Lake Sylvia Loop Ouachita National Forest (AR) This is a five-mile loop with several variations for Saturday hikes. The basic loop starts at Lake Sylvia campground and goes south to meet the Ouachita Trail (Sect 9). It follows the trail for 1.4 miles eastward to Chinquapin Gap, then leaves the OT and heads back toward the lake. A short (0.4 mile) spur on the northbound leg goes up to Chinquapin Overlook. This is a steep climb, but a beautiful spot during leafoff. About 1/4 mile past spur to Chinquapin overlook are two inner loops. A right turn at this intersection leads to the dam and shortest return route. A left turn at this intersection leads to another beautiful overlook and view area. To finish the loop, take the right fork at either of the next two intersections and come down above Lake Sylvia dam. A short spur at the dam leads to a lookout above the dam and great views of the cliffs and the canyon, which typify Ouachita Mountain geology. Trail follows the lake past the campground and swimming dock, and back to cars. The trail has several climbs and some good leaf-off views; several rocky stretches; and some small streams to jump across. Each of the intersections provides an alternate loop back to the trailhead, with wildlife interpetive signs, for those who need variety. Planning notes: 1. Wintertime is best for views; view from overlook significantly reduced after leaf out; colorful hike in fall; nice in spring when dogwoods in bloom and wildflowers are out. 2. If you have a large crowd, consider breaking this hike into several smaller groups, based on hiking interest and intent. Let one group go to the summit overlook without delaying others; one group can spend more time on wildlife trail; One can do the four-mile loop and go home. 3. This makes a good "Hike and Swim" in late spring or early fall. 4. Drive from HSV East Gate is about 45 minutes; from Desoto Park in HS about 1 hour. Use 50 miles round trip for carpool share. 5. Strongly recommend this hike every other year, because it attracts a few more hikers from Little Rock. Access Notes: 1. Drive to Lake Sylvia recreation area via Hwy 9 and CR 324. CR 324 is 2 miles north of hwy 9 and hwy 10 merger. Coming into Lake Sylvia, go past the campground to last parking area on your left. An interpretive nature trail (Trees of the Forest) goes off directly from parking lot. The main trail is across the road from parking lot. 2. NOTE: In Tim Ernst' "Arkansas Hiking Trails" his description of trailhead directions incorrectly refers to AR hwy 394, instead of 324. (Map is correct.) For additional info: US Forest Service map TR-27 Lake Sylvia Trails Tim Ernst: Arkansas Hiking Trails (p. 149) Recent Hikes: Nov 29, 2014 Leader: Marie Michalets 20 Hikers OMH Saturday Full loop (counter-clockwise) plus spur to Chinquapin summit; Includes 1.4 miles of OT sss: Chinquapin summit view to Pinnacle Mountain; views of dam and canyon below dam. Weather was great, cool and maybe a bit overcast. About 2 miles into the hike, we came across 6 family-type hikers from Little Rock who were slower than us and taking a rest. One big clump of trees down on the trail that required going around. Leaf-off almost complete. Good views from Overlook. Two hikers got lost on the drive to the trailhead and did not arrive in time to hike with us. They arrived at the trailhead late and hiked, but turned Right onto the OT and realized they may have made the wrong turn after hiking on it awhile, so were never able to catch up. They said they had a nice hike though. Jan 18, 2014 Leader: Theresa Keyser 35 Hikers OMH Saturday Full loop (counter-clockwise) Counter-Clockwise, including spur to Chinquapin Overlook 4.3 miles Difficulty Rating 3 Scenic Rating 4 sss: Chinquapin summit view to Pinnacle Mountain We had a beautiful winter day for hiking. There were no water crossings, but the wind was brisk on overlook. This was a very nice hike fr several first time hikers, only one of which had to take a few rest stops. 8/7/2015 p. 1
Lake Sylvia Dam and Gorge Lake Sylvia Dam from Trail (Left & Below) Vista from Lake Sylvia Trail (below)
Feb 15, 2013 Leader: Cliff & Pamela Harrison 17 Hikers OMH Saturday Full loop (counter-clockwise) Counter-Clockwise. Split between Rabbits, Main-stream and Turtle hikers. Rabbits took the Chinquapin Overlook Spur, Main-stream followed the main trail down to and along the Lake Sylvia shoreline, and the Turtles followed the somewhat shorter and safer Nature Trail back down to the camp ground. sss: Chinquapin summit view to Pinnacle Mountain views of dam and canyon below dam. Pamela led a faster group and Cliff the turtles; Jim led about half the group to Chinquapin overlook while Pam waited for turtles. Could see Lake Maumelle and Pinnacle Mt. from summit. Distant varied from 3.8 to 5.0 dpending on route taken. The trail was somewhat rough for Saturday hiker conditions, a couple of crawl-overs, some mud, some loose rock. This hike is MUCH more pleasing around Easter time, when the hillside Dogwoods are in bloom. Jan 7, 2012 Leader: Debbie VanVeghel 27 