• Little Niagra

    Chickasaw

    National Recreation Area Oklahoma

Hillside Spring

Spring waters coming from a stone basin under the trees
Hillside Spring retaining wall and basin, built in 1935.
NPS/Chickasaw National Recreation Area
 

Spring Type: Mineral
Spring Status: Flowing; not safe to drink

 
Stone and wood pagoda-style pavilion over a mineral spring

NPS/Chickasaw NRA

Pagoda-style pavilion over Hillside Spring, 1920s.

Prior to the construction of a new cistern and basin by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, Hillside Spring issued from a grotto in a rock wall below the park headquarters (the present-day Platt District Ranger Station, also known as the Leeper House). Heavy in sulphur content, this water flows at a rate of about eighty gallons per minute. For thirty years, Hillside Spring was also known as the "Beauty Spring" because the water was believed to brighten eyes and beautify complexions. Due to high bacteria counts, the water of Hillside Spring is not presently safe for human consumption.

Did You Know?

Park Rangers at Buffalo Spring, 1969

Chickasaw National Recreation Area is older than Grand Canyon National Park. Originally established in 1902, the park was designated Platt National Park in 1906 and redesignated Chickasaw NRA in 1976. The Grand Canyon was first designated a National Monument in 1908. More...