The four trails in Hobbs State Park provide a variety of uses for people wanting to hike.
From the half-mile Historic Van Winkle Trail, which is handicapped accessible, to the Hidden Diversity Multi-Use Trail which is 21 miles long and designed for mountain bikes and horses as well as hikers, there'something for everyone.
The other trails: Pigeon Roost, a "moderate to strenuous"eight and a half miles, and Shaddox Hollow, a "moderate "one and a half miles. The only camping allowed in the park is at the primitive campsites along the Pigeon Roost trail. The sites are available on a first-come first-served basis.
"The (Pigeon Roast ) trail is fairly short for an overnight trail, but there are several hills to climb which gives the trail its difficulty rating," according to the description on the Friends of Hobbs Web site. "From the parking lot, the trail begins straight ahead down the ridgeline. This is an access spur which follows the ridgeline for about 1 / 2 mile, then drops off the ridge to the west to the bottom of a hollow where it intersects with the loop. At this point, you can go either left or right; however, the hiking is a bit easier if you take the left fork. The trail winds through narrow hollows and up and along rugged ridges. It travels through stands of native pines, hardwoods and typical Ozarks vegetation. During leaf-off, there are several locations which offer great views of the Van Hollow branch of Beaver Lake."
"There are great things to see in all seasons," said Al Knox, Hobbs Trail supervisor. He recommends that people come out more than once in order to see the changing seasons.
The newest section of the Multi-Use Trail goes into the newest area of the park, near War Eagle Creek. Eventually, Knox said, a horse-friendly campground is planned for that area, but there's no timeline to build it.
"You come down off a high ridge and you can see the valley for miles," Knox said about the War Eagle Loop.
Safety on the trail actually begins at home, Knox said. Hikers should always tell someone where they're going. Each trail head has a register that hikers should use. If they sign in at the trail head, rangers can tell if someone is seriously overdue. The trails close every night and the parking lots are locked. If there's a car parked at a trail head, rangers can check the register and may start a search.
The registers also record the number of hikers which helps the park find funding for trail maintenance.
Although about one thousand hikers use the trail each month, it's possible to hike without ever encountering another hiker, Knox said. If walkers encounter horseback riders, they should be careful not to spook the horses. There are actually more mountain bikers than horseback riders in Hobbs, he said.
Each trail head also has a supply of maps, but the trails are all within a half mile of a road, so it's difficult to be lost for very long, he said. Hikers should bring along a whistle to signal if they do get lost.
Trail heads are located two miles south of Arkansas Highway 12 on Townsend Ridge Road and on Piney Road for the Multi-Use Trail.
The Pigeon Roost Trail Head is located on the north side of State Highway 12, 6 / 10 of a mile east of War Eagle Road. The trail head for Shaddox Hollow is on Arkansas Highway 303, approximately one mile north of the 303 / 12 intersection.
The Historic Van Winkle Trail parking lot and trail head is on Arkansas Highway 12 approximately 11. 5 miles east of Rogers; there are rest rooms available.
With a bottle of water and good hiking shoes, people can spend hours getting the know a real Ozarka forest.
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online