Pope County High Point Trip Report

Date: April 21, 2001
Author: Hans Haustein

Pope County is one of my favorite counties in the state, only being behind Newton in beauty. State Highway 7, which traverses the county, is beautiful in any season. The trip to Pope County began early on the morning, leaving North Little Rock at 5:30 am. There was lots of road construction on I-40 so I wanted to avoid the traffic.

To reach the first areas at 2200', follow Highway 7 North from Russellville to the Junction of 16 and 123 at Sand Gap (a.k.a. Pelsor), then go east on 16 for 0.6 miles to the first gravel road on the south side of 16. Head southwest up the hill when the road turns due south again. This is the first area above 2200'+ and about 0.3 miles from Highway 16.

The other area is about another 1000 feet south of this location (near a radio tower). Both areas are very close in elevation and you can see one from the other. The spot elevation at the second area by the radio tower is 2201' and the whole area contained by 2200' contour is very close in elevation, so each of these areas are no more than 2201 to 2203 feet, in my estimation.

The next area is reached by returning to the Highway 16, 7, and 123 intersection. (If the store is open in Pelsor, stop in and have a look around, this is an Ozark classic!) Head west on Highway 123 for four miles till you reach a dirt/gravel road on the north side of Highway 123. There are two choices here, continue on Highway 123 until you see the Hurricane Creek Wilderness Sign (about 1/4 mile further down Highway 123) and park along the highway, or you can turn north on the dirt road and follow it up a steep hill to a white house.

I parked at the white house and asked the owner (didn't ask his name) for access across his land to the wilderness area. My GPS reading showed the summit to be about 1/2 mile from the house. After a short walk across his property, I entered the wilderness area, and the poison ivy began! About 2/3 of the hike on the east side of the knob was through knee-deep poison ivy. I headed in a northwesterly direction toward the highpoint, crossing and then following an old road toward the summit. The highpoint area is relatively clear, but with no view. The actual highpoint is located under two Dogwood trees. I am going to propose to the USGS to name this Dogwood Knob.

The spot elevation on the Fort Douglas quad for this area is 2205', again much like the highpoint areas on the Sand Gap quad, the 2200 foot contour area has a very gentle rise so the 2205' elevation is probably over a 400 square foot area if not more. With that said, I feel confident in saying that the unnamed 2205' area is the highpoint of Pope County.