Howard County High Point Trip Report
Big Tom Mtn on Athens quadrangle (1,660+ ft)
Date: December 24, 2001
Author: Hans Haustein
To reach the Howard County highpoint, go west from Langley AR on Highway 84 at the junction of Highway 84
and Highway 369. Highway 84 crosses the Little Missouri River 3.5 miles west of Langley and crosses the Howard
County Line 5.5 miles west of Langley. The turn-off of Highway 84 is on Goat Ranch Road, which is 6.4 miles
from Langley. Goat Ranch Road goes north from Highway 84 and is gravel. There is also a sign for the White
Oak Cemetery at the turn off for Goat Ranch Road. A natural gas pipeline crosses Goat Ranch Road 1 mile
from Highway 84. Continue north on Goat Ranch Rd. There is a three-way fork 0.6 mile north of the pipeline crossing.
Stay to the left, there is a sign for Valley Ranch. Take the left fork and go west for 1.8 miles to a
farm on the south side of the road (Alexander Farms). There is a lesser road on the north side of the road
across from the farm entrance. Follow the road to the north, rough in places, for 0.4 mile to a 90-degree
turn to the east, park here.
Looking to the north, a saddle in the ridge is visible. The highpoint on Big Tom Mountain is just to the west
of this saddle, about 0.5 mile away. There is an overgrown trail through some high grass and blackberry
vines that heads north toward the saddle. The trail leaves the overgrown area and heads into the woods near
a ravine and ends. Follow the ravine toward the saddle. I went along the east side of the ravine, it seemed a
little more open than the west side. The hillside is very steep and unstable in some places (lots of small loose
rocks covered in pine needles). The top of the ridge on the south-facing side is covered in small, scrubby oaks.
On the north edge of the ridge there is a trail that is marked with ribbons and follows the entire ridge
line east and west. Following the trail to the west, it will go within a few feet of the highpoint.
The highpoint is about 0.2 mile west of the saddle.
There is a large open area just east and below the highpoint, which offers great views to the north, east,
and south. The highpoint itself is a large rock that is very obvious. There are a views during leaf-off through the
scrubby oak trees. I built a rock cairn just south of the highpoint rock and placed a highpoint register in a
capped white PVC pipe.
All of the access described to this highpoint is on National Forest Land.