Tanyard Creek Nature Trail offers microcosm of Ozarks
No need to drive hundreds of miles to see all that nature has to offer in the Ozarks. Nearly everything Ozarks is right before your very eyes along the Tanyard Creek Nature Trail in Bella Vista.
Most natural features people associate with the Ozarks are seen at Tanyard Creek. The 2-mile loop in the heart of Bella Vista has it all: bluffs, a mountain stream, a waterfall, spring, forest, even a swinging bridge.
Miles of new trail have been chiseled recently out of the hardscrabble hills and hollows around Bella Vista. Yet Tanyard Creek is the city’s first trail, said Kay Curry, the city’s trails coordinator. It’s a true original, built during the 1990s by platoons of volunteers. Willing volunteers maintain the trail today.
Tanyard Creek isn’t one of the city trails that Curry oversees. The trail is under the umbrella of the Bella Vista Property Owners Association, not the city, but Curry knows it well.
“The rock outcroppings, the vegetation and the waterfall, it’s all just beautiful,” she said. “It’s a fabulous trail for bird watching,” she noted. “A lot of Audubon people visit the trail.”
An array of different habitats make it bird city at Tanyard Creek. Forest attracts woodland species like woodpeckers. A nearby golf driving range brings in regal scissor-tail flycatchers, woodcocks and other birds that like open fields. Hikers might see wood ducks or herons in the stream.
Sunshine Creek flows clear and gentle on the west end of the loop at the start of the hike. Avalon Creek is its other name. This watery gem joins Tanyard Creek, which in turn meanders through Bella Vista and flows into Little Sugar Creek.
The trail is open to the public, not just members of the Property Owners Association. Access to golf courses, lakes and other amenities requires association membership.
To get started, exit U.S. 71 at Arkansas 340, also called Lancashire Boulevard. Drive west for 1 mile on Lancashire. Turn left into the parking area at the sign for Tanyard Creek Park.
Walk the paved path downhill from the picnic pavilion to the start of the dirt trail. Most visitors begin by hiking west from the big information kiosk at the trail’s start.
A highlight is the Tanyard Creek waterfall, which is reached on an uphill spur trail. The 10-foot cascade is near the spillway of Lake Windsor and roars mightily after significant rain.
Rapids tumble their way over rock ledges on a race downhill to a footbridge over the creek. The flow slows down from here.
Gradually the route climbs uphill along an old county road before circling back and following the creek.
A swinging bridge, built of steel cable and wood planks, makes for a swaying walk across Tanyard Creek. A sign at the bridge reads, “No excessive jumping.” Normal jumping is OK. Everything in moderation, even jumping.
More streamside scenery is seen on the finale of the hike back to the trail’s start.
New trails have been built close to the Tanyard Creek Nature Trail. These are for hiking and mountain biking, but Tanyard Creek trail is for hiking only. Dogs on a leash are allowed.