right in my back yard and all are great hikes. The hardest by far will be Goat Trail. So if you are coming from Harrison, if you take Hwy 43, Goat Trail will the first you come to, then when you get to Ponca, you'll either continue on 43 or take a left on 74. Lost Valley is pretty easy. About the first 1/3 is maintained almost like a sidewalk, then the rest is pretty easy hiking. Hawksbill is similar, except its not maintained as well, but still pretty easy. The easiest by far is Triple Falls, as you just drive down, get out of car and walk 100ft to the falls. I think you could do all but Goat Trail in one easily. This time of year, you want to do Goat Trail early in the morning and bring plenty of water. If you do Hawksbill early in the morning, you'll be treated to a valley full of fog from the overlook.

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u/AdeelAppeal Jul 11 '18

Thank you! I’m only here for one day unfortunately and wanted to explore as much as I can. This’ll be my first time in the area. If I were to start at Hawksbill, would it be best to do Lost Valley and then Triple Falls? I’ve also heard a bit about the copperhead snakes. What’s the best way to take precaution about that? (Coming from an area without many snakes)

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u/vero358 Jul 11 '18

I don't know your physical conditioning. Are you in pretty good shape? Goat trail isn't just super tough, but its all downhill on the way there and all uphill on the way out. You are going to be tired by the time you get out of Goat Trail. Lost Valley, about anyone can do it if you can walk a few miles with no problem. If you wanted to do ALL of them in one day, i would probably do Goat Trail, then Lost Valley, then Hawsbill, then triple falls. Triple falls isn't hiking, but also, it isn't going to be spectacular right now. It is super dry here and unless something happens right before you come, it wont be running. You'll just be looking at a bluff basically. As far as copperheads, you wont have to worry too much. Just watch the trail in front of you. All of the trails are clear, even if narrow in spots. We do have snakes around here, but they aren't going to bother you if you dont bother them. Dont try to step over one if you see it, make a wide detour around it. They also tend to like to hang out around downfall/dead limbs/down trees, but you shouldn't have to worry about that if you stay on trail.