I've finally finished mapping the entire Norfork Lake Trail and thought that deserved a post all to itself.

The Norfork Lake Trail

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To use these maps as you hike, you should download the map of the general area at home before hiking the trail. Here is how to do so. After doing that, you should click on the link below for your section of the trail to load its map. (Aternatively, you can just keep the map for the entire trail in your phone's memory.) Do this someplace where there is WiFi or cell service for your phone since cell service on the trails is spotty. After that the map should stay in your phone's memory as you hike. An Android phone (and possibly an Iphone) will then be able to show you your position along the trail as you hike. I have an Android Moto E and find that the MyMaps app from the Google Play Store works especially well for hiking.

Norfork Lake Trail 1-- Quarry Trailhead

Norfork Lake Trail 2-- Shoal Creek Trailhead to Lake Heights Drive Trailhead (aka Devil's Backbone)

The Norfork Lake Trail 3-- Lake Heights Drive Trailhead (aka "Devil's Backbone Trailhead") to Sycamore Springs Road (AR 342)

Norfork Lake Trail 4-- Sycamore Springs Rd. to Tracy Ferry

The Norfork Lake Trail 5-- Tracy Park to CR 1028

Here is a link to pdf file with a printable one-page version of the map, and her is a link to a pdf file with detailed driving directions to the trailheads.

You may also wish to consult the official U. S. Army Corps of Engineers map of the entire lake. Click here for a pdf file of that map.

David's Trail -- Panther Bay to Robinson Point in late October

Getting to David's Trail at Robinson Point

From downtown Mountain Home take US-62/US-412 east for 10 miles. Turn right on Robinson Point Cutoff and then turn left onto Robinson Point Road. Follow the road for about 2 miles until you see the trailhead on your right.

From the East follow US-62/US-412 until you cross the bridge over Norfork Lake. Continue 1 mile and then turn left onto Robinson Point Cutoff and then turn left onto Robinson Point Road. Follow the road for about 2 miles until you see the trailhead on your right.

A small amount of parking is available at the Panther Bay turnoff  on US-62/US-412 about 1/2 mile from the bridge crossing the lake to Henderson.

The Trail

David's Trail will eventually extend from Robinson Point to the Missouri border. The section to Panther Bay is 4.6 miles one-way. It closely follows the lake shore, providing lovely lake views throughout the winter months. The trail is wide and well-maintained but there are multiple steep hills that make it a moderately challenging hike. Total climbing is approximately 800 feet.

If your timing is right you may be able to see splendid fall colors when hiking this section of trail in late October. The variety of trees is surprising which adds greatly to the fall colors. You will see the cranberry hues of dogwoods, bright yellow and pale orange maples, golden hickories, scarlet sumacs, purple beautyberries, orange persimmons, pale yellow hackberries, and many more.

Click on this link to see an interactive map of the trail showing the elevation changes. If you have a free Strava account, you should be able to click on that link to use that route as you hike the trail. Alternatively, you can download the GPX or TCX file to use on a hiking application of your preference.

The Photos

Clicking on this link will open a Google Photos album of snapshots I took during the hike. 

Buffalo River Trail to Maumee Falls -- Early May

This short, relatively flat hike along the Buffalo River Trail to the twin Maumee Falls is one of the prettiest wildflower walks of springtime in the Ozarks. The falls themselves are tall and quite lovely (even though the water could have been flowing better the day I hiked), but for a naturalist the wildflowers definitely steal the show.

Getting to the Buffalo River Trail at Maumee South

From Harriett, AR, at the intersection of Highway 14 and Highway 27, head west on AR27 for 5.2 miles. Then turn right on CR52 and drive northwest for about 6.2 miles until you see a couple of rough parking locations where the Buffalo National River Trail crosses the road. You'll follow the trail roughly southeast from this parking area.

The Trail

The trail is quite flat for the first 0.2 mile and then it slopes downhill for about 0.6 mile to the bluff edge. Then you can explore the the bluff edge and admire both of the small waterfalls. Remember that the rocks can be quite slippery and the drop to the bottom is about 50 feet so be very careful. Children should be closely supervised.

Click on this link to see an interactive map of the trail showing the elevation changes.

If you have a Strava account, click here to see a map of the trail with a few gps-located photos of wildflowers I found along the way.

Finally, click here to open the Google Photos album I made for this hike. Here are just a couple of samples of photos from that album.

Shooting Star (Dodecatheon meadia)

Wild Hyacinth (Camassia scilloides) 

Fire Pink (Silene virginica)

     Jack in the Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)

Cell Phone Macro Photography

Agapostemon (metallic green bee) on Helenium flexuosum (Purple-Headed Sneezeweed)

For the past several years I have amused myself by attempting to take good macro photographs using the simplest possible equipment. Until recently I used the 2-megapixel camera on my Kindle Fire HD6 with an old, scratch-up loupe that I held up to the lens. I actually got very good results and became hooked on the hobby. I upgraded to a clip-on macro lens and got better results. Lately, I've started using the 5-megapixel camera on my Android LG phone (with the same macro lens) and can sometimes get even better results. Here are a few things I've learned through trial and error.

-- Use a macro lens (loupe) on your cell phone. Here is the one I bought this spring to replace my hand-held loupe --

12.5x Macro Lens  

-- Is your camera fixed focus or autofocus? It scarcely matters, but know what you’ve got! The Kindle Fire HD6 has fixed-focus camera. With the macro lens attached you have to hold the camera a precise distance from the insect or flower to get an in-focus image. My Android phone has an autofocus camera. This means the image can be brought into focus over a greater range of distances, but there is a delay between when the camera determines the focal distance and then snaps the picture. Any movement during that period can lead to out-of-focus pictures. Either way, I can count on having to trash most of the pictures I take.

-- Pray for good light! Keep your shadow (and that of your camera) off the subject. Good light leads to faster shutter speeds and sharper images.

-- Put an insect on that flower. Shoot ‘em while they are napping, mating, drinking, or dining! Be stealthy, work in cool weather, stalk at dawn/dusk. Insects are interesting in themselves but they also give a sense of scale to your macro images of wildflowers. Many insects are most active in the heat of the day. That's often when you can most easily find them, but it's also when they are the most skittish.

-- Hold the camera steady. (Brace yourself and use timer if necessary.) Movement of any kind can destroy your focus. Even touching the screen to take the shot produces enough tremor to ruin most photos. Wind is another problem. And shaking hands are the worst!

-- Take lots of shots and later “Trash” most of them. Taking multiple shots with the camera at slightly varying distances seems to give me the best chance of snapping the rare "perfect-focus" macro image.

-- Adjust, crop, label. Sometimes the color values of a camera are a little off. I find that Google Photos does a fairly good job of adjusting colors if that is the case. A 5-megapixel image is big; sometimes you can crop it to zoom in on a single flower or a tiny insect. Labeling is key to providing images that are memorable for yourself and useful to others. As often as you can, try to identify the wildflowers and the insects you photograph.

Finally, here is a link to an album of some of my better photos from the summer. For each image, click on the little info icon to see where it was taken and what I could find out about it. My hope for the future is to map some of the best wildflower walks in North-Central Arkansas at different periods in the year. What better way to get out an enjoy nature!

David's Trail: Robinson Point Toward Panther Bay -- mid-April

Getting to David's Trail at Robinson Point

From downtown Mountain Home take US-62/US-412 east for 10 miles. Turn right on Robinson Point Cutoff and then turn left onto Robinson Point Road. Follow the road for about 2 miles until you see the trailhead on your right.

From the East follow US-62/US-412 until you cross the bridge over Norfork Lake. Continue 1 mile and then turn left onto Robinson Point Cutoff and then turn left onto Robinson Point Road. Follow the road for about 2 miles until you see the trailhead on your right.

