Mt. Magazine: Benefield E. Loop Trail Snow Photos, Pt. 1

Mt. Magazine: Benefield E. Loop Trail Snow Photos, Pt. 1 photo
The junction at the northwest part of the loop where the Benefield Trail East Loop splits from the Bear Hollow Trail. (Panoramic.)

Last weekend, I got to do some snow hiking at Mount Magazine State Park. I was pretty excited because we don’t get all that many opportunities for snow hiking here in Arkansas.

I picked the 1-mile Benefield East Loop Trail because it is fairly short yet it has some awesome views. Unfortunately, there weren’t any scenic vista views because of fog conditions up on the mountain. But it was still a really cool hike. (And I got to try out my new heavy-duty Columbia Omni-Heat winter gloves.)

I started at the Benefield picnic area trailhead and hiked it clockwise.

Mt. Magazine: Benefield E. Loop Trail Snow Photos, Pt. 1 photo
Working my way downhill on the Benefield East Loop Trail, Mount Magazine. This is the sloped area along the northwest part of the loop. (Panoramic.)

There was about 3 inches of snow in most places on the trail with a half-inch of ice under that. It made the rocks on the downhill parts of the trail fairly slippery. (I only completely fell once though.) Navigating through the snow-and-ice-laden branches took extra work on some parts of the trail.

The scenery was awesome. I’m a sucker for wooded scenes covered in fresh snow.

Mt. Magazine: Benefield E. Loop Trail Snow Photos, Pt. 1 photo
Mountain fog obscured the view of Bear Hollow, but the snowy landscape more than made up for it.

These are some of the photos that I took. (Click for larger view.) I will have more snow photos from this hike in a second post.

Mt. Magazine: Benefield E. Loop Trail Snow Photos, Pt. 1 photo
Along the north side of the Benefield East Loop Trail, Mount Magazine
Mt. Magazine: Benefield E. Loop Trail Snow Photos, Pt. 1 photo
Panoramic shot of snowy Benefield East Loop Trail (east side), Mount Magazine State Park
Mt. Magazine: Benefield E. Loop Trail Snow Photos, Pt. 1 photo
Panoramic shot along the east side of the Benefield East Loop Trail – Mount Magazine
Mt. Magazine: Benefield E. Loop Trail Snow Photos, Pt. 1 photo
Another snowy shot of the east side of the Benefield East Loop Trail
Mt. Magazine: Benefield E. Loop Trail Snow Photos, Pt. 1 photo
This is at the southeast end of the Benefield East Loop Trail where it meets Highway 309.

Photo Gallery

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By Mike Newman

Mike Newman, editor and creator of Arklahoma Hiker, likes to day hike and walk outdoors in Arkansas and Oklahoma.

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