Buckeye Trail – Caney Creek Trail Loop (Ouachita Forest) – 9 mi

The mountains in southwest Arkansas between Glenwood and Mena are my favorite on the entire planet. They are so rugged, remote, and beautiful, you simply cannot look at them without awe. The Caney Creek/Buckeye Trail loop (Ouachita National Forest in Polk County, near Shady Lake) is my new favorite hike in Arkansas. It has it […]

Tall Peak Trail (Ouachita Forest) ā€“ 6 mi (o&b)

The Caney Creek Wilderness in the Ouachita National Forest in southwest Arkansas (Polk County, southeast of Mena, near Shady Lake) is one of the most beautiful and rugged areas in the state. It is 14,460 acres and is a backpacker’s paradise. Because it is a designated wilderness area, it is a great place for solitude […]

Caney Creek Trail – West (Ouachita Forest) – 11 mi (o&b)

The western part of the Caney Creek Trail is a wonderfully scenic hike through the Ouachita National Forests’s Caney Creek Wilderness. It is a hike of 11.4 miles (5.7 miles each way) and has 22 wet crossings (11 miles each way), but it is well worth the effort. The Caney Creek Trail runs 9 miles from […]

Katy Falls Video (Ouachita Forest)

Katy Falls in the Caney Creek Wilderness is a cool 12-foot waterfall in a beautiful little cove by the west end of the Buckeye Trail. It is in the Ouachita National Forest, near Shady Lake, southeast of Mena. The waterfall is on a spur near where the Buckeye Trail joins the Caney Creek Trail. Also nearby […]

Caney Creek Trail Cascade Video (Ouachita Forest)

Back in April, I got to hike the west part of the Caney Creek Trail in the Ouachita National Forest’s Caney Creek Wilderness (Polk County, Arkansas). I hiked it from the west trailhead near the Cossatot River over to the trail’s juncture with the Buckeye Trail, a distance of 5.7 miles, and then back for […]

Tall Peak Trail Pics (Ouachita Forest)

Tall Peak Trail is one of the cool trails near Shady Lake in the Ouachita National Forest, southeast of Mena, Arkansas. The trail is just 3.1 miles each way (for a total hike of 6.2 miles), but it is a challenging climb. The elevation difference between the high and low points is nearly 1,200 feet. […]