See http://arkansasstateparks.com/
for the official web page of Arkansas State Parks
The Arkansas tourist bureau puts out a great Camper's & Hiker's Guide
book that lists a ton of the trails in the state. Pick up a copy of
this if you can.
Arkansas Pictures (4 pictures)
Evan's Point Loop - Lake Fort Smith State Park
Directions:
75 North to I40 west (middle of Oklahoma) to 540 North to exit 29
(follow signs to Lake Fort Smith State Park). About 285 miles, 4 1/2
hours. Stop at the park headquarters and get a trail map. The trail
head is at the far end of the top of the dam.
Free
Trails:
Evan's Point Loop goes for 3 miles along the hillside of Lake Fort
Smith. You start with a boring hike across the damn and then up a
number of stairs to the true trail. It is mostly a one-person width
trail. After 3 miles is the start of the Ozark Highland Trail (187
mile trail) and the loop back. For the loop back, you have to do a
low water crossing and it goes back on the other side of the lake (I
didn't do this as I was cold enough without getting my feet wet). I
went a little ways on the Ozark Highland Trail, but didn't go far as
it was flat to start and I had Devil's Den on my mind (caves). I
came back the way I went.
Area:
Woodsy with some elevation change. I went at the tail end of the
changing of the leaves (still pretty, but not as impressive). It was
a cool day when I went, so I had it mostly to myself, but would worry
about boat noise from the lake for a pretty day.
Picture
When I did the hike:
early December 2000
Recommendation:
If you are near by, maybe, but don't take extra effort to get there.
Devil's Den State Park
Directions:
[From Evan's Loop: 71 North to 182 West to (about 1/2 mile) 540 North]
75 North to I40 west (middle of Oklahoma) to 540 North to exit 45 and
74 West to park entrance. About 300 miles [20 miles from Evan's Loop]
Free. To hike the Butterfield Hiking Trail, you need to get a
backcountry hiking permit (even for a day hike) at the visitor center
(it is free).
Trails:
For my December 2000 trip, I made the side trip purely for the
caves. The Devil's Den trail is a short 1 1/2 mile loop that has
two fracture caves along the way and a couple of other neat
looking things. It is a rugged trail and you do a little bit of
climbing. You'll need a flash light to go into the Devil's Den
cave - it does go back quite a ways and there are small bats in
the cave. I was rushed for time and didn't go into the 2nd cave.
The Butterfield Hiking Trail is 15 mile loop trail. There is a
450 feet elevation change a couple of miles in from both ends
of the hike and another climb in the middle of the trail, but the
trail is surprisingly level outside of those climbs/descends.
There are 3 starting points and you can head in either direction
(you pick the starting point and direction when you fill out the
permit). I started at the playground across from the suspension
bridge and headed counter-clockwise (with a 15 minute detour as
I couldn't figure out which way was "counter-clockwise" - don't
go across the bridge for the start I was supposed to have).
The width of the sometimes rocky trail varies between one- and
two-person width - it goes to two when it joins with other
trails. The trail is marked with blue dots on the trees -
double dots indicate that the direction of the trail is about
to change - and there are occasional steel poles with "BHT" on
it indicating the trail - keep an eye of for both the dots
and the poles to make sure you keep on the correct trail.
It is a very nice, well defined forest trail. Don't take the
Junction Camp side trip (unless you want to camp there) - the
cemetery for Anna is somewhere across from Lee Creek (on the
other side of Junction Camp, not Blackburn Creek which you
walk next towards Junction Camp. There is no trail to the
cemetery and it is a wet water crossing to the other side of
Lee Creek. Near the end/beginning of the trail is an old
cemetery (there is a sign on the trail pointing it out), but
I only notice 2 headstones and the writing was no longer
visible. This is also the area for "several old homesites",
but I didn't notice any remains indicating their location.
The end/beginning of the trail is a long wet water crossing
of Lee Creek at Area A Campground next to campsite #7. It
took me 7 hours (including my 40 minute Junction Camp
side trip) to hike the Butterfield Hiking Trail (and I was
hiking at a good clip). There are also a couple of other
shorter trails in this nice park.
Area:
Rocky, mountainous area with tress.
Picture
When I did the hike:
early December 2000 (cave), October 14, 2001 (Butterfield)
Recommendation:
Caves are cool. The Butterfield Hiking Trail is a long, nice
hike - but it is either an all or nothing trail, so don't
start unless you are ready to go 15 miles.
Hot Springs National Park
Directions:
About 4 1/2 hours from Plano. Take I-30 to Arkadelphia and take
Highway 7 to Hot Springs. Hot Springs National Park is right on
Highway 7.
