LOViT – The Trails
Lake Ouachita Vista Trail (LOViT) consists of a number of trail segments, along with some short out-and-back or loop spurs leading off a trail segment. This page contains a short introduction to each segment and is linked to a page where you can find more information about any particular segment.
Trail segments run generally west to east along the southern shore of Arkansas’ Lake Ouachita and are named according to the location of the trailhead.
Watchable Wildlife
This portion of the LOViT trail is designed to bring all users, including those physically challenged, closer to nature. The entire trail segment is a 1.25 mile loop including a level paved area with benches and an ADA elevated walkway allowing users to access a wild wetland area at the south end of the Denby Bay area.
Denby Bay
This light to medium grade trail leg begins at Denby Bay Trailhead where US Highway 270 crosses the southern end of Lake Ouachita’s Denby Bay recreation area. There are two possible termination points: it is 3 miles to Homestead trailhead, or you can hike an additional 2 miles to the Tompkins Bend trailhead and campground near Shangri-La Resort.
Homestead
Named for an old homestead, the Homestead Trailhead is a takeout point with a parking area between the Denby Bay and Tompkins Bend trailheads. The difficulty level is considered “easy”, but the trail is rocky on the segment between the trailhead and Tompkins Bend.
Tompkins Bend
This leg of the Vista Trail is approximately five miles of winding trail from the Tompkins Bend Trailhead parking area to the Joplin Trailhead parking area off Mountain Harbor Rd. While designed for all age groups, expect more elevation and hills than Leg 2. The trail crosses many spring fed streams, winding past a number of old quartz crystal mines and many unusual rock formations.
Joplin
LOViT’s Joplin trail segment includes several un-bridged creek crossings along Irons Creek, waterfalls, old growth hardwoods, and a strenuous climb up Hickory Nut Mountain.
Hickory Nut Mountain
The Hickory Nut Mountain trail segment begins at the picnic area atop Hickory Nut Mountain and ends at a take-out on FS47A road. The trail follows the south side of the mountain along the top of a rock bluff before dropping onto an old logging road that parallels Hickory Nut Creek. A canopy of old and new growth trees provide shade in the summer heat.
Forest Service Road 47A (FS47A)
The Hickory Nut Mountain Trail segment drops sharply down off Hickory Nut Mountain to the FS47A trail segment, a takeout at Forest Service Rd. (FS) 47A. Forest Service Road 47A is itself a short road that turns north off FS47; FS47 runs between Hickory Nut Mountain Road on the west and Crystal Springs Road on the east. The FS47A trail segment crisscrosses FS47 several times as it moves east to the Pipe Spring trail segment. This short trail segment is easy with a few low hills.
Pipe Spring
The LOViT overlaps with the Charlton Trail at Pipe Spring for a 1.9 miles trek to the Crystal Springs trailhead. At Pipe Spring there is, indeed, a pipe spring with an uninterrupted flow of cold water. This trail segment is 40 years old and travels north along the western flank of an unnamed mountain, over the mountain, and then down into The Crystal Springs Recreational Area.
Crystal Springs
This dual trailhead, Charlton & LOViT Trails, is set in the deep valley between the East terminus of Hickory Nut Mountain and the western slopes of Big Bear Mountain adjacent to the Crystal Springs Campground. The LOViT Crystal Springs trail segment begins at the Crystal Springs Campground pavilion on Crystal Springs Rd., travels across Little Bear Mountain, and terminates, at least for 2011, at Little Bear Creek at the base of Big Bear Mountain. There are no accommodations along the way. Little Bear Mountain is very, very steep making this trail segment the most challenging section of the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail.