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North East Texas Outdoors "invades" North West Arkansas!

Where can one combine smallmouth bass fishing, canoeing, ATVing, and gather information for a future Whitetail bowhunt? Let me suggest northwest Arkansas, specifically the area north of the town of Ozark. Along Arkansas Highway 23 you will find the small communities of Cass and Turner Bend. Turner Bend is situated in a valley along the Mulberry River. Two miles north of Turner Bend is Cass. I have recently returned from this area and was thoroughly impressed with the outdoor opportunities available.

Mill Creek ATV Trails

Hidden in the Ozark Mountains is a jewel! It's name is Mill Creek ATV Trails. On the trip to the trail, we stopped by the US Forest Service office in Ozark and gathered a trail map and other info. We arrived at the trailhead at noon on Monday July 1st. We unloaded the 4-wheelers, took photos, and read the bulletin board. There really are bears in Arkansas! It said so, right on the bulletin board! I marked the trailhead on my GPS and studied our map. The area consists of three trails and four shortcuts to vary the length of your trip:
Mill Creek Trail (27 miles)
Burrel Mountain Loop
Warm-up Loop

We chose to ride Mill Creek Trail first and headed south. It is marked with blue diamonds in the direction of travel. What started out as a tame trail turned into a challenge. The first few miles are relatively flat but the forest chokes the trail. This is not like Huckleberry Trail along the side of Mount Magazine where the trails are wide enough for jeep travel. Mill Creek is strictly for horses, mountain bikes, hiking, and ATV's. The trails are littered with rocks, both loose and fixed. The trails are skinny and you get the sense that you are in a very remote area.

 

Between the five and six mile mark you negotiate "Super Bowl Hill". You will notice the change in altitude before you get to the bottom of this one! Just as things seem to calm down and your brakes cool off, you discover "Work Hill". This one is properly named. You just keep going up this rocky and twisting section. You will definitely work up a sweat and an adrenaline rush before you get to the top of this one. Bring the aspirin! This one will make you sore!

On top of this summit is a beautiful view of the other peaks in the area. We rested and discovered a puddle of water with tadpoles. It seemed odd that on top of a mountain, you would find tadpoles. While taking more photos, I discovered deer tracks! Eureka!!
 
Dropping off this mountain, the trail is aptly named "Log Slide". We discovered this after pulling a shirt with "Just Do It" printed on it off the sign. Seemed like some sort of message, so off we went. This is really an enjoyable descent from the summit all the way into a very deep valley. The trail sides are sprinkled with wild flowers and tasty black berries. The bottom of the trail has a warning "Extremely Difficult Trail Ahead". It may have been tough ascending this trail but it had nothing on "Work Hill".
 
We were now approaching the fourteenth mile of the trail and facing thirteen more miles. The last shortcut is at this point. We made the decision to take the shortcut which shortened the trip by nine miles due to the fact that it rejoined the trail four miles north of the trailhead. The last few miles of the trail run back to Mill Creek and then parallels it for a few miles.
 
We left some undiscovered trails for our next trip to Mill Creek ATV Trail. Honestly, this is a hard trail to cover in one day, especially if you are taking photos. It is physically demanding, so plan accordingly. I have ridden several other trails in Arkansas and Texas. In my opinion, this is the best that I have encountered. The comment of my riding companion was "I have ridden Utah and Mill Creek was better". 'Nuff said!
 
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"ATVing Huckleberry Mountain Trails on Mt. Magazine, Arkansas"