Hot Springs, Arkansas Sunset Trail as a Loop

We live in Central Arkansas and we've enjoyed the trail system in Hot Springs National Park for decades. The Sunset Trail is the longest trail in Hot Springs National Park. The official park documentation for the trail describes it as a 10 mile thru trail. AllTrails turns it into a 12.9 mile loop, but their route has extended road walking. I created my own loop that utilizes connecting trails, with minimal road walking. This route worked out great for us. Below, I will provide details of our route, then talk about our experience.

Our Sunset Trail Loop Route

Trail Link Summary

For those who are somewhat familiar with the trails and/or who just prefer to go by rough notes, here are the connecting trails in the order you would take them to get from one end to the other. More detailed notes can be found below.

Counter Clockwise

Blaze colors indicated in [brackets]

1. Sunset Trail [orange] to Mountain Top Trail [purple]
2. Mountain Top Trail [purple] to West Mountain Trail [blue]
3. West Mountain Trail [blue] to Oak Trail [yellow]
4. Oak Trail [yellow] to Street connection/Central Ave
5. Cross Central Ave to Promenade to Oertel trailhead [red]
6. Oertel Trail [red] to Gulpha Gorge Trail [white]
7. Gulpha Gorge Trail [white] to Sunset Trail [orange]

Clockwise

1. Sunset Trail [orange] to Gulpha Gorge Trail [white]
2. Gulpha Gorge [white] Trail to Oertel Trail [red]
3. Oertel Trail [red] to Promenade
4. Cross Central Ave to Oak Trail [yellow] *(near Grateful Head Pizza ...see video below)
5. Oak Trail [yellow] to West Mountain Trail [blue]
6. West Mountain Trail [blue] to Mountain Top Trail [purple]
7. Mountain Top Trail [purple] to Sunset Trail [orange]

Trailheads

There are several trail access points for the Sunset Trail itself and too many for connecting trails to list here. I will list the trailheads for Sunset Trail in counter-clockwise order here.

• Gulpha Gorge Campground (eastern terminus trailhead)
• Stonebridge Road
• Cedar Glades Road
• Blacksnake Road
• West Mountain Summit Road (western terminus trailhead)

Restrooms

There are public restrooms at the National Park Visitors locations on Bathhouse Row and also at the Gulpha Gorge campsite. The Gulpha Gorge campsite has one set of bathrooms for campers that has to be unlocked with a code given to the campers. The public restrooms are further down (away from the trails) near the day use area with picnic tables at the campsite.

Detailed Loop Connection Route

The Sunset Trail officially has an eastern terminus at Gulpha Gorge Campground and western terminus at the parking loop on West Mountain. What remains is to connect those ends. We hiked the loop counter-clockwise, so I will identify the connecting points from that western terminus.

Just before you get to the parking loop at the top of West Mountain, there is a trail junction with the Mountain Top Trail. In the image above on the right panel, you can see where the Sunset Trail terminates at the West Mountain Summit road along the southern end. In the image below, there is a more detailed look at that section of the trails. I have highlighted the connecting trail route with magenta arrows in this image.

Magenta arrows show path from western terminus to Central Ave/Hwy 7

Instead of continuing on the Sunset Trail at that trail intersection, head downhill to the south on the Mountain Top Trail (right turn) and continue on the Mountain Top Trail until you get to the West Mountain Trail intersection. Take the West Mountain Trail at that junction, heading east until you hit the Oak Trail junction. There wasn't a sign stating that this was Oak Trail at that junction when we hiked this route, but it's the only trail junction after West Mountain Trail. You turn to the right and head downhill on Oak Trail across West Mountain Drive road, until you see a spur trail to the right that goes downhill toward the buildings along the street below. This is the trickiest part of the trail. Here is a video that shows what it looks like.

