Trans America Trail, Arkansas section

[caver]

I decided to take a vacation day over Memorial Day 2004 and ride the Arkansas section of the Trans-America Trail. I had ordered the maps from Sam Correro at Trans Am Trail
and waited for them to arrive. After getting the maps I took his information and put it all into a GPS. Some of his waypoints are not on the roll charts
so I had to check his mileage with Mapsource and it was always obvious where my next turn should be. To be honest,,,I never used the maps on the trail due to rain on the first day. I did use the roll chart on occasion in the Ozark mountains but it was just to double check all the stuff I entered into the Garmin 176C. I left the house after work on Thursday and headed to Helena AR via Kennett MO. I had reservations near Heth AR. On the way there I wanted to see the Marked Tree Siphons near,,,,,,you guessed it...Marked Tree AR. N35 35.216 W90 26.216
GPS waypoints should be pretty close. Use hddd.mm.mmm and WGS 84 to enter the points.

I found out about it through this website.
Marked Tree Siphons
In the background you can see the railing of the one lane bridge that takes you over this thing.
Just down the road you cross what looks like an old lock for small boats.

Nearby at a place called Rivervale N35 40.322 W 90 20.353
there is a drainage ditch that passes under ditch #2. You can see it from
bridge but it just looks like a concrete road submerged under the water.
The two waterways do not connect and it's also marked on some topo maps as a siphon. More like a P-trap if you ask me ,,,,.
On to Heth were I arrive after dark.

Friday morning it looks like rain and I'm not sure how I will like riding in the rain. I find out the cheap bibs are not made for rain and leak. I was soaked by the time I arrived in Helena AR.
The rain stops for a few minutes so I can take this picture at the start of the trail.

In Mississippi looking west towards the Mississippi River Bridge.
About 35 miles into the trip I start to hit some little used farm roads that are
muddy. One road near an area called Cypress Swamp kept getting worse so I had to double back and re-route a couple of miles. I finally get back to an area where I don't have to keep my feet on the ground like skis and snap this picture.

I never did put the bike down but had about 20 close calls along with 2-3" deep mud. I ride in more rain as you will notice the bike self cleans in the following pictures. I had to do one more small detour but after that the roads were in great shape.
Some wrecked high tension towers. Looked like tornado damage to me.

N34 45.622 W91 28.784

Seems that everyone who rides the trail takes a picture of this old shack....so I did too.

N34 50.831 W91 37.365
Notice bike is a little cleaner. It actually cleared up shortly after this and I dried out by the time I got to my motel.
This is a short distance off the trail. It's the entrance road to an old Titan II nuke missile site. I was tempted ride in but a house was nearby.

N35 19.280 W92 01.149

I had reservations in Clinton AR at the "Executive Inn".
The two chain motels were booked. What a dump. My first clue was
my room door had obvious signs of being kicked in. The bed had two rocks
holding the foot of the bed up. They had placed a clean towel around the
sink drain pipe. I later found out why as water would run on the floor if you left the water run for too long. It took five minutes before the shower water became warm.....no joke.
This is how I found it.


Saturday morning it was foggy. I probably missed many great views in the
mountains but at least it wasn't raining. I think this is Mill Creek.
N35 30.305 W93 00.187

I took a quick detour to Devil's
Knob Lookout Tower,,,,fog city.

N35 43.455 W93 24.294

The swinging bridge near Oark AR. Look for a break in the guardrail with red paint on the ends.

N35 41.328 W93 31.929

Lots of good road in this area suitable for any bike. I think this was the longest stretch of pavement too.
After Oark I come across some other adventure riders fixing a flat.

I told them I wasn't about to part with my only spare tube but I did have a patch kit. The patch held and we parted ways.
I have conflicting waypoints as to where this next shot is.
Is it Bee Rock?

It may be at N35 40.351 W93 51.880

Some memorial


The roughest part of the trail near Mountainburg. This at the end of it and it looks pretty tame in the photo.

N35 39.094 W94 07.602

Frog Bayou just past Mountainburg.


Not far from here I left the trail and headed for Alma where I had reservations at a Days Inn. A palace compared to the night before.
I took a dip in the pool and had a bite to eat at the nearby
Crack-Whore Barrel.

[hutchman]

Great report!



Pictures like this one do not do justice to reality. I have a feeling this was a lot worse in person!

Hutch

[caver]

Sunday morning I rejoined the trail. If anyone rides the trail I suggest leaving the trail in Mountainburg and head for lodging in Alma. The route Sam provides to Alma is boring and nothing memorable. You pass through many rural residential areas and it seems to take forever.
This last section takes maybe a couple hours to do and you are at the OK border.

N35 43.392 W94 22.766

I arrive at the OK border wondering if it is going to rain again today.
Looking West, bike is right on the border.

Looking East trying to hold camera overhead,,,obviously off level.

Well that's the end of the trail for me so I head to Fayetteville for some early lunch and then to Hunstville to see if a friend of mine is home. I have a day and half to get back to Sikeston MO so I head to the old defunct amusement park Dogpatch. N36 06.295 W93 07.954
You can see some of it from the road. Here's the old sign.
This place is actually for sale,,,,5 million$$

More buildings.

You can see an old water slide in this shot.

Much better information and photos at these sites. The place is posted
No Trespassing.
http://www.sonicatrophy.com/dp/txt.htm
http://dogpatchusa.freeservers.com/
This one has quite a bit of history about the park.
http://users.aristotle.net/~russjohn.../dogpatch.html

Next stop was Hurricane River Cave via gravel roads.

The waterfall over the entrance to the cave is fake. Pump house is on the left. Lame tour, guide was giving shitty information about caves.
I come outside to a thunderstorm. Damn I hate getting wet.
Down #65 were it gets so bad I pull off into the woods to wait it out. Lightening all around and heavy traffic. It doesn't seem like it is letting up so I head down to St Joe and fuel up. I'm waiting the storm out at a gas station (soaking wet) and the cashier has the weather radio on. A tornado warning is sounded and I ask where that town is. She said about 8 miles down the road. It finally starts to let up and I head down the road a few more miles to Marshall where I get a room for the night. The proprietor said he was full last night and it was empty for that night. Ahh, dry clothes and a shower.

Memorial Day I take every gravel road I can find while heading towards Blanchard Springs Caverns. A beautiful morning and perfect riding weather.
A nice, little used, forest road brings me out onto this creek bed that has recently seen some serious gravel movement from flooding.

N35 56.765 W92 17.478

In the distance of this photo is a nice little spring and then you pass Roasting Ear Church.


I stop for breakfast at this nice little restaurant West of Blanchard Springs Caverns but the name and location escapes me. Good food, great waitress.


Ranger silhouette.




The final room of pretties before you exit.

Take the Dripstone tour as it has all the pretties.
The Discovery tour is only offered between memorial Day and Labor Day.
It's nice too but totally different scenery.
This is my second time and probably not my last.
I stopped for gas near Williford and found this flea market across the road.
Someone has built I nice working waterwheel. The flume feeds it from across the creek but it is also fed by a hidden pump.

N36 16.450 W91 21.005

Looking through the window where the water pours out onto the wheel.


After that it was an uneventful ride back home for some rest.

[12ride]

Caver: Are the two great big mudholes still there just before the rough section and just after it??
Sam C. told me there was a way around them but I didn't find it and rode through them. (made it ok but had no idea as to how deep they were when I bailed off in them).

I rode the Ark. section 2 years ago in December and got into a snowstorm just west of Clinton. Then made a wrong turn and had a heck of a time getting straightened out.

Very good report. Good photos. 12ride

[caver]

12 ride

I only recall mudholes before the rough section. ATV's had made trails around them or you could skim the edge. That road was so overgrown I thought I had a made a wrong turn. I think there is a way around it. This is where a mapping GPS comes in handy. I had Mapsource Topo loaded on mine.

I'm glad you guys liked the report.
I've used enough information here from others and felt it was time to give something back.

Brad

[gaspipe]

Cool report.

I'm headed into AR on Sam's trail this fall. Been through MS/TN, and working my way West.

[Twowheeler]

We were just in that area last week but were heading farther west and didn't have time to look around.
I want to go back this fall and do a little exploring thanks for the info.
Nice report too...

[12ride]

"I have conflicting waypoints as to where this next shot is.
Is it Bee Rock?"
Caver:
I think it is the large set of rocks on the White Rock Mt. road. (don't know if it is called Bee Rock or not). 12ride

[Pillshovel]

Caver,

Is that rough section you mentioned about as bad as it gets? I was thinking of doing that same trip on my KTM, but with that plank of a seat and a 80 mile fuel range, I am now considering the Strom with the TKC80's. What do you think?

[Albie]

Holy crap! I remember going to Dogpatch when I was a kid. Cool stuff.

[ozarkrider]

The restaurant west of Blanchard Springs is called Codys and is in 56, AR. The TransAm trail section through AR is awesome. Next time ya wanna come this way, pm me and we'll go do some back roads that Sam didn't put on the charts.

[caver]

Pillshovel:
Yes that's as bad as it gets. I don't see why most of it couldn't be done on a V-strom.



Albie:
Yeah my folks took us there in the 70's. I just remember it not being as nice as Silver Dollar City. I think my Dad always commented it was a real dogpatch alright,,,meaning dog crap.



Ozark Rider:
Yeah, that's the restaurant, thanks.
I'm tempted to start a route that branches off from Sam's and heads up into
Missouri. If I did it though,,,no maps or roll charts just GPS.

Brad

[alpiv]

If you are intested in this trip and would like to try your hand at it, come join SpringTAT 2006, we are coving this state this year.
www.springtat.com

[Ostrich]

That looked like a fun trip. The hotel was crap, but at least it left a lasting memory.

[ozarkrider]

I've marked the calendar for the '06 ride. All these roads are in my back yard but I do like riding them.
The section just outside of Mountainburg is MUCH ROUGHER than the fotos show. It's also a blast to run. I've done the AR section twice and can't wait to go again.