Natural Falls State Park

Natural Falls State Park
Natural Falls
Location	Delaware County, Oklahoma, USA
Nearest city	West Siloam Springs, OK
Coordinates
Area	120 acres (49 ha)
Governing body	Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department
http://www.travelok.com/listings/view.profile/id.5293

Natural Falls State Park is a state park in the Ozarks, in Delaware County, Oklahoma.

Located in northeast Oklahoma in the scenic Ozark Highlands region, Natural Falls State Park features a 77-foot (23 m) waterfall cascading through rock formations and creating a hidden, serene atmosphere at the bottom of a narrow V-shaped valley. An observation platform with a nearby picnic pavilion overlooks the falls and a deck with seating is available at the base of the falls. Picnic tables and grills can be found throughout the park. Campsites including 44 RV sites and 27 tent sites, and a comfort station with showers are also on site. The Red Fern Reunion Center is available for group functions. Other amenities include a three and a half mile hiking and nature trail, picnic shelter, volleyball, horseshoes, basketball court, catch and release fishing, playgrounds, and formal garden area. Pets are allowed on a leash only.

The park affords an opportunity to observe a variety of plant and animal life. Hikers will find a dense forest of maples, chinquapin, and white oaks, while plants such as flowering dogwood, sassafras, coral berry, spicebush, redbud, and pawpaw blanket the cool forest floor. The waterfall creates a moist environment where ferns, mosses, and liverworts thrive. Once privately owned and operated as a tourist attraction, this park was used in the production of the 1974 film Where the Red Fern Grows.

It includes a waterfall which is 77 ft (23 m) tall. This is one of the two tallest known waterfalls in the state, matching Turner Falls in the Arbuckle Mountains. The falls are known to local residents as Dripping Springs Falls, but the State renamed the park as Natural Falls to distinguish it from Dripping Springs State Park and other sites in Oklahoma with similar names.