Rock mosaic map at the summit.
Arkansas Highpoint - Mount Magazine - 2753 ft
28 Nov 2004, around noon. Highpoint #8.
Back to 2004 Southeast Highpoint Expedition
On the way to Mount Magazine State Park, I should have turned from state road 10 onto state road 309 in Havana. Instead, I turned onto 307 instead, one town too early, and convinced myself that I was on the correct road. I should have double-checked when the road became unpaved, but instead I spent an hour and a half driving aimlessly on unmarked dirt roads, wondering which of them led to the state park. (Answer: None of them.) Finally, I found the park, and headed to the visitor center where I started my walk. It was cold and windy in the open, but after getting on the trail in the woods, the wind ceased to be a problem and the weather was very pleasant, 45 F on the summit. I started on the Greenfield Trail, connected to the Mossback Ridge Trail, which connected to the Signal Hill Trail to the summit. Distance of 6 miles round-trip, elevation gain of 623 ft. There are some 5th class climbing routes on the cliffs south of the highpoint, and I had hoped to check them out to see if one could reach the summit this way. The trail did not pass this way, so I didn't get to scope this stuff out. Next time. There is no view from the summit, but there is a rock mosaic of the state at the highpoint, with the USGS marker at the location of Mount Magazine.
The pounding on 307 was the end of the road for my tires. They were nearly shot anyhow, and one slow leak turned into a very fast leak, so I had to stop in Hot Springs on the way to the Louisiana highpoint for an alignment and new tires.
Rock mosaic map at the summit.
Me on the summit.
Views from the Petit Jean Valley overlook along road 309. The 5th class
routes are (I think) on these cliffs but further west.
References
http://www.targotennisberg.org/highpoints/arkansas/
http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/parks/park.asp?id=41
http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/parks/hiking_detail.asp?id=41
http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/images/pdfs/pibs/MTMAGAZN-03.pdf