South Fourche Lafave River - bushwhack

Hike Features:

Date:  February 25, 2007
State: Arkansas
County: Perry
Location: CR37, closest town - Deberrie. 
Length of hike:  ~ 5 miles
Trail: Mixture of on-old roads and off-trail
GPS: 497033.45E  3864196.02N 15S (UTM WGS84)  (P1 parking area)

 36 photos in OHJ Photo Gallery

Reaching Trailhead:    Reaching here is not easy to describe.   Basically, this area is along a section of the South Fourche Lafave River between highway 7 (near Hollis) and Deberrie.   I found it by looking at topo maps and updated road maps of the area (eg., on Google Map or Yahoo Map) and figuring out how to get there.   I followed a maze of forest roads from highway 9, but there is no way this can be described in a comprehensible manner. 

The easiest is to reach Aplin, on highway 60 and go south on Casa-Aplin road (AR-155).   This will cross a dirt road labeled CR-37 on Google Maps.   Note:  there is no sign that says "CR-37"...  in fact, there is a sign that has another number (probably a forest road #).   Going west on this road will reach an obvious fork where a spur road goes north to the river (P1 on maps).   The road after "P1" is probably 4WD only.   On this day, there was standing water over 1 foot deep on parts of the road.  One should also be aware that even the google maps are out of date and some of the dirt/gravel roads out here are not where the maps suggest they should be.

Description:   The dirt/gravel road is labeled CR37 on the maps reaches the first area where we parked (P1).   From there we hiked north to the river (point "A") on the topo), which is quite close.   The river was up (gauge reading 4.2 feet) and the day was brilliantly sunny.   The colors were stunning.   It was "one of those days".   We hiked around this area for a while taking photos and video (to be added soon) of the river.  There is an old abandoned road that heads west from here.  

It is possible to make this hike by following the letters on the map (A-B-C, etc.) along the river.   Our hike was "upstream", in the order the letters follow.   Sometimes there is an old abandoned road and sometimes there isn't.   During winter, its fairly easy to walk along the south bank of the river.   However, on this day, we drove to "P2" and parked there.  We then hiked to point "B" and then west.   At B, C, D and E there are rapids.   The hiking is easy in here.   Somewhere around "D" the old road vanished, but it was still easy bushwhacking along the river.    The area has a "wild" or wilderness feel to it.   It also looks more "western" than much of the eastern Ouachitas. 

As shown on the topo map, the stretch from "D"  to "A" runs along the base of a mountain ridge.    This makes it quite scenic and the big rocks that have fallen into the river make for some nice rapids.   The south bank is all flat.   At point "D", where we headed south, the river takes a sharp turn and there are some nice cliffs.   At point "E", there again are some nice upturned rock strata and cliffs on the west bank.   The river is beautiful through all of this area.    Continuing upstream, shortly after "E", there is a road (crossed it) and then a steep hill ("F").    We headed up the hill and were rewarded with spectacular views from a large 200 foot high bluff (viewpoint "G").   The scene is wild and truly awesome (see photo gallery).    This could be anywhere in Colorado or Montana.   Its really amazing that this scenery is so close to Little Rock.   This are needs to be protected as a wild/scenic river.

From the viewpoint area ("G") there is a road that heads east to join another dirt road.   At point "H", there is a small dirt road that drops down into the hollow and reaches the river at point "J".   This is another spectacular place.   From here we were looking up at the bluff, where we had been before and there's a beautiful rapids on the river as it hits the bluff and turns west.    There's an old abandoned road that follows the river south (east bank).   We followed it to point "K", where it joins another old road and then on to point "L" (topo map).    At that point, we turned around and headed back up the car.   The whole hike was about 5 miles.  

Notes/cautions:    The dirt roads reaching this place can be confusing if one is not used to getting around out here.    Hiking off-trail in this area is about as easy as off-trail hiking gets...   the river is a constant landmark and its easy to figure out more or less where you are without a map or GPS.    Having said that, a GPS helps quite a bit and a topo map is a good idea.   The area around point "A" on the map is kind of trashy where the road ends.   In general, this area has a strong "feel" of wilderness and in the remote off-trail/off-road areas it is.    Near the roads, you'll find the usual complement of beer cans (not too bad in this area).   East of point "H" (on another day) I once found a discarded computer monitor in the middle of the forest!    Amazing!

Hikers:   jc, sb