Sponsored: Hall’s Creek Canyon Natural Area

The 33-acre Hall's Creek Canyon Natural Area includes a narrow and deeply incised, bluff-walled canyon with approximately 260 feet of local relief and a variety of geologic features in the creek-bed and canyon walls. Canyons of this sort are especially uncommon in this part of the Ozarks, which is generally less rugged and more gently rolling than other ecoregions to the west and south. Hikers can explore Elephant Cave, Raven’s Den, or Needle’s Eye, a large fissure in the solid rock bluff from the bottom of the canyon to the top. 

The natural area is the only known site in Arkansas for the wall-rue spleenwort (Asplenium ruta-muraria), a rare fern of vertical cliff faces. In addition to its natural significance, the property contains important historical features including several springs, for which the town of Ravenden Springs was named. Several bluff overhangs were used by early residents and one such cave, School Cave, has been documented by several secondary sources as the site of Arkansas' first free school, founded in the early 1800s.