Introduction
The Ouachita Tour of Trails is a collection of mountain bike trails that showcase the trails of the Ouachita Mountain Region. The trails that make up the OToT is just a small sample of the trails that can be found in the Ouachita Mountains. The OToT gives riders a chance to experience the many types of terrain that the Ouachita Mountain Trails have to offer. The OToT makes for a great mountain bike weekend in the Ouachita Mountains though you may not be able to do all of these trails in just two days. Below is an example of an itinerary we did. Feel free to follow it or make up your own but no matter how you slice it up these trails are going to give you some of the best mountain biking that the Ouachitas have to offer.
Day 1: Start in beautiful Hot Springs, Arkansas at the Cedar Glades Trail. This trail is made up of a some really smooth flowing trails and is rated for most riders. There is some climbing involved, most of these climbs are pretty gentle. There are a few technical places but for the most part the trail is fairly mild. This trail is about 9.5 miles long and should take the average rider about an hour or so to complete. Ride this in the PM and then spend the rest of the evening relaxing in Hot Springs.
Day 2: Pack your bags and head over to Little Blakely near the Lake Ouachita State Park. This trail is rated for more advanced beginners to advanced riders. The trail can be rough in places especially if you do the north loop. The climbs are not to bad with only one or two major climbs. As far as technicality of this trail it has some spots on it that require good handling skills as well as some ridge riding. This trail is about 18 miles long doing all loops and will take a beginner rider about two to four hours to complete. Ride this trail in the AM and once you are done, load up the vehicle and head on over to the Charlton Trail. The Charlton is an out and back trail that can be accessed from either the Crystal Springs Recreation Area or the Charlton Recreation Area. If you just want to ride one way you will need to set up a shuttle at one of the trailheads. The Charlton is rated for an advanced beginner to advanced rider. The trail itself is not too difficult other then the fact that as you get closer to the Charlton Recreation Area there is more climbing involved and the climbs are sustained. The only part of this trail that is really technical is the descent into the Charlton Recreation Area. This downhill is very steep and narrow and runs along the edge of the mountain with sharp switchbacks and other obstacles to test your skills on. The trail is about 4.3 miles one way and will take a beginner about one to two hours to complete. Now go find yourself a place nearby to bed down for the night. You might want to look in Mount Ida for a place or you could stay at the Charlton Recreation Area or one of the other many camping areas along the shores of Lake Ouachita.
Day 3: Start this morning off right on the newest member to the Ouachitas, Lake Ouachita Vista Trail or as we all affectionately call it "LOViT". This trail is an out and back that is pretty mild and has good flow to it. The trail meanders along the shoreline of Lake Ouachita so be prepared for some gorgeous scenery. There are only a couple of climbs to be concerned with, they are not long but are really steep. There really is nothing to technical about this trail and most riders will probably enjoy this ride. The trail is only 10 miles long one way and most beginners should be able to complete this ride in a matter of two to three hours. Once your done here, head on down Hwy. 71 and go to the Womble Trail. Let me say this first, that the Womble is to long to try to do in a matter of hours for a beginning rider. So with that knowledge and knowing how much time you have left, pick a section of the Womble that you would like to ride. We ride from the Hwy. 298 trailhead toward Hwy. 27 for about 7 or 8 miles and then turn around and head back. The Womble can be as long or as short as you like and remember this it is an out and back trail so you will either need to setup a shuttle or head back the way you came. The entire trail is 35 miles long and the easiest parts seem to be between Hwy. 27 and Northfork Lake.
Day 4: Now comes the day for big climbs and fun downhill's. Load up the wagon and head on down Hwy. 270 for about 15 miles until you come to the Big Brushy Recreation Area. The Big Brushy trail is part of the Ouachita Trail that runs from Talihina, Oklahoma to Little Rock, Arkansas. Expect to find some very rugged trail on the Big Brushy. The trail is an out and back but coming back is mostly all downhill so it goes pretty fast. There are numerous climbs on this trail and some are a little steep and sustained. You will probably get more climbing here then on any of the trails in the OToT. The trail has some technical stuff but its not nothing to be to concerned with. The most demanding thing about this trail is the climbing, so bring your climbing legs. This trail is 6.5 miles long and will take a rider 2-4 hours to complete depending on their fitness level. Once you have done enough climbing on the Big Brushy it is time to head over to Mena and check the Earthquake Ridge Trail out. Earthquake Ridge is located just 2 miles out of Mena and was the final leg of our OToT. This trail is about 6.5 miles long unless you ride the newly added Rocky Bottoms Trail which adds another 2 miles to the ride. The trail is very rough compared to some of the other trails on the OToT. There are a few climbs involved with this trail namely the one coming up from the visitor center to the top of the trail. This particular climb is about 1 mile long though not a sustained nor really steep climb. There are a few other climbs out there that are pretty steep especially on the Rocky Bottoms Trail on the Agony Hills Loop. As far as technical stuff goes there are not many places out there that require a lot of technical skills. The trail will probably take a rider 40 minutes to an hour and a half to complete depending on their fitness level. There you have it, seven trails in 4 days what better way to spend a four day weekend.