Eagle Rock Loop: my first backpacking trip

Eagle Rock Loop

Distance: 26.5 miles

Elevation Gain: 4000 ft

Date Hiked: Sept 2016

Location: Ouachita National Forest, Arkansas

Right after moving to Memphis for med school after spending a glorious year exploring the mountains of Chattanooga, I was itching to get outside of flat West TN so I decided to head into Arkansas for my first ever backpacking trip over Labor Day Weekend.

Contained within the Albert Pike Recreation Area within the Ouachita National Forest is the 26 mile Eagle Rock Loop, one of Arkansas’s premier hikes. I had been front country camping before but had never done a backpacking trip so I for some reason thought that trying it out by myself with a collection of new and rented gear would be a good idea.

I started the hike off along the Little Missouri Trail from the parking area off of Road 369 heading counterclockwise. This section of trail was fairly flat and featured a fun series of cascades known as Little Missouri Falls. Already covered in sweat by this point due to the humidity, a quick dip in the swimming holes was a welcome treat.

While this section was relatively easy, it did involve several water crossings. The water level was not high when I was there but caution must be taken as the area is prone to rapidly rising water levels after storms.

After about 10 miles, I found a nice campsite along the creek that had some great trees for hammocking as I also had decided to try hammock camping this trip. After getting camp set up, I went to boil some water for dinner when I quickly realized that I had not used my new camp stove yet and thus wasn’t quite sure how it worked. After struggling for several embarrassing minutes to get it to light, I sheepishly asked my next site neighbors for some help. Apparently I was not turning the gas on enough for it to hold the flame. Oops, lesson learned. Try out your new gear at home first kids. After that mishap, the evening went smoothly and I enjoyed a very relaxing night with the sounds of the creek lulling me to sleep in my hammock. Unfortunately, I woke up around 3 am with signs and symptoms of Cold Butt Syndrome, the term for when your butt gets cold at night due to the airflow underneath your hammock. My ever helpful camp neighbors told me the next morning that usually a sleeping pad will prevent it. Another lesson learned.

The next day I turned onto the Athens-Big Fork Trail and quickly began climbing to the ridge and the first of six peaks. This section is brutal as the trail has very few switchbacks and essentially climbs up and then down each peak in a north-to-south direction. The plus side is that this made it easy to refill water at each “trough.”

The hardest section was the 700 ft climb straight up Brush Heap Mountain. At the pass, there is a small, easy-to-miss spur trail that takes you to Brush Heap’s peak. To call this spur a “trail” would be generous; this was a 0.25 mile-ish bushwhack up another 100 or so feet through prickly briars and other brush. Although I suppose the mountain’s name should’ve been warning enough. The peak though was absolutely wonderful and my personal favorite viewpoint of the trip. I fought my way to the east side of the peak and was rewarded with even more views of the surrounding mountains and hills.

had originally planned to camp that night at the nearby Eagle Rock Vista, but after climbing up to Brush Heap Mountain I decided to stay the night up there. I managed to set my hammock up between probably the only two suitable trees and enjoyed a lazy, relaxing afternoon and evening watching the sky’s colors change from golden to a pinkish-purple and then blue as the sun set. As a bonus, I had the entire peak to myself.

After watching the sunrise the next morning, I headed back down to the main trail and took the spur trail to Eagle Rock Vista a short ways away. This vista was beautiful but I still felt that my little spot on Brush Heap was better. The morning fog was still burning off which did limit the views a bit.

Early morning at Brush Heap

Eagle Rock Vista

After a couple more miles, I reached a trail junction with the Viles Branch Horse Trail. However, instead of turning left like I was supposed to, I accidentally continued straight towards the one of the road crossings for about 15 minutes before passing by a deer carcass which prompted me to realize that I was going in the wrong direction. Thanks, Bambi.

Another frustrating 15 minutes later, I was back on the correct trail. The trail was pretty rocky and overall nothing super special until I came to the Winding Stairs area. The water here was a beautiful blue-green and was just asking for me to take another swim, which I happily obliged.

I met a nice lady and her niece who were also there swimming and we got to talking for a bit while I dried off. I decided to continue my hike when I quickly realized that there was a problem: I couldn’t find the trail. I could get on the trail going the way I came from, but could not for the life of me find where it continued on. There were tons of blowdowns from a recent storm which was obscuring the way and even trying to go around by walking along the dried up creek bed, I still could not find an obvious path, just the spur trail up to the parking area for this section. Several detours later, I sheepishly returned to my swim spot and asked the lady if she knew where the trail continued. She couldn’t find it either, but she graciously offered me a ride back to my car just a few miles away. I gratefully accepted and ended my hike a few miles early, resolving to purchase some form of GPS for future hikes.

I learned a lot of lessons on this hike and overall had a wonderful time on my first backpacking trip. Eagle Rock Loop is a great trail for first time backpackers and solo hikers as there are several road crossings as well as several popular day hiking sections that would make it easy to access assistance or bail if needed. The trail offers both sweeping vistas and water features with plentiful water sources and campsites to make it a generally stress-free experience. A perfect getaway into nature for hikers in Arkansas, West TN, and East TX!