The Rim Trail on White Rock Mountain (2,200 feet elevation) in the Ozark National Forest (Franklin County) is one of my favorite short trails.

It’s only 2 miles long, but this trail has amazing views from nearly the entire trail as it circles the mountain.

Check out this post for my full trail summary with direction information.

These are some additional photos from my visit to the trail on November 1, 2014.

Photo Gallery

Click below for full-screen photo gallery of these and more pics from my November 2014 hike.

Last revised: 4-22-2020.

The post White Rock Mountain Rim Trail (Ozark Forest) Fall 2014 Pics appeared first on Arklahoma Hiker.

The Rim Trail on White Rock Mountain in the Ozark National Forest about 20 miles north of Mulberry is an awesome trail, and it is not difficult. It is a 1.9-mile loop with less than 100 feet net elevation change.

The Rim Trail is over 2200 feet above sea level, and almost the entire trail has amazing vista views of the surrounding Ozark mountains.

Getting to White Rock Mountain

To get to White Rock Mountain from the south, take Exit 24 from I-40. At Exit 24, get on Arkansas Highway 215 heading north.
It is about 22 miles from Exit 24 to the White Rock Mountain Recreation Area. Once you are in the national forest, just follow the signs. You will be passing Shores Lake on the right on your way to the mountain.

Be prepared for gravel roads on the way there.

For specific directions from different areas, I would suggest giving them a call at (479) 369-4128.

The Rim Trail

I recommend starting the trail at Sunset Shelter where the picnic area is. It is at the southwest corner of the mountaintop. To get to it, just take a right at the fork after passing the campground and caretaker’s residence/store. There is parking and a vault toilet there.

There are great views at Sunset Shelter from almost every angle.

From here, you can go left or right to start the Rim Trail. I usually go right, heading clockwise.

The 1.9-mile trail follows the roughly triangular shape of the top of the mountain. The west side is about .6 miles, the  east (or northeast) side about .8, and the south side is about a half-mile.

You will first be walking up the west side, then crossing the road over to the east side. When you get to the southeast corner of the mountain, you will see a spur that leads to the Ozark Highlands Trail. (Stay on the Rim Trail though unless you are wanting a hike on the OHT.)

You will finish the trail along the mountain’s south side ending up back at Sunset Shelter.

Safety note: Even though this is a beautiful trail, the safety issue cannot be overemphasized. There are many parts of the trail with dangerous bluffs. Be very careful. There are no guardrails. This trail is not appropriate for young children.

Be sure to check out the views from the three other shelters along the trail (west, north, and south).

Although the views are great from almost the entire trail, the vistas where you can see the furthest are on the west and south sides.

Final Notes

There are no blazes, but the trail is very well-traveled and easy to follow.

A number of structures on White Rock Mountain were originally built in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Much of the restoration work done on the structures (and maintenance work on the trail) has been done by Friends of White Rock.

I had cell coverage (AT&T) part of the time on the trail.

These photos are all from my November 1, 2014 hike. It was a beautiful morning, and there was some nice fall foliage.

Map

Photo Gallery

Click below for full-screen photo gallery of these and more pics from my November 2014 hike.

White Rock Rim Trail (Ozark Forest)
Location	Boston Mountain District - Ozark National Forest, Franklin County, Arkansas
Length/Type	1.9 mile loop
Difficulty	Mildly challenging (2 of 5)
Other Permitted Usage	None
Gpx file by Mike	Gpx file link
Date Hiked	November 1, 2014 (and earlier)
Directions	Google Maps Directions to White Rock Mountain Recreation Area
Official Info	(479) 369-4128 White Rock Recreation Management Website Official Recreation Area Flyer (pdf)

[Last revised: 4-23-2022.]

The post White Rock Mountain Rim Trail (Ozark Forest) – 2 mi appeared first on Arklahoma Hiker.

Sunday morning I made a visit to White Rock Mountain in the Ozark National Forest and walked the Rim Trail. It is one of my favorite trails to hike. It is a loop trail that circles the top of the mountain, and it has awesome views all the way around.

The trail is only about 2 miles long, so it doesn’t take long to hike the loop. The four shelters along the trail are also nice vista-viewing spots.

The weather was quite nice, especially for January. The temperatures were in the upper 50’s with a light breeze.

These are some photos I took that morning. (Click photo for larger view.)

Photo Gallery

Click here or below for full-screen photo gallery.

The post White Rock Mountain Rim Trail Photos (Ozark Forest) 2014 appeared first on Arklahoma Hiker.

In late February, I headed up to White Rock Mountain hoping to get some good snow photos. Here in Arkansas, snow cover doesn’t tend to hang around for very long. So it wasn’t that surprising that most of the snow was already gone, and what was left from the recent snowfall was rapidly disappearing.

But there was still a little bit of snow cover that morning. And snow-cover or not, the views from White Rock Mountain are gorgeous.

Here are some of the photos. (More below the jump.)

The post White Rock Mountain Winter Photos (Ozark Forest) 2013 appeared first on Arklahoma Hiker.