Hikers OMH Saturday Loop trail counterclockwise, including trip to Chinkapin overlook sss: Views from Chinkapin overlook, including Lake Maumelle and Pinnacle Mountain Lake Sylvia dam gorge -- rock formations & canyon Overcast day with threat of rain did not deter a large turnout, including three new hikers. Most attempted the steep climb to Chinquapin summit and were rewarded with great views. Sept 18, 2010 Leader: Anita Moore 26 Hikers OMH Saturday Hike and Swim; loop trail counterclockwise, including trip to Chinkapin overlook sss: Views east and west from Chinkapin overlook Lake Slvia dam gorge Good crowd; beautiful day (but still HOT). Trail in need of maintenance. Several down trees and lopping needed. About half group went to swimming/picnic area after hike. Jim went swimming; several others wading. Water was surprisingly refreshing. Sept 13, 2008 Leader: Anita Moore 13 Hikers OMH Saturday Full Loop counter-clockwise. TH to OT, east to Chinquapin Gap, south to overlook spur, up to overlook and back, through Big Gap, to dam and along lake back to TH 4.2 miles Difficulty Rating 3 Scenic Rating 3 First Saturday of the new season. Several new hikers joined the group; all seemed to do well Feb 10, 2007 Leader: Cliff & Pamela Harrison 23 Hikers OMH Saturday Loop clockwise from TH parking to OT; spur to Chinquapin Summit; outside loop to dam and back to TH sss: View from Chinquapin Summit (Lake Maumelle and Pinnacle Mountain); Flatside Pinnacle & Ouachita Pinnacle Views of dam and canyon below dam. We had an escaped dog event, that caused some breakdown of hiking discipline but ended happily (the dog being the more intelligent of the combination of Hike Leader and Dog Owner). Of much more interest was the opportunity to get some hands-on and show-and-tell trail maintenance training from the founders of FoOT, immediately after the hike. 8/7/2015 p. 2
Sept. 30, 2006 Leader: Anita Moore 26 Hikers OMH Saturday Loop clockwise from TH parking to OT; spur to Chinquapin Summit; inside of wild life loop past overlook; to dam and back sss: View from Chinquapin Summit (Lake Maumelle and Pinnacle Mountain); View from Overlook (Flatside Pinnacle & Ouachita Pinnacle) Views of dam and canyon below dam. Anita's "rookie" hike lead - great job. USFS had recently cleared view from summit - great view ; also great view from overlook on wild life trail loop - view of Flatside Pinnacle and Ouachita Pinnacle. Feb 11, 2006 Leader: Ken Schultz 8 Hikers OMH Saturday From TH to OT, east on OT to Chinquapin gap; continue to Nancy Mt shelter and return; northon Lake Sylvia Loop to inner Chinquapin loop, past overlook, to dam and return. 5.7 miles Difficulty Rating 3 Scenic Rating 4 sss: Snow in forest; view from overlook; rock formations at dam; canyon below dam Lake Syliva is full again!!! (first time in over a year) Cold, snowy day. There was a slight coating of snow in the forest - very pretty Five hikers took a side trip to the recently completed Nancy Mt shelter. Oct 8, 2005 Leader: Ken Schultz big crowd Hikers OMH Saturday Clockwise 4.5 miles Difficulty Rating 2 Scenic Rating 3 Lake still very low Apr 28, 2005 Leader: Rex Greer 3 Hikers OMH Thursday Clockwise loop; starting with the climb 4.1 miles Difficulty Rating 3 Scenic Rating 3 We did the hike clockwise, instead of the usual counter-clockwise. It was a good hike this direction, because you get the climb out of the way first, but you miss the dramatic effect of descending above the dam. Hike took 2:15 minutes. This hike was scheduled to be on the Boy Scout trail, Burns Park, Little Rock, but do to the low turn out and threat of rain, it was changed to Lake Sylvia. Jun 12, 2004 Leader: Jim Gifford 8 Hikers OMH Saturday Full Loop from TH, including spur to Chinquapin Overlook 4.2 miles Difficulty Rating 3 Scenic Rating 3 Season finale. Intended as Hike & Swim, but only two stayed for lunch at lake and only hike leader swam. Jan 31, 2004 Leader: Maria McClead 24 Hikers OMH Saturday Counter-clockwise loop; including trip to overlook 4.5 miles Difficulty Rating 2 Scenic Rating 3 sss: Awesome view from Chinkapin Peak Beautiful day; view from overlook the best I have seen. We could see Flatside Pinnacle, Forked Mt, Ouachita Pinnacle, and Pinnacle Mountain. 8/7/2015 p. 3
Sep 7, 2002 Leader: Harry Thomas Hikers OMH Saturday Hike and swim; loop plus trip to Chinquapin Overlook Great day for hiking and swimming Jun 13, 2002 Leader: Mike Moriarty Hikers OMH Saturday Hike and Swim; loop trail including trip to Chinkapin overlook sss: Cliffs at dam Swimmin' with lots of kids Apr 18, 2002 Leader: Martha Doty, Task Master Hikers Trail Maintenance General trail maintenance 5.0 miles Difficulty Rating 4 hours General clearing of entire trail; cleaned interpretive signs on lower loops; created rock crossing in lower wet section near lakes Mar 16, 2002 Leader: Martha Doty Hikers OMH Saturday Full loop plus spur to Chinquapin summit; Includes 1.4 miles of OT sss: Chinquapin Overlook Cliffs, rock formations around dam Steep climb to Chinquapin summit, but worth it 8/7/2015 p. 4