Reaching the Pinnacle: Hiking the Ouachita National Recreation Trail in Arkansas

Most Oklahoma hikers are acquainted with the bi-state Ouachita National Recreation Trail’s scenic 46 miles of outdoor adventure in southeastern Oklahoma, which roughly parallels the scenic Talimena Drive roadway.

Lesser known to Sooner hikers, the trail’s eastern terminus near striking Pinnacle Mountain in central Arkansas provides a trove of hiking fun and scenery on a weekend road trip.

About 15 miles northwest of downtown Little Rock, the visitor center at Pinnacle Mountain State Park is well stocked with free maps and information for a walk on the Ouachita Trail.

The well-marked trailhead lies just west of the visitor center, and the trail begins its 223-mile trek westward through the Ouachita National Forest to Oklahoma’s Talimena State Park. For reasons lost to history, the trail officially begins in Oklahoma and ends in Arkansas, but it hikes just as well in either direction.

Just 1,012 feet above sea level at the summit, Pinnacle Mountain still soars above the surrounding floodplains. The mountain served as a landmark for traveling parties of the eastern tribes during their removal in the 1830s to their new homeland in present-day Oklahoma.

The views to the north and west from the top of Pinnacle Mountain afford a panorama of the surrounding Ouachita Mountains and the expansive valleys of the Arkansas River.

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