Ouachita Trail section 8

Section 8 of the Ouachita Trail - mile 160.4 to 187.4.   This section is entirely within the Ouachita National Forest.   It basically runs from hwy 7 to Lake Sylvia.  There are several great vista points in this section, one at Flatside Pinnacle and the other at North Fork Pinnacle (on a spur trail).   Section 8 includes the following features:

• traverses Flatside Wilderness
• several small waterfalls
• several vista points
• water at Green Thumb Spring, Crystal Prong creek and South Fork Brown Creek
  
• no bridge at Crystal Prong creek crossing - would be difficult after heavy rains (old bridge washed out)

There are numerous access points for day hikes in this section...  all of them are from dirt/gravel forest roads.   One of the highlights of this section is the traverse of Flatside Wilderness.  The terrain overall is low mountains and there are quite a few significant ups and downs.  This is the last section fully in the mountains. 

Listed below are the three sub-section pages of section 8 of the OT.  Each of those has links to hike pages (with full description of hike) or hike photos of a particular hike in that section (without a separate page).  As always, the definitive guide to the OT is the Ouachita Trail Guide by Tim Ernst.