I did not get into trouble for walking around that barrier. I think the locals don't mind hikers passing through there as long as you're just passing that way and not vandalizing or leaving trash or causing damage to the property. It is clearly marked with signage, so you should be fine. The alternative is to continue to the Canyon Trail, then down to the street, but this route requires you to backtrack if you plan to take the Oertel Trail to get to Gulpha Gorge.

Finding the trailhead for the Oertel Trail trailhead from the Promenade is one of the other tricky parts of this route. From Central Avenue, look for these eagle pillars with hot spring fountains.

When you look between the pillars, you will see a staircase that splits, then rejoins at the top. Those stairs lead to the Grand Promenade.

At the top of those stair, on the right, you will see a second set of stairs. You will need to climb to the top of those stairs as well. At the top of those stairs on the right, you will see iron fencing and a gate. The old military hospital is behind that fence. But follow that fenceline up the hill on the left and you will find the trailhead for the Oertel Trail. Go up.

Oertel Trailhead from Promenade

In truth, there are probably 50 different routes you could take to link the ends of the Sunset trail. I feel that this route I have plotted includes the least distance of road walking possible. Also, the Oak Trail and Oertel Trail are both lovely trails that are less traveled than many of the other trails, so why not?

From the Promenade, the Oertel Trail goes uphill very steeply at the start, but once you get to the intersection with the Cut Off Trail, the rest of the Oertel Trail is a pleasant and gentle downhill grade to the Gulpha Gorge Trail. When you get to the Gulpha Gorge Trail, the Oertel Trail ends and you turn right, descending toward the campground below. The Gulpha Gorge Trail runs straight into the Sunset Trail, so if you intend to end your trip at Gulpha Gorge, or if you plan to stop there for the restrooms and/or water, watch for the stepping stone concrete footbridge on your right. There is one cowpath trail that leads to some of the campsites that you will see before getting to the official trail transition across the creek. There is some signage at that official trail creek crossing, so if you don't see the signs, you're most likely at the cowpath trail.

That's the way we connected the ends of the Sunset Trail to make a loop. I used my Garmin Explore app to make a route. According to my app, the loop is 12.8 miles. If that is accurate, it's a tenth of a mile shorter than the AllTrails loop route and has far less road walking.

Trickiest Transition on Sunset Trail

There is small section on the Sunset Trail itself that was a little confusing to follow. That tricky section is at the road crossings between Gulpha Gorge and the Stone Bridge trailhead.

There are three street crossings. Here is a Google Streetview shot of the first crossing on Gorge Road.

Just cross the street at the crosswalk area. Cars are supposed to stop for you at the crosswalk, but be careful.

Looking across the street at that same location, you want to turn to your left and around that corner to the other crosswalk.

After you round that corner, you will see this second crosswalk that will take you across Park Ave/Hwy 7 to Stone Bridge Road.

Once you cross Stone Bridge Road, you will see a set of trail signs. Continue on the left side of the road until you see trail on the left.

If you watch on your left, you will see the trail pick back up, just before you get to the old mill on the opposite bank of the creek.

The trail continues along that creek until you see a small pond, Ricks Pond, with a waterfall and an old stone footbridge on the far end. The photo at the very top of this article is that waterfall and pond.

Continue walking around the pond. You will see parking on the far end and some trail signs. This is the third road crossing in this section. If you were to walk straight from the stone bridge and cross the street, you would come close to running into the trail on the opposite side. Here is a view looking back from the trail across from the pond.

And from the other side, before you cross Stone Bridge Road...

There really aren't signs on that side of the road, so you just have to look for the trail to see where it picks up. As long as you understand roughly where to look (across from the stone bridge) you shouldn't have trouble finding it.

Here is the path in this section on a map.

Again, this is part of the Sunset Trail, but there aren't blazes or signs through that part and the trail isn't very clear. You just have to know where to go.

Our Experience

We started our hike at the Cedar Glades trailhead and went counter clockwise. We started at around 9:15 AM and we arrived at Bathhouse Row just in time for lunch. We stopped for lunch at the Superior Bathhouse Brewery. We had to wait around 15 minutes for a table because it was busy on a Saturday at noon. The food was good though. We were back on trail around 2 PM and we finished at around 4:15 PM.