Note: Clicking on any of the icons in the embedded map below will also open an information window. Within the red bar in that window, you can click on the ↱ to get Google driving directions from your current location.

The Trail

David's Trail will eventually extend from Robinson Point to the Missouri border. The section to Panther Bay is 4.3 miles one-way. It closely follows the lake shore, providing lovely lake views throughout the winter months. The trail is wide and well-maintained but there are multiple steep hills that make it a moderately challenging hike. Total climbing is approximately 800 feet.

By mid-April wildflowers are becoming abundant along the trail. We saw lots of Rue Anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides), scatterings of various species violets (Viola pedata and Viola sororia), some Orange Puccoon (Lithospermum canescens), and some Rose Vervain (Glandularia canadensis). The real show should begin in another week or so when the vast areas of Mayapple (Podophyllum potatum) and Wild Comfrey (Cynoglossum virginianum) begin to bloom.

Click on this link to see an interactive map of the trail showing the elevation changes.

The Map

Clicking on this link will open the embedded map below in a separate window and allow you to use Google's My Maps app on your phone. 

Clicking on the various icons in the embedded map below (or in My Maps) will show you photographs of a few things you can expect to see. 

David's Trail -- Robinson Point to Panther Bay -- mid-March

Getting to David's Trail at Robinson Point

From downtown Mountain Home take US-62/US-412 east for 10 miles. Turn right on Robinson Point Cutoff and then turn left onto Robinson Point Road. Follow the road for about 2 miles until you see the trailhead on your right.

From the East follow US-62/US-412 until you cross the bridge over Norfork Lake. Continue 1 mile and then turn left onto Robinson Point Cutoff and then turn left onto Robinson Point Road. Follow the road for about 2 miles until you see the trailhead on your right.

Note: Clicking on any of the icons in the embedded map below will also open an information window. Within the red bar in that window, you can click on the ↱ to get Google driving directions from your current location.

The Trail

David's Trail will eventually extend from Robinson Point to the Missouri border. The section to Panther Bay is 4.3 miles one-way. It closely follows the lake shore, providing lovely lake views throughout the winter months. The trail is wide and well-maintained but there are multiple steep hills that make it a moderately challenging hike. Total climbing is approximately 800 feet.

Click on this link to see an interactive map of the trail showing the elevation changes.

The Map

Clicking on this link will open the embedded map below in a separate window and allow you to use Google's My Maps app on your phone. 

Clicking on the various icons in the embedded map below (or in My Maps) will show you photographs of a few things you can expect to see. 

Hike to Matney Camp -- early March

Getting to the OHT trailhead on Matney
From the US-412 bypass around Mountain Home take AR-201 south for 10 miles. Turn right on AR-341 South and drive 1.4 miles. The trailhead parking will be on the right.

Note: Clicking on any of the icons in the embedded map below will also open an information window. Within the red bar in that window, you can click on the ↱ to get Google driving directions from your current location.

The Trail
This hike starts at the Ozarks Highlands Trailhead on Push Mountain Road (341) partway up Matney Mountain. The first two miles traverse the mountain -- at one point providing a nice view of the river valley below.

The trail then crosses 341 twice before heading steeply downhill to Matney Camp. Note that there is a sharp right turn shortly after the first crossing of 341. If you miss this turn and go straight, you will be continuing along the Ozark Highlands Trail which continues for nearly 200 miles! Stay alert!

You'll find lovely stands of Southern Pine, a view of the White River from a high bluff, a winding trail down to the river through and around craggy ledges, and abundant wildflowers on the hillside above the river.

6.2 miles round trip. Moderate difficulty.

Click on this link to see an interactive map of the trail showing the elevation changes.

The Map
Clicking on this link will open the embedded map below in a separate window and allow you to use Google's My Maps app on your phone. Clicking on the various icons in the embedded map below (or in My Maps) will show you photographs of a few things you can expect to see.