Bear Hollow Trail - Mount Magazine, AR

Download the GPS track of this hike on my wikiloc site.

My wife & I had been to Mt. Magazine before, but we'd never hiked the Bear Hollow Trail. Fortunately, we had the pleasure of hiking it on a near perfect fall day.


If you decide to hike Mount Magazine, do yourself a favor and say at the new lodge or a cabin if possible. Otherwise, make a b-line for the visitor's center and pick up a free map with all of the trails and trail descriptions. The center has some interesting exhibits, books, and nice restrooms. If you have the time, you can actually park at the visitor's center to start the Bear Hollow trail. Be advised, this adds about 1.5 miles (one-way) to the trail length.



After we left the visitor's center we drove just over a mile down a paved road to the parking lot for Bear Hollow. There's a very visible sign just off the road showing the Bear Hollow trail head, and and equally visible sign across the road for the huge parking area. There were only two other vehicles in the lot when we parked and we were able to park under a shade tree. I can only assume the parking lot is this big to accommodate trucks pulling long trailers.


From the parking lot you'll notice a nice, wide, and well-manicured path
leading back down the main road. Just follow this wide walkway
back down to the road. When you cross the road you'll see the trailhead. The trail is limited to hiking only so there's no need to worry about being ran over by a motorcycle/four-wheeler nor trampled to death by a wild horse :-) Personally, I hate trails that are open to both hiking and horses because you constantly deal with the smell plus you have to dodge horse "deposits" like you're jumping over land mines.




The trail is well-marked with orange-colored hiker decals which are nailed to trees. I noticed a few of them appeared to have been stolen so I wouldn't count on being able to see all of the blazes that are intended. You shouldn't need them anyway because the trail is really padded down from all the foot traffic. There's also nice wooden signs in key intersections and creek crossings that help you stay on track. I always carry a GPS anyway but having the signs to match up with the trail map you got from the visitor's center is a nice backup plan should something go wrong.



The first 1.5 miles of trail was rather boring. It was hot because the sun was beating down on us and there was little wind blowing. There we still a lot of leaves on the trees which obscured visibility out into the hollow. Plus, the leaves were mostly a dead brown color instead of having turned some shade orange or greenish-yellow color like many of the other trees we'd fine later on during the hike.

After crossing Big Shoal Creek about 1.5 miles from the parking lot, the feeling of the hike began to change. Suddenly, the forest seemed prettier, we were in a shade which cooled us down, and, the leaves were much nicer. I should note that this trail has around a dozen small stream crossings. Only two of them had a small amount of water in them and they posed no risk of causing our feet to become wet. They were filled with nice, large, rocks to use as stepping stones too. It looks like some of the streams could see a significant amount of flow during a wet season. So if you're hiking right after a rain be aware that your toes could get wet unless you have a pair of waterproof boots. It didn't look like the streams would be capable of keeping any significant amounts of water but for a short period of time.



As I mentioned earlier, the best section of the hike starts at Bull Shoal Creek. We got to see some beautiful trees and forests. The leaves had just started to change colors and there was a nice breeze blowing to cool us down from the previously warm, sunny, section of the trail. We were able to feel the breeze and hear the wind blow through the trees. There were also several crickets chirping in the forest which made for a very relaxing environment.





We could see Inspiration Point from a distance, although we didn't know that was our destination until later. The walk down to Inspiration Point is really impressive and instantly makes you feel the hike was worth the effort. To top it off, we were the only two people there during our stay. I was honestly surprised because I thought several people would be out taking pictures of the turning leaves.

Pictures really can't represent what a place like this looks like, let alone how it makes you feel. Even though it's close enough to the highway to still hear the loudest motorcycles and cars, it's comforting to know that someone can't drive up in a vehicle and disturb you without making an effort to get there. If you like hiking and vistas I recommend this hike. It actually makes a loop and you can branch off onto another trail to walk back to the visitor's center if you have time.