Free. (But you have to pay for parking in the city. And don't
go cheap if you park at a meter - do at least 7 hours [I did 6 hours
the first time and had to rush to get back just after it expired].)
Trails:
There are a number of smaller trails around the headquarters/bath
houses. Stop in the park information building (one of the bath
houses) and pick up a trail map. The big trail is the Sunset trail.
You can get to the start of the trail by hiking up Prospect Avenue
a little ways to the start of the trail next to West Mt. Summit
Drive (little bit of a walk through a residential area) or at the
end of a very short alley off of Highway 7 between Fountain St and
Whittington Avenue [do the latter]. The trail is an about 13 mile
endurance test. It is clear that you are on a trail, but there are
no trail indicators along the way (though there are a handful of
distance signs). There are a couple of forks/question spots. For
the first fork on the Sunset trail, I take the left/straight branch
and then after a little bit hit the dirt road for the radio towers
where you go left and then right and the trail continues to the
left near the far radio tower [I think the right branch re-joins
this branch after the towers]. After crossing Cedar Glades Road
(the second road), continue on the straight trail/dirt road (it
should soon look like a real trail, not just a road). Along this
part, there are some orange marks occasionally marking the trail.
After forever and a day, there is a fork in the trail - go right
(I'm not sure where the other branch goes and I don't want to know;
I'm dead tired by then). The trail comes out on a road. Take the
road to the left and around the corner to Highway 7. There is a
BBQ restaurant at the corner across the street that is good place
to stop for a break before the last leg. The trail continues to
the left of the BBQ place along the road. Once you get to the
Gorge Trail-Dead Chief Trail junction, you'll have your choice as
to how you wish to finish your hike (the Gorge Trail is steep).
The trails are a one to two person width and are well defined.
They are fairly smooth (not many rocks) and there is elevation
changes along the way.
Area:
The trails go through the woods in the Ouachita mountains. There
are not many scenic views from the trail - take the short Balanced
Rock side trip for a nice view and a good place to rest. The
park is in the city and you can hear car noises for the first and
last hour of the hike.
When I did the hike:
September 1998, September 1999
Recommendation:
It's good workout, but I can't really recommend it. I've been
twice (both in Septembers) and can't say I enjoyed either one.
I don't know if it was just the moods I was in, the long drive, the
lack of good scenery, the time of year, the car noises, or the
abundance of spider webs. If you are in the area (Hot Springs is a
tourist spot), you may want to do it just to say you did, but I
wouldn't make a trip there specifically to hike the trail.
Crater of Diamonds State Park
Directions:
$4 to diamond hunt
Trails:
There are two trails in the park. One is a couple miles loop
through the woods and briefly along the river. It's pretty and
peaceful, but buggy and flat. The other trail is also a loop,
but I didn't hike much of it as it was a very wide, flat, dirt
road.
Area:
When I did the hike:
September 1998
Recommendation:
Don't go for the trails. But sitting and sifting through dirt for
a couple of hours after a day of hiking can be fun.
Indian Rock House Nature Trail
Directions:
I-40 to Highway 65 north to Highway 27 east to Highway 14 north to
Highway 268 to Buffalo Point/Buffalo River State Park.
Free.
Trails:
About a 3 mile loop down to the Indian Rockhouse Cave. Add two
more miles if you go to the Bat Cave (the trail is "closed" certain
times of the year during mating season). There is a little
elevation change to the Indiana cave and a nice climb over a small
mountain to the bat cave. The Indian cave area is neat. To get
to the bat cave trail, follow the creek to the right of the cave area
a short ways and the trail goes up (and up and up) to the left. The
trails are mostly one-person width.
Area:
Hilly, forestry area. The Indian cave trail goes along a small
creek for a bit. [Note: there are no Indian ruins or relics at
the cave.]
Picture
Recommendation:
Not quite worth the long drive out there [I stayed at a hotel
Friday night and did this trail and the Rush trail the next day and
then drove back - I think it was a 6.5 hour drive], but it is pretty
and the Indian cave is really neat. The trail was too easy for my
taste, but the bat cave trail made it a bit of a workout.
Rush Mountain Trail
Directions:
I-40 to Highway 65 north to Highway 27 east to Highway 14 north to
to country road 635 (small road that turns to dirt near Rush) to Rush.
[Do a map search on Rush, AR.]
Free.
