Ozark Highlands Trail

There are presently six parts of the Ozark Highlands Trail (OHT):

• The Boston Mountains segment runs 164 miles between Lake Fort Smith in the west and the Woolum ford of the Buffalo River in the east.
• The Buffalo River segment runs about 43 miles along the Buffalo River from the Richland Valley to AR-14 (Dillard’s Ferry), sharing the route of part of the Buffalo River Trail.
• 22-25 mile bushwhack through the Lower Buffalo River Wilderness.
• The Sylamore Section runs about 31 miles through the Sylamore area of Arkansas (roughly south of Norfork Lake).
• There is a 9.5 mile road walk.
• The Norfork Lake segment, which is part of the Ozark Keystone Trail (OKT).  The Norfork Trail section runs north from the dam about 13 miles to a trail head at CR 1028. There is an 18-mile gap where trail has not yet been constructed. David’s Trail runs north about 32 miles from CR396/Panther Creek bridge to the state line. Though the OHT stops at the state line, the OKT continues north and will someday connect with the Ozark Trail at Dawt, MO (see also Trans-Ozark Trail).

Note that all coordinates below use the WGS84 datum.

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Useful resources:

• My 16-page map of the 164-mile Boston Mountains segment
• My 4-page map of the 31.6-mile Sylamore segment
• Ozark Highlands Trail Association
• Book: Ozark Highlands Trail Guide (The 6th edition uses the new mile marker locations, older editions use the old locations)
• Maps: OHTA commissioned Underwood Geographics to produce some nice maps.  One map covers Lake Fort Smith to Ozone CG, and the other covers Ozone to the Woolum ford.  They’re folding maps on waterproof stock,  1:37500 scale with 50′ contours and use the new mile marker locations.  Available in the visitor centers of Lake Dardenelle and Lake Fort Smith State Parks.  Also: Turner Bend Store, Uncle Sam’s, Pack Rat, Byrd’s Adventure Center, and a few other outdoorsy places in NW Ark.  Also: Hagarville Grocery, Oark General Store.  Also available directly from OHTA.

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Boston Mountains Segment

Important note:  Between April ’16 and August ’17, the Ozark Highlands Trail Association removed old carsonite post mile markers and installed new markers in locations that correspond to the maps now sold by OHTA.  The new markers are 12″ pieces of carsonite attached to a tree horizontally near eye level.  Most markers have moved east by at least a mile.

See below for my maps.  The trail is divided into 8 sections, mostly for descriptive purposes.  Each section is about 19 miles except #4 which is about 30.  There is a major trail head at each end of a section and typically some lesser-used or less-accessible access points in between.

• Section 1: Lake Ft Smith to White Rock Mtn (map 1-2).  Dec ’13 trip 1, and 2.
• Section 2: White Rock Mtn to Cherry Bend (map 2-4).  Dec ’13 trip 1, 2, and 3.
• Section 3: Cherry Bend to Lick Branch (map 4-5).  Oct ’11 trip.  Nov ’13 trip.
• Section 4: Lick Branch to Ozone Campground (map 6-8).  Oct ’13 trip.
• Section 5: Ozone Campground to Big Piney (map 9-11).  April ’13 trip.  Jan ’16 trip.
• Section 6: Big Piney to Fairview Campground (Hurricane Creek, map 11-12).  Nov ’12 trip.  Oct ’15 trip.
• Section 7: Fairview Campground to Richland Creek Campground (map 13-15).  Jan ’14 trip 1.  Jan ’14 trip 2.
• Section 8: Richland Creek Campground to Woolum ford (map 15-17).  Jan ’14 trip 1.  Jan ’14 trip 2.

