202 Acorn Ridge at Slippery Hollow

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       As summer approaches the possibility of a ‘comfortable enjoyable’ hike becomes pretty rare, hiking in Arkansas in the summer can be downright ‘miserable’.  Last year I went on a couple late spring hikes (see: 175 MCA Camp Trail, and 176 SH Morris Spring), on both these I left the house early, didn’t drive far and kept the hike short.  That ‘recipe’ worked well, getting a short outdoor adventure in, then returning home before the heat of the day.

pastoral scene south of Acorn Lane

Today I’m hoping for more of the same, and I return to Slippery Hollow for my fifth visit to this 1450 acre property of the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission.  Today I park under the powerlines near the south boundary to the main unit of the natural area, next to a gate where I begin hiking north on an old road.  This road follows the ridge which goes about 1.5 miles to a point overlooking the confluence of Booker Hollow with Big Music Creek almost 400 feet below.

old road off Acorn Lane

utility easement @ south edge of Natural Area

I don’t know if I’ll get that far though, since maps show this old road ending far short of the point on the ridge.  From there I’m hoping for a good trail continuing all the way to the point, we’ll see, after all: you never know until you go.  Past the gate the road is in good shape, mostly flat and almost completely clear of undergrowth.  This is easy hiking to be sure, comfortable and enjoyable (so far anyway).

gate @ parking under the powerlines

On the old road are three fallen trees, two are easy to just step over and the third (the most recent) barely blocks the road and has a short detour.  Before the road ends is a nice area of many old growth trees including many big oaks, and a few fallen trees in this forest primeval.  At roads end is a small ‘wildlife opening’ or ‘food plot’, but it’s also where a house once stood nearby.


old road is nice clean trail

As I’m wandering around looking for any sign of a trail I stumble onto a few homesite remains.  Mostly trash, but also some rusty metal roofing, ‘poured’ concrete and concrete blocks.  Along a couple fence lines at an area of dense greenbrier I give up on finding a trail and head back south to the road.  Now heading back on top of the ridge that I’ve just dubbed ‘Acorn Ridge’ partially for the acorns, hickory nuts and pine cones littering the road, but mostly for ‘Acorn Lane’ the county road I drove up to access the area.

big oak

As I’m hiking back it’s already getting too hot for hiking and it isn’t even ten o’clock yet.  Although shorter than I would have liked, this was an enjoyable and mostly comfortable hike, but I’ll wait for winter to make an attempt at reaching the point and maybe even Big Music Creek far below.  Well, today’s was definitely a ‘short’ adventure, it was great to just get out and enjoy nature.  Although it didn’t feel like it, I hiked 2.2 miles today with 104 feet of elevation gain.

fallen giant in primeval forest


Acorn Ridge at Slippery Hollow: Statistics Chart 202     It’s pretty easy to get here, Acorn Lane turns east off SR 14 just over half a mile north of Welcome Ridge Road, or about 1.5 miles south of the Peel turn off (SR 125 north).  Go down the steep hill and back up the other side on Acorn Lane just under 0.2 miles and turn left (north) on the faint powerline access (old road).  About 700 feet park in the utilities easement near the locked gate.  Most vehicles can usually make it here, but high clearance or 4WD wouldn’t hurt.

base map before fair use alterations is property of USGS--licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 U.S. License

Location: Acorn Ridge parking: 36.34799, -92.76491

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