Searcy County High Point Trip Report
two areas on Horn Mountain on Eula quadrangle (one with BM 2,203 ft)
Date: August 15, 2001
Author: Hans Haustein
Searcy County's highpoints are located on Horn Mountain on the west central edge of the county.
To reach the highpoints, drive to Mt Judea in Newton County (pronounced Mount Judy) to the intersection
of State Hwy. 123 and State Highway 74. Continue east on Highway 74 to the community of Bass (5.4 miles from
Mt Judea). Stay right at the T-intersection and continue 1.1 miles to the end of the pavement. The road
continues 0.7 miles to the next intersection, turn left and cross a low water bridge. The road continues
another mile to the next intersection, stay to the right. The road crosses into the Ozark National Forest and
is labeled National Forest Road (NFR) 1200. Continue uphill on NFR 1200 for 3.3 miles to the intersection
of NFR 1205. Along this section of NFR 1200 Horn Mountain is viewable to the east. Turn left on NFR
1205, and continue east for 1.6 miles to the intersection with NFR 1211 on the north side of the road.
NFR 1211 is narrow and rough in places but it can be driven in a vehicle with high clearance. It is really well-
suited for mountain biking. Drive north on NFR 1211 for 1 mile and pass a reddish-brown cabin on the right.
Continue on, passing a brown cabin on the right at 0.6 mile and passing a white cabin another 0.2 mile
on the right. The road continues on for another 2.9 miles to where it abruptly ends. The total distance from
NFR 1205 is 4.7 miles.
A jeep trail continues on from this point which can be driven with 4WD. Continue along the jeep trail for
about 0.4 mile, passing a sign for the Gene Rush WMA. There are a couple of roads branching off.
Stay on the road on the ridge top. Continue along the road for about 1/3 of a mile. At this point begin to look
for purple or blue ribbons on the right (I am color blind) in the trees and follow them to the summit.
The ribbons identify the BM for Horn Mountain. It is tough to tell where the highest rock is located without a
hand level. There had been a recent burn on the summit so a lot of the underbrush is gone. I built a rock
cairn on a rock that I surmised to be the highest and placed an opaque film canister with a register inside the cairn.
There may be some views during leaf-off. This is the first area.
The second area is located about 3/4 mile northeast of this point along the aforementioned road. The road
continues along the ridge top passing a few low muddy areas. The highpoint area is located on a narrow
ridge which comes to a defined highpoint. On the Quadrangle Sheet, this area is shown to be very small.
I built a rock cairn between two small trees.
It is tough to tell which of the two areas is highest. I feel the first area is higher than the second area,
but it is impossible to tell without surveying the area with a high quality GPS.
Overall, the hike and driving trip to the Searcy County Highpoint is very enjoyable,
compared to many of the other Arkansas Highpoints.