Major and minor trail heads (mileages listed below are using the new markers):

• Lake Ft Smith (mile 0): 35.6946°N, 94.1185°W – behind the visitor center at the end of a sidewalk that winds down the hill.
• Dockery’s Gap (mile 9.25): 35.7071°N, 94.0378°W.
• White Rock Mountain (mile 17.4): Parking area at 35.6895°N, 93.9545°W.  Head ESE to the end of the road and look for signs.  There is a 0.3 mile spur from the top down through the bluff and intersecting the OHT.
• FR 1509, aka Ragtown Road (mile 24.75): 35.6837°N, 93.8980°W.
• Cherry Bend (mile 35.3): Park at 35.7433°N, 93.8116°W.  Across the highway is a short spur that leads to the OHT.  An October ’21 landslide has destroyed part of the OHT between Cherry Bend and East Fly Gap Rd (about miles 35.4 to 39.1).  Hikers are encouraged to walk the roads around this until a major reroute can be finished.
• Morgan Fields, aka Hare Mountain (mile 43.1): 35.7258°N, 93.7554°W.  There is a large clearing on the east side of the road for parking, and a trail head sign.  A short spur goes east-ish to the OHT.
• Indian Creek: Park at 35.6836°N, 93.7104°W.  The gate for this canoe launch area might be closed (a seasonal thing?).  A 0.7-mile spur trail begins across the highway, heads toward the creek, then upstream, then switchbacks up the steep slope before eventually intersecting the OHT at about mile 50.8.
• Lick Branch (mile 55.1): 35.7100°N, 93.6616°W.  The trail runs along the south edge of the parking area.
• Arbaugh Road (mile 69.9): 35.7576°N, 93.5280°W.
• Ozone Campground (mile 84.7):  35.6730°N, 93.4508°W.  Trail head parking is across the road and a bit north of the campground entrance.
• Big Piney Creek, aka Fort Douglas (mile 103.8):  35.6780°N, 93.2381°W.  If you’re eastbound, walk along the road and across the bridge.  Turn left at the first road (5881?) and watch for signs to leave the road to the right.  Westbound: go out the back of the parking area.
• Fairview Campground (mile 123.8): 35.7388°N, 93.0938°W.  There is a very short spur from the parking area at the north end of the campground.  Potable water available.  Hankins General Store in Pelsor is due to reopen in the spring of 2025.  Now serving cheeseburgers, pizza, and deli sandwiches in addition to the usual snacks, convenience items, and cold (non-alcoholic) beverages. There is also a small building next door where one can take a shower and do laundry.
• Moore CCC area: 35.7727°N, 92.9892°W.  There is parking for 2-3 cars on the left just before you get to the gate (private property beyond).  The blue-blazed spur follows the fence west and then turns south through the woods.  It’s about a 15-minute walk to the old CCC area and OHT junction at mile 133.1. More info about the CCC camp.
• Ben Hur (mile 134.5): 35.7537°N, 92.9823°W.  The sign on road NC 5050 calls this the “Moore OHT Trailhead”.
• Richland Creek Campground (mile 143.2): The entrance to the campground is at 35.7964°N, 92.9303°W and there is a parking area there for people not camping.  Walk back out to FR 1205.  Across the road and a bit to the left you should see a marker where the trail comes out of the woods to cross Richland Creek on the bridge.  Go that way if you’re headed south/west.  If you’re headed north/east, then follow the road across the bridge to where it turns sharply left.  At this point the trail leaves the road a bit to the right.  There are some posts for an old trail head sign and watch for blazes.
• FR1201 (formerly called Stack Rock) (mile 150.8): 35.8667°N, 92.9237°W.  Southbound: walk back out to the road and keep going south (to the right) a short distance (< 50 feet?) and you’ll see the trail on your left coming out to the road.  Northbound: go through the gate at the back of the parking lot, down the road a bit and the trail leaves the road to the left.
• Woolum ford (mile 164): Parking at 35.9719°N, 92.8862°W.  The area where the river was historically forded has gotten relatively deep.  Head upstream about 150 feet where you see riffles that signal a shallower area.  The trail heads northwest along county road 14 (not often used because getting to it now requires fording either Richland Creek or the Buffalo).  Water levels can be too deep for a safe crossing after big rains.  If you want to continue east on the BRT, go south on a road through a small hay field along Richland Creek.  A couple hundred yards upstream from the mouth watch on your left for openings in the brush where you can get down to Richland Creek and cross in shallower water.  On the other side follow the white blazes SSE to the base of a hill, then turn ENE and continue parallel to the base of the hill to a set of steps.

