Beautiful Waterfall Hike: How to Hike Thunder Canyon Falls

The trailhead is not easy to miss with a fairly decent parking area available (holding 10-ish vehicles). There is a bathroom for public use and multiple signs with hiking trail information.

The Hike to Thunder Canyon Falls

With Alltrails tracking our hike, and screenshots of instructions (from AllTrails and Arkansas Waterfalls), we head down the Cecil Cove Loop Trail toward Cecil Creek.

We easily found our first marker – a beaver dam and pond at the 0.3-mile mark. Check! This creek is easily crossed at the dam or by stepping along a few rocks in the stream. And then we headed left (not crossing Cecil Creek, yet).

Our next markers were more creek crossings, crossing Cecil Creek at miles 1.0 and 1.4. At this point, we realized that someone had marked the trail with orange tape (as another hiker had suggested in the AllTrails app).

Hoping this orange tape led to Thunder Canyon Falls, we kept a lookout for the markings to make sure we were on track.

Our only wrong turn came after the second Cecil Creek crossing. Instructions said to make a left immediately after the second creek crossing. Because we were distracted, we didn’t even notice the trail we missed.

After hiking approximately 1/4 miles down the wrong path, we realized we hadn’t seen the orange markers in a bit and should have arrived at the falls by now. Pulling up the Alltrails app, we found that we were off course, and corrected.

Backtracking was easy enough since the entire hike had been mostly level. And finding our missed turn was easy (and even marked with orange tape that we didn’t notice on our first trip through…).

After correcting this missed turn, we were headed to Thunder Canyon Falls!

Hiking Backpack

My backpack: Lowe Alpine AirZone Active Backpack for Day Hiking

Take a Peek –>

This is where the path earns its “dangerous” reputation. The rest of the hike is on a steep hillside with solid rock at the bottom that has been carved out by the rushing waters. It’s a beautiful sight!

The hike along the hillside continued to have the orange tape markings to lead the way. On occasion, we lost the faint trail but continued to work our way upstream on our waterfall hike to Thunder Canyon Falls.

There were a few slippery spots, even after no recent rainfall. There are plenty of small trees to hang onto (and sticker bushes to dodge), as you scale the path to the falls.

I can imagine that this trail could be very slippery and dangerous after a little rain.

As you close in on the falls, you can begin to hear the water rushing and feel the temperature drop a few degrees.

This hiking trail lets the anticipation build perfectly as you can feel and hear the falls before rounding the corner to see the spectacular sight of Thunder Canyon Falls.

Hiking Boots

My hiking boots: Columbia Women’s Facet 75 Mid Outdry Hiking Shoe

Take a Look –>

Experiencing Thunder Canyon Falls

You make it to Thunder Canyon Falls at the 2-mile mark of this hike. If you are lucky, you get to experience the falls in seclusion.

As we arrived at the falls, a small group was leaving. We had plenty of time to take pictures, eat a snack, and then sit on the rocks to soak in the scenery and atmosphere. A mid-day Monday was the perfect time to see the falls.

Leaving this beautiful scenery was tough, but the hike back to the van was easy enough. We followed the water flow route downstream before rejoining the hiking trail at Cecil Creek.

The trail turns going back were easy to remember, so we didn’t get lost or off track on the hike back.

A huge THANK YOU to whoever marked the entire hiking trail to Thunder Canyon Falls with orange tape!

Final Thoughts on this Waterfall Hike

This waterfall hike is perfect for us and quickly joined my favorites list. At a 4-mile round trip, this hiking trail is not too long or too short. The 2-hour drive (one way) for us was justified by the amazing view at the end of the waterfall hike.

The trail has just enough difficulty to keep it from getting boring, but not so difficult that you leave exhausted. Perfect!

But… it is HIGHLY advised to take extreme caution if you take this particular path after any amount of recent rain. Be careful and enjoy YOUR waterfall hike!

Thunder Canyon Falls

Your step-by-step guide to finding Thunder Canyon Falls + location link to the trailhead.

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Whitaker Point Hiking Guide

All the details you need to plan a stress-free hike to see the most photographed spot in Arkansas: Whitaker Point (aka Hawksbill Crag).

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If you venture out on this waterfall hike, let me know what you thought of it!!