Ouachita Trail (section 09) mile 187.4 to 188.7

Hike Features:

Date:  September 1st, 2002
State: Arkansas
County: Perry
Location: Off Highway 9, off FR152.
Length of hike shown:  ~ 2.6 miles (round trip)
Trail:  All on trail.
GPS: 516668.65E 3857188.02N 15S (OT crossing of forest road 152, only approximate location)

 11 photos of this hike in photo gallery
Reaching Trailhead:   I drove out highway 10 from Little Rock to Williams Junction, then south on highway 9 to the Winona Scenic Drive.  West on WSD to FR152 (2nd intersection), turned right (north).  Trailhead is roughly 1 mile from road intersection.   Can also reach the starting point for this hike by going to Lake Sylvia, then going south on FR152 for about 3/4 of a mile.  There is a typical OT trail crossing sign and room on the east side of the road for 1 or perhaps 2 cars.  This is not an official parking area; just a place to pull off the road.

Description of hike:   This section of the OT is almost jungle-like in places during the summer.   I've done this little hike many times when I wanted a short, quick day hike that was easy to access.   This can also be part of a longer loop hike, it can be used as access to the Chinquapin Mountain Spur Trail, or it can just be part of an OT hike from FR152 to Hwy 9.

As seen on the map, it basically drops down into a wide valley, crosses a small creek, then swings over to follow another small creek upstream.  It crosses that creek at about a mile in and then shortly thereafter reaches Chinquapin Gap (see last photo in 11-25-2000 series).   One way, its only a 1.3 mile segment of the OT, but it traverses a beautiful part of the valley.  For me, the best times for this hike are spring, summer and early fall.  On this particular day, I simply hiked to Chinquapin Gap, turned around and came back.   Easy 2.6 mile hike.  Encountered a snake on the trail and lots of poison ivy.   On other days, I've used this segment to reach Chinquapin Gap and then headed north on up to the Chinquapin Mountain Spur Trail (see separate entry).   Another option is to link up with the Lake Sylvia trail system and make it a loop.   Tim Ernst describes all of these options in one of his hiking guidebooks.
 
Cautions:  snakes, poison ivy and turkey hunters.   This part of the OT goes through a designated turkey hunting area.   I usually avoid it during that time of year.

Hikers:  jc