Franklin County High Point Trip Report
on St Paul quadrangle sheet
Date: May 5, 2001
Author: Hans Haustein
Hare Mountain was the third of five highpoints I did this day, and it was by far the hardest. The mountain
is reached by driving to Dutton (just west of St. Paul) on State Highway 16 and then turning south on the
first road and crossing the White River then past Dutton Cemetery on the east. This road continues
southeast for 4 miles until it comes to a saddle on the ridge where it comes to a 'T'. Go west at this 'T'
past the Liberty Cemetery, the road shortly turns due south to the next road intersection at 2.2 miles. At
the next intersection turn west on to National Forest Road (NFR) 1504 (the sign is pretty hard to read) and
continue. The next intersection is NFR 1518 and is 2.7 miles from the NFR 1504 sign. Continue on NFR
1504, NFR 1533 is the next intersection and it is 0.7 miles from NFR 1518. From NFR 1533 it is 2.7
miles to a due south turn in the road (it is just past a house on the south side of the road). This is closest
point to park to Hare Mountain.
I used a GPS to locate the summit area, it is a good thing because the fog rolled in when I started hiking.
The straight line distance is 0.57 miles to the highpoint area from the parking spot. I started up the
mountain, climbing up past three benches before I found an overgrown road/trail that headed in
northwestern direction. There was a lot of vegetation; I was about mid-thigh deep in May Apples and
Poison Ivy for a good part of the bushwhack. I followed this road/trail until it reached the ridge top; it
was quite steep. I followed the ridge top in a northerly direction past some old rock walls and then headed
in a northeasterly direction toward the highpoint. Walking on the ridge top was relatively easy because of
the lack of underbrush. The highpoint area was relatively flat with no noticeable high area, so tramping
around is necessary. I couldn't tell if there was a view or not due to the fog.
On my way down, on the ridge top in the area with little ground cover, I noticed what looked to me to be
some of Arkansas' #1 cash crop growing on the summit -- and I don't mean rice. So, if you make a trip to
Hare Mountain during growing season and especially harvest season, beware.