High Water Mark Trail Run: Arkansas (May 19-21)

High Water Mark Trail​

Ozarks, Arkansas
May 19-21, 2016


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Quick Info:
Dates: Thursday, May 19th - Sunday, May 22nd at 08:00 A.M.

Vehicle Limit: 10

Meeting Location: C&K Family Market and Garage in St. Joe, Arkansas

Route Start: St. Joe, AR

Ending location: Near Appleton, AR

Route Difficulty: Difficulty medium, dependent on amount of rain lately for current water levels and mud. A driver can do it with a slightly modified vehicle and off road tires. Expect mud, pinstripes, possible dents depending on how brave you are.

Vehicle Recommendations: Recovery points, all terrain tires, traction aids, extended breathers and maybe a snorkel.



Summary:
This is one of many variations of the High Water Mark trail others have created and journeyed through. This particular one offers plenty of camping spots, gas stations, scenery, and other things to see along the way. Be aware that the route does have water crossings and some spots that will have rocky terrain. Most of it is going to be some type of old fire roads though.

There is no set schedule to this trip other than the meet-up time at 07:00 A.M.. I have set aside 4 days so that we have a chance to stop and explore the area rather than stay on the route and try to make it to specific points daily. It is also so that if we have to reroute due to a water crossing being too deep, we won't be scrambling to make it somewhere. This route can be done in as little as 2 days, but where's the fun in that?



Vehicle Limit (First come first serve):
01. PcBuilder14
02. @MatthewMay1
03. @tex
04. @Red Demon
05. @balocky
06. @Enigma8246
07. @cstallings
08. @rpkole
09. @chota07
10.

Maybe:
@LOUMO
@richardbui23
@mburns5us

Meeting Point:
We will meet up at the C&K Family Market and Garage at 08:00 in the morning to get last minute gas before we hit the route.



Route:
The main route is about 100 miles and starts in St. Joe and ends in Appleton, cutting through the Ozarks. At the end of this post there are videos of the exact route we will be taking.

Attached is a KMZ file that shows the route, river crossings, camping spots, gas stops, and other interesting things to go explore along the way. To open this you will need Google Earth or something similar. If you don't have a program you can use this website to view it, but it won't show specific icons for points like Google Earth:
http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/





Camping:
There are a total of 15 camping spots along the route, not including ones I may have missed. All are free. Most are primitive with no water, electricity, bathrooms, or showers. So come prepared with whatever amenities you require to be comfortable. I will have a solar shower and portable toilet myself.

We do not have to camp at any of the 15, we just have to find an open area that will fit all of the vehicles somewhere near the route. There are one or two particular ones I'd like to stop at just because of what is offered around them, but we don't have to.



Gear List:
First off, please check over your rig to make sure everything is in good order. Fluids, belts, nuts and bolts, etc...

Here is a great link on what you should consider bringing and what to take:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/off-road-tips-and-gear-list.15254/

Minimum requirements:
- All terrain tires
- Spare tire
- Tow points
- Gas jug
- First aid kit
I HIGHLY recommend a CB radio, but it's not needed. Makes things a lot easier and fun when you're able to be in contact with everyone.

I will have just about every tool needed to work on my truck, so bring what tools you would use when working on yours so we have everything we need when combined.

I would like for at least one person coming to have an air compressor. I have a CO2 tank, but if for some reason that doesn't work I'd like somebody to have something to use.

Recommend bringing spare parts as well such as belts, radiator hoses, cv axles, tire plugs, fluids.



Video:

 

Nice work!

 

These dates clash with Jambo. Any chance on a few weeks before or after?

 

@JWaldz

 

hm, yikes. I can't do any time earlier because of finals

 

It'd be very hard to change the dates to a different weekend than it currently is. What are the dates for the Jambo?

Join us!

 

@BeaverTaco Here you go

 

Lone star Toyota Jamboree. May 12-15 so it's the weekend before but I would not be able to stack the trips on back to back weekends. Any chance on pushing it back a week?

 

Ah, gotcha. Unfortunately I don't think I could move it

Have some family stuff coming up that next weekend that I can't get out of...

I get the whole two trips on two consecutive weekends, but try to come along if you can!

 

I will see what I can do. I was actually doing some research on this area on Expo and overlandguild earlier today.

 

Yeah, some of their trips were used as info to create this one. The whole area is an awesome place to visit that many don't know about!

 

Even better to live in the area for the majority of the year!

 

Three and a half hour drive for me.

 

Too bad I'll be driving up from Dallas when we do the trip. I'll have to find a place to stay the night before we meet. I don't want to start driving at 2AM in order to meet somewhere at 7AM

 

Wow, that sucks... Haha

I'm thinking about doing the same, because if we meet up at 7:00 a.m. I have to leave the house by 3:30 a.m. at the latest.

 

Yeah, that would be A LOT of driving in one day

 

Yup, I'll look into something and let you know what I find if you want to meet up the day before the trip.

 

Sounds good

 

I found a couple motels in Saint Joe. It shouldn't be a problem finding a place to stay

 

I'd rather stay in Harrison for the night since that's where we're meeting up first.