Key questions for all trail users are "Where is the trail located?" and "Where do I go when I get to the trail?" For that you need good directions at the section level (remember Missouri's Ozark Trail will be 500 miles long and the Arkansas Ozark Highlands Trail plus extensions approximately 200 miles long) and you need good maps. Providing access to these critical resources are two of the main goals of this website.
The third main goal is to provide information about trail related events ("What can I do after I get to the trail?").
There are many sources of maps about both OZT and OHT - the OHT ones are most current. For example, the most comprehensive Ozark Trail map we are aware of appeared in the Nov. 1991 brochure "The Ozark Trail" published by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MO-DNR). On it are several dashed line segments that have since been completed. Also, we are unclear whether or not the dashed line section spanning the south end of the Taum Sauk section to the north end of the Lake Wappapello section has been completed. A mileage scale is not indicated. The map's 5x8 inch format is great for hikers to carry yet is small for people planning a trail trip.
The Ozark Trail maps we have constructed are also rudimentary and lack accurate mileage estimates. In our defense, ours are the FIRST and ONLY maps we are aware of that have attempted to predict the course of the ENTIRE OZARK TRAIL SYSTEM in both Missouri and Arkansas. Their design will hopefully add some clarity to where specific sections are located as well as how to reach the trail heads. We have been very frustrated trying to locate specific farm roads and plan to make available much more detailed maps how to locate specific trail sections. Section mileages listed on DNR brochures, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) Atlas and other map sources often differ, sometimes markedly so.
We believe the addition of photographs of trail heads and accesses will enhance user's ability to identify where they want to hike and help them reliably recognize trail access points. The minutes of the last Ozark Trail Council meeting identified enhanced signeage of OZT highway crossing as an immediate goal. On a recent trip we found the highway C crossings to be inapparent. True OZT was impossible to distinguish from numerous farm roads that criss cross the area. Busy weekend travelers often can't afford to lose an hour or two (or more!) searching for trail access points.
Comment: A very useful service could be provided by agencies that manage sections of OZT by posting OZT-specific map/brochure packages on a central website. For example, we were unable to find out whether or not a brochure existed for the Courtois Creek section of OZT. Hopefully this or other OZT and OHT websites may provide a central resource for disseminating such information.
New maps and a brochure are now available for the Wappapello Lake section (8) of OZT in MO courtesy of DNR. A new map and brochure can be expected soon from DNR for the North Fork River section (15). The 2 Trails Illustrated (National Geographic, about $9 each) maps for the Upper and Lower Buffalo River and the three ($3 each) maps of the Ozark Highlands Trails (western, central, eastern) are excellent and highly recommended based on our trip to these areas during August of 1999.
The task of locating accurate mileages for OZT segments contrasts with detailed mile-by-mile descriptions that are available for the OHT. The key resources here are Tim Ernst's excellent "Ozark Highlands Trail Guidebook, 4th Edition" ©1994 by Ernst Wilderness, Fayetteville, ARK (phone 800-484-9090, ext. 0928 or 501-442-2799) and the Ozark Highlands Trail Association's website (see especially the maintainence page) which lists individual coordinators and their phone numbers for 49 sections of this 165 mile long trail. The sections are identified by milepost (0.0 is at Fort Smith State Park at the western trail head of OHT).
Other sources of OZT and OHT maps are U.S. Geological Service (USGS) topographic maps, U.S. Forest Service (USFS) ranger district (MO,ARK) maps, county (MO#1, MO#2 (County maps MHTD, P.O. Box 270, Jefferson City, MO 65102, ph. 314-526-2922), (ARK) maps, and maps in brochures and other books.
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