Ouachita National Recreation Trail is a long, continuous hiking trail through the

Ouachita Mountains The Ouachita Mountains (), simply referred to as the Ouachitas, are a mountain range in western Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma. They are formed by a thick succession of highly deformed Paleozoic strata constituting the Ouachita Fold and Thru ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. It is the longest backpacking trail in the Ouachita National Forest, spanning 192 miles across its length. Approximately 177 miles of the trail is in Arkansas and 46 miles of the trail is in Oklahoma. The trail is used by hikers, backpackers, hunters, and mountain bikers. It is a non-motorized single track trail open only to foot traffic and partially open to mountain bicycles. Segments opened to mountain bikes are from the western terminus of the Ouachita Trail at Talimena State Park to the Big Cedar trailhead on US Highway 259 at approximately Mile Marker (MM) 30.5 in Oklahoma, and from the Talimena Scenic Drive Trailhead at MM 54.1, east to Highway 7 at mile 160.4, north of Jessieville, Arkansas.

General information

The trail's western end is at Talimena State Park in southeastern Oklahoma, and the eastern end is at

Pinnacle Mountain State Park Pinnacle Mountain State Park is a 2,356-acre state park located in Pulaski County, Arkansas just outside of Little Rock. The main attraction is Pinnacle Mountain, an iconic landmark surrounded by the bottomlands of the Big Maumelle and Little Mau ...

in the small community of

Natural Steps, Arkansas Natural Steps is an unincorporated area, unincorporated census-designated place in Pulaski County, Arkansas, United States. It is located northwest of Little Rock along the southern bank of the Arkansas River, on Arkansas Highway 300. Per th ...

in central Arkansas. The first lie within the

Ouachita National Forest The Ouachita National Forest is a vast congressionally-designated United States National Forest, National Forest that lies in the western portion of Arkansas and portions of extreme-eastern Oklahoma, USA. History The Ouachita National Forest is t ...

; the remaining , maintained by

, traverse lands owned by timber companies and Central Arkansas Water. (Plans for the Arkansas River Trail include an extension connecting the eastern terminus of the Ouachita Trail to downtown

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

away.) The trail passes through parts of eight counties in Arkansas and one in Oklahoma. From east to west they are Pulaski, Perry, Saline, Garland, Montgomery, Yell, Scott, and Polk, in Arkansas, and Le Flore County in Oklahoma, where the trail ends. At several locations the trails switches back between two counties. Scott County actually has very little of the trail, with a couple of small corners of the county traversed. There are two federally designated wilderness areas that the Ouachita Trail passes through: the Flatside Wilderness Area in Perry and Saline Counties in Arkansas and the Upper Kiamichi River Wilderness Area in Le Flore County, Oklahoma. The Friends of the Ouachita Trail is a volunteer group devoted to maintaining the trail. (https://friendsoftheouachita.org/wp/) While well-maintained, the trail is lightly used. In a ranking of U.S. long-distance trails on a number of criteria by

Backpacker Magazine ''Backpacker'' is an American lifestyle magazine publication that features information on wilderness hiking and adventure. It has been published since 1973. ''Backpacker'' magazine is currently published by '' Outside'' and is based in Boulder, C ...

, the trail ranked third for solitude and fourth for signage. The high point on the trail is on Rich Mountain, which straddles the Oklahoma-Arkansas state border from the western end of the trail. The low point is at the entrance to Pinnacle Mountain State Park on the eastern end of the trail. Because of the low elevations and southern latitude, the best times to hike the trail are the early spring and late autumn; winter months are often warm enough, also. In July to September, the weather tends to be too hot to hike comfortably, and water access points tend to dry up. The trail meets the 37.8-mile

Womble Trail Womble Trail, located in the Ouachita National Forest in western Arkansas, United States, is a singletrack path running more than 37 miles from North Fork Lake to the Ouachita National Recreation Trail. The U.S. Forest Service trail is open for ...

north of the community of

Story, Arkansas Story is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Arkansas, United States. Story is located at the junction of Arkansas highways 27 and 298, northeast of Mount Ida. Story has a post office with ZIP code 71970. The 37.8-mile long Wom ...

Big Maumelle River, AR 300 Truss Bridge

In the 1920s, a one-lane truss bridge was built on the old Highway 300 to cross the Big Maumelle River (). It is on the list of Historic Bridges of the United States (Maumelle River AR 300 Bridge) for Pulaski County, Arkansas. The bridge still stands in the shadow of Pinnacle Mountain, but was made obsolete by a new bridge in 1981. Today, it is only open to pedestrians for fishing and is part of the long Ouachita National Recreation Trail.

History and development

The Title of "Father of the Ouachita Trail" is given to Mr. Arthur P. Cowley, a former Public Information Officer of the Ouachita National Forest. Mr. Cowley graduated from the University of Missouri with a BS degree in Forestry and began working for the US Forest Service in 1954. Also he received a Master's Degree in Education from the University of Arkansas in 1978. In the early 1970s Mr. Cowley was instrumental in developing the Forest Service's plan for the Ouachita Trail. As a Recreation Staff Specialist with the US Forest Service in Hot Springs, he assisted in the first phases of construction of the Ouachita Trail. He handled trail planning and coordination of trail construction on the forest from 1965 until 1979 when he moved to California as Public Information Officer and later became the Big Tree Coordinator for the Sequoia National Forest. During his time in Arkansas, Mr. Cowley served as President of the Society of American Foresters, 1977-78 President of the Arkansas Recreation and Parks Association and Vice Chairman of the Arkansas Trails Council. He also helped formulate Training Resources in Environmental Education (TREE) and received numerous awards, including the 1974 Arkansas Wildlife Federation's "Forester of the Year" award. He retired from the US Forest Service in 1988. Mr. Cowley died on Mar 4, 2010, just one year prior to the 40th anniversary of the completion of the initial sections and opening of the trail. An Arkansas Trails Day event was held at the original Eastern Terminus () at Lake Sylvia Trailhead in Perry County, Arkansas on Saturday, May 7, 2011. Mr. Cowley's contributions were honored with a bench and plaque. His surviving wife Maureen and numerous family members were in attendance. Construction of the trail began in May 1971 and was completed by 1981. Mr. Jim Rawlins completed the first documented through hike of the Ouachita Trail in 1983. He also authored the first trail guide "A Hiker's Guide to the Ouachita National Recreation Trail.".

