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Mount Magazine – North Rim Trail

By Mike Newman, on March 29, 2010

View From North Rim Trail

The North Rim Trail on Mount Magazine is a beautiful hike. It starts at the Visitor Center and winds westward along the north rim of the mountain. On the way are several gorgeous bluffs and some very scenic creek areas.

If you are planning to make the complete loop around the mountain, you will be getting off the trail where it connects to the Mossback Ridge Trail (about 1.8 miles from the trailhead). If not, you can continue the trail all the way to the campground (about another .7 miles). (The official trail map lists the main segment as being 2.2 miles and the west segment as being .5 miles.)

North Rim Trail at Mount Magazine State Park

Approximate elevations based on GPS data.

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Mt. Nebo – Bench Trail

By Mike Newman, on March 14, 2010

Bench Trail, Mount Nebo State Park

The Bench Trail at Mount Nebo State Park is overall one of the easiest hikes I have done. This 3.7 mile loop trail originally was a road. The vast majority of it could still pass for a road as it is rather level and wide. For that reason, it is pretty popular with mountain bikers.

More of the Bench Trail

Approximate elevation profile based on gps data.

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Mount Magazine – Bear Hollow Trail

By Mike Newman, on February 21, 2010

Last Saturday I went hiking on the Bear Hollow Trail at Mount Magazine State Park (near Paris, Arkansas).

Bear Hollow Trail, Mt. Magazine State Park, Logan County, Arkansas

Bear Hollow Trail is one of my favorite hiking trails. It is not very difficult or very long, and it has gorgeous views of the Bear Hollow area on the east side of Mount Magazine.

Bear Hollow Trail, Mt. Magazine State Park

Last Saturday when I went up there, I was a little surprised to see all the snow that was still there. We had gotten snow in Fort Smith in the past week or so, but that had already melted.

The first part of my hike was pretty exciting as I had never hiked in 6 inches of snow before. I’m sure that is a pretty regular thing to do up north, but it was new for me.

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Mt. Nebo – Rim Trail (South)

By Mike Newman, on January 18, 2010

Yesterday, I hiked the South end of the Rim Trail at Mt. Nebo State Park.

View from Mt. Nebo Rim Trail (South)

Mt. Nebo may be my favorite state park. It is a beautiful mountaintop park with a small campground and some great hiking trails. [Note: You can read about the entire rim trail loop at this link.]

The Rim Trail encircles most of Mt. Nebo. I have made a GPX file of the south section of the trail from the campground parking lot (on the east side of the mountain) over to the southwest overlook (where there is another parking lot).

Mt. Nebo Rim Trail (South)

This section of the Rim Trail is about 1.2 miles. Aside from having to navigate some of rocky sections, this is not a difficult trail section to hike.

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ASP Park Finder Map

By Mike Newman, on January 9, 2010

The Park Finder at the Arkansas State Parks website is a handy way to see where all 52 of the parks are located. Get more info about any park by clicking on its location on the map at this link.

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