Ozark Highlands Trail
check with the trail manager for updated details before visiting.
Ozark Highlands Trail
USDA Forest Service
Backcountry Trail
- Length
165 miles
- Elevation Gain
--
- Route Type
out & back
(2 reviews)
- Length
165 miles - Elevation Gain
-- - Route Type
out & back
The Ozark Highlands Trail is a 165-mile-long trail spanning most of the Northern half of the Ozark Mountains from Lake Fort Smith State Park to the Buffalo River. It offers a variety of diverse landscapes representing various topographic, vegetative, pastoral, historic, human, and animal life communities that are typically found throughout the Ozarks.
Location: Spans E-W across Ozark NF, from Lake Fort Smith to Richland Creek. Access at numerous trailheads.
- States: Arkansas
- Counties: Franklin, Pope, Johnson, Newton
The Ozark Highlands Trail is a 165-mile-long trail spanning most of the Northern half of the Ozark Mountains from Lake Fort Smith State Park to the Buffalo River. It offers a variety of diverse landscapes representing various topographic, vegetative, pastoral, historic, human, and animal life communities that are typically found throughout the Ozarks.
The Ozark Highlands Trail (OHT) is a combination of simple footpaths and old forest roads favoring the heights of the land and located for minimum reliance on construction for protecting the resource. Views from the OHT are predominantly forested, sporadically intermixed with old fields, pastoral valleys, and cultural landscapes. The OHT offers a diversity of topography and a variety of vegetation and animal life exposing the hiker to the entire range of landforms, clear water features, history, and uses of the land found throughout the Ozarks.
The trail is the only designated National Recreation Trail in the forest. Facilities include the OHT footpath itself, trailhead parking areas, information boards at road crossings, and developed recreation areas. Management practices are modified to recognize the nationally significant aesthetic and recreation values of these lands.
Accessibility Information
No text provided.
Reviews
Steven Parker
A challenging trail
The OHT is a heavily forested, backpacking trail located in Northern Arkansas. The prime time to visit is from October through April. The summers are hot, humid, buggy and the trail becomes choked with vegetation. This is an amazing winter hiking trail, with people coming from all over the country to get in some winter backpacking. This is a wilderness trail that does not pass through populated areas. You may never see another hiker while on the OHT. The maps from Underwood Geographics are essential, as is the trail guide by Tim Ernst. Your best source for information is the Ozark Highlands Trail Association www.ozarkhighlandstrail.com.
Allowed Uses:
Hiking/WalkingOther Activities
- Camping
Public Contact
Robert DugganOzark St Francis National Forest
605 W. Main St.
Russellville, AR 72801
[email protected] • (479) 964-7200
www.fs.fed.us/oonf/ozark
Contact the trail manager for current maps and visiting details.
More Details
- Elevation (low): 900
- Elevation (high): 2200
- Elevation (cumulative): --
- Part of a Trail System? No
- Surface (primary): Soil
- Surfaces (additional): --
- Tread Width (average): 24"
- Tread Width (minimum): --
- Running length (minimum): --
- Tread Grade (average, percent): 15
- Tread Grade (maximum): 30
- Running length (maximum): --
- Cross-slope (average, percent): --
- Cross-slope (maximum): --
- Running length (maximum): --
- Certified as an NRT
Apr 10, 1984