阿肯色中北部的徒步旅行。

(Trails of North Central Arkansas)

新修 (revised) April 11, 2009.

Ice storm update! Trail work has opened many trails left with downed timber after our severe ice storm of Jan. 27-28. Major trails still closed include the Ozark Highlands Trail, Bidwell Point Trail, and perhaps others. I have discontinued tracking which trails are open or closed, in general, on this website.

Big Bluff and Lakeside trails in the area! 1.5 and 1 miles respectively. One trail leads from the campground to the top of the bluff overlooking the river below the dam. The other starts at the east end of the picnic area and runs along the lakeshore (or maybe that's the Dogwood trail, described below. I'll let you guess which trail has which name.

The short Bidwell Point Trail starts at the southwest edge of the Bidwell Point Recreation Area and runs up to a nice overlook. This short loop trail provides a quiet spot for campers. The trail's condition after the ice storm is fairly poor, especially in the northern edge of the loop. It is blocked by debris and widowmakers at a few locations. The overlook is in great shape though and its not difficult to get to it. Just watch your step, especially by looking overhead.

This trail is mostly in great condition. Brush removal has been completed on all but a short 1/8 mile section in the NE corner of the park. If you need a place to walk this is a readily available trail. The downside? This two miles of interlooping trails in Mountain Home, Arkansas is mostly paved and very well used. While it provides great easy access to city folks, it has the downside of heavy use and foot traffic and little privacy or remote areas. The only isolated area is now made my isolated by fallen trees. That remains my favorite part of this trail because it is not paved and provides some relief from people interactions!

From the river access in Cotter, Arkansas, 2.5 miles north along the east bank of the White River. Essentially an old road blocked off for hiking and utility work. One down side? The trail runs along a sewer line which runs above ground in some places. Fumes escape on still days making it not a pleasant place to walk.

A 3/4 mile easy trail in the Cranfield Recreation Area.

Three miles of trail in the Lakeview area.

Click here for details on the delightful 13.2 mile Norfork Lake Trail.

Nice trail! Could use some attention in some sections, but in pretty good shape. Last walked during 2008.

Click here for details on the Pigeon Creek Trail complex.

Loop trail reported at three miles long at Robinson Point Recreation Area on Lake Norfork; I suspect it is about two miles long. This nice trail can be deceptive in that it can be surprisingly hard to find the loop spur. I missed it twice, twenty years ago and this year. Why? The north trail head leds a hiker south to a southern trail head. But the side trail comes in from an angle and is easy to miss if you walk south. Walking north, it looks like a forking trail, but while walking south it is easy to miss. The trail runs by three sets of an unusual species of tree, the Ashe's Juniper. Two trees can be found at the northeast location, nine at the central location. At least 100 grow at the southwest location. See also Lake Norfork Trail above, including what's called "David's Trail" (mostly planned and not constructed).

This trail's official name, something like the Clysta Bertha Smith-Willett Nature, Biking, Horsebackriding, and Hiking Trail and otherwise Birding, Fishing, and Snowboarding Recreational Pathway, is much too long. I prefer much simpler names so I call it the Willet trail. I'm not fond of trails (and roads) named after people either. Just look at most of the names in Baxter County to see some good trail name examples. As a result, I've decided to modify names to something closer to my own reality. For example, not only does the Willet Trail have four words in its official name, it includes the Scott, Sycamore, Wildflower, and Woodland trails and very uncreative names of a few other trails named "Cutoff". Not only are these Cutoff Trails named with identical names, they have signs and easy to confuse with each other as a result. The Sycamore section may sound wooded, but half of it goes through a treeless area of the park between two ballfields. The proposed Buckhorn Trail has a good name. The lack of a good loop trail is disappointing, but options exist for crosslooping. The good points? The trails are well maintained, have some interesting signs, wildflower areas, a pond, and provide an underused area for recreational walking within the city limits of Mountain Home. I'm delighted the city is actively acquiring parklands like this before the city grows too much and it is impossible to create such green spaces. The city has been very active in the last 10-15 years growing parklands and improving trails. Lastly, I'll mention this "park" is actually two parks, Twin Lakes City Park and Keller Park. The two pieces of land join but are practically divided by private lands that also divide the parks along Rossi Road, where their entrances exist.

Return to www.sedgehead.com.

Disclaimer: This website is not responsible for trail conditions. . Hikers and other people should be aware that trees may fall at any time, so a trail declared open, unobstructed, or with normal hazards may become blocked at any time. . In addition, this website may not observe all possible widowmakers or other obstructions and hazards, including but not limited to fallen timber, logs, bears, etc. . In addition we make no guarantees the trails will be free of mountain lions, wild boars, theives, bandants, rock throwing monkeys, space aliens, fallen rock, unfallen rock, loose rock, rock bands, or trees we happened to find and failed to record their hazardous or fallen conditions. . We are not responsible for anyones injuries or deaths, or alien abductions.