Richland Creek Wilderness

“How many of you have done the Twin Falls bushwhack from Richland Campground? If you have, let's hear your creek crossing stories... I'm headed there in about 4 weeks with some newbies and want to know what I'm getting into...”

“I've done the trip to Richland and the Twin Falls on Devils Fork a couple of times.

Richland and the other creeks in the area will rise and fall very quickly depending on recent rainfall. They can go from easily crossable to impassable in an hour or two depending on how saturated the ground is.

We've not had much rain lately and, right now, there shouldn't be a problem crossing Richland, but that could all change very quickly if a storm moves in.

The attached link shows the USGS levels for Ozark creeks including Richland and the low, optimum, and high readings. This site is mainly for paddlers, but is a good source of info. for many streams and also has some great pictures.

I'd be wary of trying to cross anything that was in the floatable range, especially near "optimum".

Also, if you're back in the area and heavy rains start, you might not be able to get out until the rain and creek levels subside.

Hope this helps.”

“I was so caught up in reflection, I forgot to post the link.

Here it is.

http://www.ozarkpages.com/cgi-bin/stages.pl?ST=name”

“You have to cross Falling Water Creek right at the parking area. You should get a good idea of the situation from the start. Crossing Richland creek will be a little wetter. About three weeks ago the water on Devils Fork was low enough that it was all underground. It hasn't rained since.

I was in the Richland Creek area this past weekend and I made one step into Falling Water to get across. With my gaiters it was a completely dry crossing.”

“I'll keep an eye on the precip.”

“I WANNA GO!”

“Come in from the cemetary on the north side. Leave the parking area to the right. Follow the old road trace to the Devil's Backbone & make your way down the bluff. Just my favorite way to get there.”

“bump”

“Been there done that. Creek crossins. Not to much crossin to do when I went.”

“Personally I wouldn't go until we get a good rain. What's a waterfall without water?”