This was a challenging hike. It was the longest hike Mrs. Gavagai has ever done. I have done more challenging days on the Ouachita Trail with longer miles, but this ranked among the more challenging days I have done on trail, hiking here in Arkansas. My most challenging day on the OT was just under 16 miles and 5451 feet of climbing elevation between Winding Stair shelter and the Kiamichi valley. Wilton Mountain is a beast, even though it's not as high as Rich Mountain, the climb never seems to end. Having said that, this Sunset Trail loop left me sore and tired. Before starting on the OT, I had steroid shots in my knees. Those shots have worn off by now and my knees were not happy with me.

Trail Conditions

Most of this trail is well maintained and easy to follow with exception of the few transitions I have mentioned above. The majority of the trail consists of wide gravel trail, wide enough to walk two abreast. There are a few places where there has been erosion and/or where the trail is very steep and rugged. I highly recommend hiking with trekking poles on this trail. There are no water crossings. The most challenging part of this trail is the elevation changes. AllTrails indicates that its loop route has 2365 feet of total elevation gain. My loop wouldn't necessarily have exactly the same elevation gain, I would wager it's in the same ballpark. 

The blazes on the trails are a bit hit or miss. Some areas have colored metal blazes nailed to the trees. Some places have painted blazes. Where there are painted blazes, they are often faint, but you can still make them out if you know what you are looking for. Except for the section I mentioned above with the three road crossings, it's fairly easy to follow the trail. Any time we were not 100% certain where the Sunset Trail went, for example if there was a spur trail that split off in a different direction, we quickly saw a blaze that told us which direction we needed to go.

Water Considerations

The weather on our trip was exceptional. The high temperature was in the 60s, skies were overcast. We got a couple of light and brief showers at the end, but we didn't even put on our ponchos. We packed 2.5 liters of water and had a couple of sodas each at the Brewery. We never needed to refill and had a bit of water left over at the end.

In warmer temperatures, if you are sweating more, you will need more water. Also, in dry seasons, there are very few water sources on this trail. There is water at Gulpha Gorge and between Gulpha Gorge and Ricks Pond. After that, the trail is dry for close to ten miles, until you reach Bathhouse Row. There is free water at the National Park Visitors Centers. Many of the shops also offer water.

Bringing some form of electrolyte replenishment is also a good idea. We like SaltStick FastChews, but there are a number of options.

Preparing Before You Hike the Trail

If you want to hike the nearly 13 mile loop for the Sunset Trail and you are local in Arkansas, my recommendation is to scout it, doing sections before attempting to string them all together. This is also a good way to gauge your time and pacing for the miles.

If you are from out of state or coming to Hot Springs from a distance that makes is impossible to preview the trail, I would not recommend this trail loop unless you are an experienced hiker and/or you are physically conditioned for hiking or trail running at these distances.

If you have never hiked distances close to 13 miles before, I would also highly recommend that you work your way up to those miles. This is, at minimum, a four to six hour commitment of vigorous walking. That's a taxing workout.

One final thought about this trail. If you are considering a thru hike of the Ouachita Trail or Ozark Highlands Trail, this would be a decent trail to get some miles and test your physical ability to tackle 13 miles of ascending and descending trail, shoes, pack, and clothing. You can also gauge your pace. How fast can you go? How fast should you go? What is a sustainable pace for you and how many miles can you squeeze into an hour carrying a loaded pack? How often do you need to take breaks? How often do you need to eat snacks to refuel? Answering those questions is extremely helpful if you want to do a thru hike, and this trail loop can help you answer them.

Well, those are my thoughts on the Sunset Trail in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Have you hiked the Sunset Trail as a loop? Did you connect the ends using a similar route or a different route? What were your impressions? If you read this and decide to give this loop route a try, let me know how it goes!

As always, thanks for dropping by,

Gavagai