Arkansas · National River trail

Eden Falls Cave - Lost Valley Trail

in Arkansas · centroid 82 mi from Springfield

Eden Falls Cave is a geological feature at the end of the Lost Valley Trail. Visitors may crawl 200 feet through the cave into a large room with an underground waterfall that feeds into Eden Falls and Clark Creek below. Eden Falls Cave is a wild cave with no developed pathways or artificial lighting.

Visitors entering the cave should have at least 3 sources of light and be prepared to get wet and muddy while crawling on hands and knees. Helmets, gloves, and kneepads are advised.

States
Arkansas
Trail type
National River trail
Centroid nearest city
Springfield, MO · 82 mi · ~2.4 hr drive
Centroid coords
36.0182°, -93.3878°

About Buffalo National River

National River

This trail is inside Buffalo National River, a national river managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.

Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/eden-falls-cave-lost-valley-trail.htm

Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/buff/index.htm

Plan your hike

Practical notes

Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.

Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.

When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.

If you've hiked Eden Falls Cave - Lost Valley Trail and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.

Stay nearby

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Driving in? The nearest documented metro is Springfield, MO — 82 miles away (~2.4 hr drive). See accommodation in Springfield on Booking.com → RoamFound earns a small commission if you book through this link, at no extra cost to you. How we handle affiliate links.

Other trails within 50 miles

6 nearby

Sources

Public data + curation

Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.