Points on the trail

* Talimena State Park *

Talimena Scenic Drive The Talimena Scenic Drive is a National Scenic Byway in southeastern Oklahoma and extreme western Arkansas spanning a stretch of Oklahoma State Highway 1 (SH-1) and Arkansas Highway 88 (AR 88) from Talihina, Oklahoma, to Mena, Arkansas. ...

(

Oklahoma State Highway 1 State Highway 1, sometimes abbreviated as SH-1, is a highway maintained by the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It travels through the southeastern part of the state, nicknamed Little Dixie. SH-1 is signed east and west. Route description Madill to ...

) * Upper Kiamichi River Wilderness *

Winding Stair Mountain National Recreation Area Winding Stair Mountain National Recreation Area is a United States national recreation area in the Ouachita National Forest. State Highway 1, known as the ''Talimena Scenic Byway'' in this area, bisects the recreation area. U. S. Highway 271 loops ...

Queen Wilhelmina State Park Queen Wilhelmina State Park is a unit of Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism in the Ouachita Mountains. The original "Castle in the Sky" lodge was built in 1898 on 2,681-foot Rich Mountain, in Polk County, Arkansas. The park is on Talimena ...

U.S. Route 71 U.S. Route 71 or U.S. Highway 71 (US 71) is a major north–south United States highway that extends for over 1500 miles (2500 km) in the central United States. This original 1926 route has remained largely unchanged by encroaching Interstat ...

Big Brushy Recreation Area Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * '' Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show * ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television show present ...

* U.S. Route 270 *

Iron Springs Recreation Area The Iron Springs Recreation Area is a roadside picnic area on Arkansas Highway 7, north of Jessieville in the Ouachita National Forest. The area has three shelters for picnicking, vault toilets, and an accessible trail for viewing the springs in ...

Arkansas State Highway 27 Arkansas Highway 27 (AR 27, Ark. 27, and Hwy. 27) is a designation for two north–south state highways in Arkansas. One route begins at US Highway 59 (US 59) and US 71 near Ben Lomond north to Highway 7 in Dardanelle ...

Arkansas State Highway 7 Highway 7 (AR 7, Ark. 7, Hwy. 7, and partially Scenic 7 Byway) is a north–south state highway that runs across the state of Arkansas. As Arkansas's longest state highway, the route runs from Louisiana Highway 558 at the Louisiana state line n ...

* Flatside Wilderness *

Lake Sylvia Recreation Area A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

* Arkansas State Highway 9 *

Lake Maumelle Lake Maumelle is a man-made lake in central Arkansas, United States, in Pulaski County, and covers 8,900 acres. It is one of the primary drinking water sources for Little Rock, Arkansas ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = C ...

* Arkansas State Highway 10 * Lunsford Corner, AR *

Arkansas Highway 300 Highway 300 (AR 300, Ark. 300 and Hwy. 300) is a designation for two state highway segments in Central Arkansas. The main route of runs from Highway 9/ Highway 10 east to Cantrell Road and Chenal Parkway in Little Rock. A second segm ...

Shelters along the trail

The nine original shelters along the eastern portion of the trail were built by the United States Forest Service (USFS) in the 1980s and 1990s. In 2013, Friends of the Ouachita Trail (FoOT) embarked on a program to build additional shelters along the remainder of the trail, with a goal of having shelters evenly spaced throughout. FoOT
"Trail Shelter Information"
''Friends of the Ouachita Trail'', September 2017

References

;Notes * http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5084303.pdf * http://friendsot.org/wp-content/uploads/TR-01DETAIL_ONRTSegmentMapsa_000.pdf * http://www.ouachitamaps.com/OT.html * http://www.backpacker.com/trips/oklahoma/oklahoma-arkansas-s-ouachita-trail/ * http://friendsot.org/trail_shelter_project.htm * http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsm9_039448.pdf

External links

Map from Friends of the Ouachita Trail

Friends of the Ouachita Trail

Ouachita Maps
*
Ouachita Trail Backpacking Guide, Volume 1

Ouachita Trail Backpacking Guide, Volume 2
{{Coord, 34.6910, -94.4304, type:landmark, display=title, name=Ouachita National Recreation Trail

National Recreation Trail The National Trails System is a series of trails in the United States designated "to promote the preservation of, public access to, travel within, and enjoyment and appreciation of the open-air, outdoor areas and historic resources of the Nati ...

Protected areas of Garland County, Arkansas Hiking trails in Oklahoma Hiking trails in Arkansas Protected areas of Le Flore County, Oklahoma Long-distance trails in the United States Protected areas of Montgomery County, Arkansas National Recreation Trails in Arkansas National Recreation Trails in Oklahoma Protected areas of Perry County, Arkansas Protected areas of Polk County, Arkansas Protected areas of Pulaski County, Arkansas Protected areas of Saline County, Arkansas Protected areas of Scott County, Arkansas Protected areas of Yell County, Arkansas Ouachita National Forest