Trails:
The description says that this is a loop trail (I didn't have a
trail map), but I turned around after 2.5 hours as I wasn't sure if
it really was a loop and I had a long drive home ahead of me. The
trail starts at the far end of the ghost town (there is a small
parking area) and goes up past a couple of buildings and through a
destroyed building's foundation. For the first mile or two, the
trail goes past a number of abandoned mines - there are fences
around the mine openings (but they are easy to get around - but I
don't recommended entering them). The trail then continues on and
there are a couple of pretty views of the Buffalo river. The
trail is a one-person width trail along the mountain in the trees.
There is a climb at the start, but not too much up-and-down after
that.
Area:
Rush is a ghost town from the ore mining days. There are a number
of abandoned buildings in the area that you can roam around (some
are fenced in).
Picture
Recommendation:
It's a neat place with the ghost town and the mines. I liked it
and I'd go back to see where the trail actually ends.
North Sylamore Trail
Directions:
In Arkansas, I40 to Hwy 65 north to Hwy 9 west/north to Hwy 14 east
at Allison. There are 4 trail accesses points.
To get to the Allison trailhead: right after turning on Hwy 14, go
over the river and take a right onto the dirt road right after the
bridge - there was a short, small signed saying Hiking Trail -> (no
road name) - and go a short ways on the _one_lane_ (pray no one
comes the other direction) to the parking area in front of the
pasture (no facilities).
For the Blanchard Springs area: take 14 a number of miles to FM
1110 and the sign saying Blanchard Springs ->. The trail to
Allison is top of the parking area for the swim hole. The trail
to Gunner Pool is in the picnic area on the other side of the road
from the swim hole.
For the Gunner Pool area: take 14 to the town of Fifty Six and
take a right on FM1102/ST93 - there was a sign saying Gunner Pool
Campground ->. Go 3 miles on the wide gravel/dirt road to the
campground. The trail to Blanchard Springs is on the road right
before the first turn-in for the campground.
For the Barkshed area: take 14 past the town of Fifty Six and
take a right on FM1112/ST55 (gravel) to ST76 to the campground
(about 3 miles from Hwy 14).
About 470 miles from Allen, Texas.
Free. [there is a fee for the Blanchard Springs area]
Trails:
The North Sylamore trail is a 13 3/4 miles one-way trail along
and above the Sylamore creek in the Ozark National Forest. I
had my dad with me, so we were able to put cars at Gunner Pool
and Allison to do a 9 3/4 miles one-way hike. We started at
the trailhead in Allison. The trail starts through the pasture
and then along the creek (the trail is sandy here) and then a
wet water crossing through the creek to the other side (I
believe this is the only wet water crossing). Unfortunately,
we missed where the trail turns off from the dirt road and
continued on the road, crossed the creek again, the road ended,
back across the creek, up the road a little ways and onto a
"trail". It turned out to be what I suspected a short ways in -
a horse trail (but we didn't want to backtrack). So after 2
more wet water crossings and 2 miles of sandy trail, the horse
trail finally intersected with the real hiking trail and we
became happier trekkers. The one-person width dirt trail, with
occasional sandy parts and a small stretches of old road, had
some mild ups and downs and some nice scenery. The trail comes
out near the swim hole (and it seemed like a small area to be
calling a swim hole) of the Blanchard Springs area - we had lunch
here. The trail continues across the road in the picnic area and
has a good climb up a small mountain. There are some areas here
with moss hanging from the trees. On the down side of the
mountain, the trail goes past 2 crumbling shacks (they weren't
that interesting) and then levels out along the creek for a
little ways. After another good climb up a small mountain is a
sign indicating Gunner Pool is only a mile away. It took us
about 4 hours, 50 minutes to hike the 9 3/4 miles (includes extra
time for taking off and putting on shoes for the 5 creek crossing
with our detour).
There are occasional metal signs indicating the trail's
direction, but most of the white blazes on trees indicating the
trail had faded away.
Trail Length:
13 3/4 miles (one-way)
Allison - Blanchard Springs: 4 3/4 miles (one-way)
Blanchard Springs - Gunner Pool: 5 miles (one-way)
Gunner Pool - Barkshed: 4 miles (one-way)
Area:
Woods and creek in the Ozark Mountains.
When I did the hike:
October 5, 2002
Recommendation:
It was a nice trail, but not as awesome as some reports I read
about the trail and scenery. I wouldn't make a trip purely for
this hike, but if you are in the area, it is be a nice trail to
hike. The trail had too many icky sandy parts (and that's
excluding the horse trail) and dirt road parts for my liking.
If you are limited to doing one section of the trail, pick one
of the Gunner Pool branches.