The Falls at Hercules Glades Wilderness is wonderful spot for a day hike that will really stretch your legs. Located in southwestern Missouri's Taney County on the Ava Ranger District of the Mark Twain National Forest, it covers over 12,300 acres. Inside the boundaries you'll find open grassland, forested knobs, steep rocky hillsides and narrow drainage's less than an hour from Branson.

The access points for Hercules Glades are located from the west at Coy Bald, south at Blair Ridge, and east at the Lookout Tower off County Road 125. There are no roads inside the wilderness and no motor vehicles are allowed on the trails. Horses and hikers and dogs are welcome.

To get there from Branson, Missouri, take Hwy 65 north for a few miles and turn east on Hwy 160. Stay on Hwy 160 and go through Forsyth, and Kissee Mills. You'll cross a bridge at Beaver Creek and continue for a few miles more until you see a sign pointing to Coy Bald access to Hercules Glades. Turn left here for the eastern access. Go a few more miles on Hwy 160 and you can turn on left Blair Ridge Road and follow it to the southern access or, keep going straight on Hwy 160 for yet a few more miles and turn left on County Road 125 (north) and go 5-10 miles until you see the sign for the Lookout Tower and Hercules Glades Access. No matter what access point you drive too, the scenery is great. Take your time and drive carefully on the mountain roads.

Start your hike early (before 10 am) and bring along the standard gear for a day hike. The trail from the Lookout Tower is where my neighbor Randy Dunn and I started our hike from. The Lookout Tower is pretty cool all by itself and you can climb up the stairs all the way to top to get a really great view of the area. Randy was ready to climb up to the top of the Lookout Tower but after I explained that I had a habit of turning into "Human Velcro" when I exceed heights greater than I can safely fall from, (10-20 inches) he decided that he probably didn't need to see that really great view this time.

After getting our packs ready, we took the trail that begins at the very western edge of the parking/camping area. The trail heads due west along a ridge top that is pretty level for almost a mile, then it starts heading down into the bottom of a canyon where Long Creek runs. You head downhill for about another mile and cross over the usually dry creek at Pale Hollow, if you look to the left here you can see Long Creek. This is a very scenic spot and a good place to take a rest and eat a snak.

Hiking the along the bed of Long Creek you'll find the water flowing through cracks and crevices, around boulders and over small water falls. This is where it really starts to get pretty. The trail crosses over the creek several times and it's easy to lose the trail when it does. Randy and I lost the trail and instead of going back to look for the crossing we decided to hike on the right side of the creekbed off trail for awhile. We hiked about a half of a mile and the hillside got pretty steep so we finally decided to head back down into the creekbed.

There are all kinds of small waterfalls along the creekbed and I was beginning to wonder if we had already passed "The Falls" but Randy said he didn't believe so. He said he thought that while what we had seen was pretty cool, "the Falls" should be something a bit more special, so we continued on. After another half mile or so we came to a trail that headed up towards Coy Bald. I knew we must be getting close now. We met a couple of hikers coming up the creekbed there and asked them where "The Falls" were. They said that they were just another quarter mile down the creek. After a few minutes of chatting, Randy and I took off to find these waterfalls.

The Falls at Hercules Glades is indeed a very special place. Randy and I spent about an 1 1/2 hours there exploring. It's like a little Grand Canyon. It's the kind of place that invites you to rest awhile and enjoy the beauty. We did.

At about 4:00 pm, Randy and I decided we better head back out. It was a tough thing to do. This is the kind of place you really want to spend a night or two, but we weren't prepared for that and it would be getting dark soon. The hike back is pretty tough if your racing the clock to beat sundown and that's exactly what we were doing. I had to stop and rest a couple of times on the way up the hill. It really felt great to hit the level part of the last mile back to the tower. Randy mentioned that we had an ice cold Boulevard Pale Ale waiting for us at the end of the trail and that definitely inspired me to hike a little faster. It was a good thing I did because the sun had just set a few minutes before we got back to Lookout Tower and we hiked the last little bit as it was getting dark.

The Falls at Hercules Glades Wilderness is a great place to hike. I hope you can make the time to enjoy it too. If you do make it to "The Falls" sit down on the edge of the flat rock that's on the north side of the creek facing the falls. Right behind you is a small ledge. There is a small flat stone under there. Underneath it I hid a 1999 US Quarter dollar. If you find it, let me know ;)

Update: 10/15/2003

Several people have been kind enough to send a message and tell me that they either found, or did not find the Quarter dollar I left there. I've been there several times in the last few years and I can tell you that a Quarter is still there about where I put it. It was missing when I went there in the Spring of 2001 and since I did not have a Quarter with me, I place a Nickel under a small rock in the same spot. I was there again in the Spring of 2002 and the Nickel had been replaced with a Quarter by someone else. That Quarter is still there as of this update and we added a few more. My stepson, Chris, our good friend, Jay Lipnitsky, and I, all placed a few more Quarters there today. I put mine on the South side of "The Falls". They're under two small flat rocks that are stacked beneath a large stone that sits on the end of the ledge overlooking "The Falls". I hope you get a chance to go find them. And be sure to let me know if you do!

Update: 03/24/2007

I went there again today and the quarter was gone. While I was there I met 3 hikers from Aurora that had read about the quarter (on this site) and were there looking for it. They didn't seem to mind that the quarter was missing, they were soaking up the perfect weather we had. We talked a bit and then parted ways. I told them I'd post a link to free topo maps for the entire U.S so, here it is

Free Topo Maps.
(Hercules Glades is on the Hilda map for Taney County.)

I put a quarter at "The Falls" again, it's under the same small flat rocks that are stacked beneath a large stone that sits on the end of the ledge overlooking "The Falls" from the south side. Quite a few people have written to tell me they went there and either found, or did not find a coin there sine the last update. Most left something there either way. So, I still hope you get a chance to go find the quarter I just left there today. If you do, be sure to let me know!