Ouachita Trail

Hike Features:

State: Arkansas
County: Saline
Location: Off forest road near OT mile 169
Length of hike shown:  ~ 9.8 miles
Trail: All on the Ouachita Trail
GPS: 34.83268° N  93.03222° W (OT access off forest road #124)

30 photos of this hike in photo gallery

This segment runs from Hwy 9 to Hwy 10, a total of about 10 miles.  There is no public access between the two highways.  Some maps show that access to the trail is possible where the OT crosses Duffy Road at mile 195.1.   However, Duffy Road is gated and locked.

Heading east from the Hwy 9 trailhead, the OT winds around in the mountains and then makes a beeline for Pipeline Creek.  Just before reaching Pipeline Creek, the trail leaves the mountains and for the next 9 miles or so will be mostly flat except for some rock outcrops and a few ups and downs.

This segment starts at the crossing of FR #152 and continues to the Hwy 9 trailhead.  There is a small place to park on FR152 (for about 1-2 cars) or you can park near Lake Sylvia and connect to the OT via a short spur trail. 

This segment of the OT is still in the mountains and winds through thick forest between FR152 and Nancy Mountain Shelter.  The photo on the right was taken at ~ mile 188.   In summer it can be jungle-like.

This is another interesting segment of the OT in section 8, running from FR94 (the parking area for Flatside Pinnacle) to FR152, for a total of 8 miles.

The nice features of this section include a) Flatside Pinnacle via a spur trail, b) Brown Creek Shelter, c) Brown Creek crossing, d) North Fork Pinnacle (via a spur trail) and Lake Sylvia (via a spur trail).   Looks like there's lots of spur trails in this segment!

Flatside Pinnacle is definitely worth the extra hike up to the top.  As shown in the photo, it is a rocky crag with cliffs that will induce vertigo (and nice views too).

This is the first of 3 sub-sections of section 8.   Flatside Wilderness is in the center of the OT section 8...  so this section is from mile 160.4 (Hwy 7) to the first encounter of Flatside (FR 124).  It is 8.4 miles long and is mostly uphill from the Hwy 7 crossing.

The elevation at the crossing of Hwy 7 is just under 1000 feet and the FR124 road crossing is about 1600 feet.  There is quite a bit of "up and down" so the overall change in elevation over this whole 8 mile segment is probably close to 1000 feet (cumulative gain in elevation).

Page under construction today, August 24, 2008.  Will be done soon.

This segment of the OT runs from mile 212.2 (Lundsford Corner crossing of Hwy 300) to about mile 220, at the 3rd crossing of Hwy 300 in Natural Steps.

It is quite similar to the previous 10 miles as it continues around the northern edge of Lake Maumelle. 

In this segment there are more ups and down but its still relatively flat.  There is a so-called "vista point" at mile 215.2 but you really can't see much anymore due to growth of plants/trees.  There are much better vistas available by walking down to the lake along any of the little spur trails to the lake.

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:

Section 9 of the Ouachita Trail - mile 187.4 to 202.   The first 5 miles or so of this section are in Ouachita National Forest.   The trail then runs on timber company land and then on Lake Maumelle watershed land.   Section 9 includes the following features:

Section 10 of the Ouachita Trail - mile 202-222.5 (Pinnacle Mountain State Park).  This section is outside of the Ouachita National Forest, running mostly around Lake Maumelle and then on PMSP land.   Section 10 includes the following features: