Conway County High Point Trip Report
area on North Bluff of Petit Jean Mountain on Atkins quadrangle (BM 1,207 ft)
Date: October 5, 2001
Author: Hans Haustein
Conway County's highpoint is just north of best state park in Arkansas, Petit Jean. The state park has
several hiking trails, the best however is the Cedar Falls Trail. The Cedar Falls Trail originates from Mather
Lodge in the park and descends into the Cedar Creek Canyon to the falls.
The entire trail is about 2 miles round trip.
The highpoint is reached by going from state Highway 154 at the turn off for the Red Bluff Drive in the state park.
Go north on this road indicated by a sign on Highway 154. Shortly after turning on to this road,
it crosses Cedar Creek on a stone arch bridge that was constructed by the CCC. It is definitely worth a stop to see.
Follow this road 0.2 mile on Hwy. 154 to the turn off for Red Bluff Drive (a great drive to overlooks
on the west side of the mountain), stay to the right, this road is now Montgomery Trail.
Follow Montgomery Trail for 1.2 miles north until it comes to a T-shaped intersection.
The intersecting road is Winrock Road, to the left
is a large stone pillared gate that leads to Winrock farms (Winthrop Rockefeller was a descendent of the east
coast Rockefeller dynasty, his son is currently Lt. Governor of Arkansas). Go to the right. Go east on
Winrock Road for 1 mile to an unnamed gravel road to the north, there is a sign on the fence that says 'Davies'
and points north. Go north on this gravel road for 1 mile to a driveway that veers to the left. Following this drive,
it passes through a white gate at 0.2 mile and has two lesser drives that branch off soon after,
always stay to the left. The drive dead ends at a house 0.8 mile from the white gate (the drive is shown as an
unimproved road on the topo sheet that stops a few hundred feet from the highpoint area). The house is
about 30 feet from the bench mark and highpoint and the address is 39 Davies Drive.
Mr. David Davies owns the house and the highpoint area; he was very friendly. The Bench Mark is located
about six feet from a flag pole that is between the house and an old barn. The actual highpoint is a rock that
is about 7 feet northeast of the Bench Mark.
I talked to Mr. Davies and asked him if I could leave a register and he agreed to let me. I left the register at
the north east corner of the old barn in plain sight from the highpoint. The register is a PVC tube that is
white with writing on the outside indicating what it is. Mr. Davies said he welcomes anyone who wants to visit.
The area near the highpoint is clear along the Bluff Line with some stunning views of the Arkansas
River Valley. Magazine Mountain (Arkansas' Highest Point) is visible to the west on clear days.