Maps

My map set consists of a 16-page PDF and will be 1:24,000 scale when printed on 11×17 paper. Here’s some general info about my maps. Every time I update the map the file will have a different name so if you want to bookmark or share it, link to this page – not the file.

Jan 27 ’25: Added the boundary for Lake Fort Smith State Park and added more roads in that area. Minor style changes.

Nov 8 2023: An all-new base layer replaces the old scanned USGS topo maps. Much nicer looking and more legible.

The Ozark Highlands Trail Association sells a pair of maps for this section, with the west map covering Lake Fort Smith to Ozone and the east map covering Ozone to Richland Valley.

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Sylamore Section

This section runs from the Spring Creek trail head east and north to Matney Knob.  Water is not available at very many places so you will likely either have to cache it or plan to carry a lot.  Based on my one trip, I think the most likely places to find water are: Spring Creek (mile 229.8), Moccasin Spring (mile 232.0), Twin Creek (mile 244.2), and Walker Creek (mile 247.0).  Cole Fork near mile 235.8-236.0 had water but there was no flow and lots of pig crap.

Note: New mile markers were erected in Jan 2023 with the Spring Creek trail head as #222 and Matney Knob as #253. The old markers used the Spring Creek trail head as mile 0 and Matney Knob was about 31.6.

Trail heads

• Spring Creek (mile 222.0) 36.0530°N, 92.4450°W
• Moccasin Springs (mile 230.8) 36.0298°N, 92.3529°W
• Cripple Turkey (mile 235.4) 36.0566°N, 92.3184°W
• Brush Creek (mile 239.7) 36.1005°N, 92.3268°W
• Matney Knob (mile 253.0) 36.2142°N, 92.3082°W

The trail also crosses AR-341 on the south side of Matney Knob at 36.2048°N, 92.3213°W and near the Lone Rock community at 36.1418, 92.3354°W.  Both crossings have a paved area where you can pull off the road while caching water.

Maps

My map set consists of a 4-page PDF and will be 1:24,000 scale when printed on 11×17 paper. Here’s some general info about my maps. Every time I update the map the file will have a different name so if you want to bookmark or share it, link to this page – not the file.

v7, Apr 21 2025: The new (2023) mile markers are used.

v6, Jan 26, 2025: The coverage area for page 4 (the north end) has been shifted east to show much of the recommended road walk route between Matney Knob and the Norfork Lake dam and to include the town of Norfork. Minor style updates.

v5, Nov 8 2023: An all-new base layer replaces the old scanned USGS topo maps. Much nicer looking and probably more legible.

The Ozark Highlands Trail Association sells a map that covers this section (and more).

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The road walk

The best route from Matney Knob to the Norfork dam and the beginning of the Norfork Lake section is a 9.5 mile road walk:

• Walk north 1.4 miles along AR-341, crossing the White River.
• Turn southeast and walk 0.85 miles along AR-341.
• Turn south and walk 0.55 miles along AR-5, crossing North Fork River. The town of Norfork lies before you – a great place for a zero-day. Several places to eat, sleep, get a cold beer, and maybe resupply.
• Turn northeast and walk 4.6 miles along Norfork River Rd. At the intersection with AR-177 is Whispering Woods Cabins, a good place for food & lodging.
• Turn on AR-177 and walk 2 miles northwest, crossing the dam, to the north end of the Quarry Park Day Use area.

There is a shorter (by 3 miles) route that goes north on AR-5 then east on AR-177 but part of that route along AR-177 is a busy road with no shoulder so it could be hazardous.

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Good places to eat after a hike

Turner Bend Store

Hagarville: Hagarville Grocery

Oark: Oark General Store & Cafe,

Ozark: Ozark Burger Co. 303 N 18th St.    Zack’s Pizza & Grill, 2913 W Commercial St.

Ozone: The Burger Barn