The Caney Creek Wilderness (CCW) covers 14,460 acres of the south-central Ouachita National Forest in Arkansas, southeast of Mena, southwest of Mt Ida, and north of Athens. CCW is part of the 85,000 acre Caney Creek Wildlife Management Area – a rather large area with little human population that is also home to the Eagle Rock Loop, the Shady Lake Recreation Area, and part of the Wolfpen Gap ATV trail system.
The 9.5-mile Caney Creek Trail (CCT) traverses the CCW east/west. It crosses the Cossatot River at the west end, Blaylock Creek at the east end, and Caney Creek 13 times in between, with many small tributary crossings for good measure. Water sources are abundant. Like its sibling – the Little Missouri Trail – the CCT is wall-to-wall scenery. The east trail head is on Polk 64 at 34.3968°N, 94.0225°W. The west trail head is at the end of FR N74A, just off Polk 79 at 34.4094°N, 94.1654°W. The trail elevation drops from 1380′ at the east end to 1080′ at the west though it does climb to a high point of 1560′ at the saddle that divides the Blaylock and Caney creek watersheds 0.6 miles from the east trail head.
The trail is not blazed and there is a relatively large amount of downfall that is detoured-around. The eastern part is well-trodden and easy to follow though some people still hang plastic trash in the trees to temporarily mark the route. The western part is noticeably less used and the trail is indistinct in a couple short areas.
The Buckeye Trail (BT) intersects the CCT about 3.8 miles from the east trail head, climbs north-ish about 1.1 miles up the Katy Creek drainage and then turns east for 3.4 miles along the ridge of Buckeye Mountain to a trail head on Polk 64 at 34.4088°N, 94.0282°W. BT gains about 1100′ elevation from the CCT junction to the top of Buckeye Mountain, then drops 500′ to the trail head. It is likely that the only water along this trail will be at Katy Falls. The trail is not blazed but is generally well-worn.
The junction for the spur from BT to Katy Falls is not marked. If you’re going north there is a place where the trail seems to continue straight with another trail intersecting from the left. The straight-ahead is the falls spur and the left turn is the main trail.
A popular option is a loop consisting of the Buckeye Trail and the eastern part of the Caney Creek Trail. Without a shuttle you’ve also got a 1.1 mile road walk on Polk 64.
My maps are a 2-page PDF and will be at 1:24000 scale on 11×17″ paper. They show trail heads, area roads, the location of notable water crossings, and other points of interest. The coordinates of included trail heads are also shown. 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.
v2 Apr 16 2025 The track for the western 2.5 miles is now from self-gathered and verified data.
v1 Jan 1 2025 Based on data from my Dec 30 2024 trip but the western 2.5 miles of CCT is an approximated track from other sources.
Tim Ernst’s Arkansas Hiking Trails has a good description of both CCT & BT. He notes 15 crossings of Caney Creek where I count (and indicate on the map) only 13. I haven’t tracked down the discrepancy yet. Charlie Williams has a great, if dated, description of the CCT, BT, and the general area.
Regarding water levels, during a Dec 30 2024 trip the Cossatot River gauge was at 4′ (2′ seems to be the lowest it ever goes). I was able to rock-hop the crossings as far west as the Buckeye junction (though my boots did get wet). All crossings west of that required wading and #11 felt too risky and was aborted.
During a April ’25 follow-up, the river gauge was at 2.6′. Caney Creek crossings #11-13 were rock-hops and the river crossing was a bit more than mid-shin depth.
Here’s a trip report for the Buckeye Loop from May 2014, and the Buckeye Loop with part of the western CCT from December 2024, and the west end of the CCT from April ’25.
Last review/update: Nov 29 2025
The Compulsive Hiker 