Sunset Trail

The Sunset Trail is the longest in Hot Springs National Park, covering almost 10 miles one-way.

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Sunset Trail Details

The Sunset Trail is the longest hiking trail in Hot Springs National Park, covering almost 10 miles one-way. The trail begins at a parking area on West Mountain Summit Drive, and heads west across West Mountain and Music Mountain before turning north to traverse Sugarloaf Mountain, finally making a loop back to Gulpha Gorge Campground on Indian Mountain. The trail covers all types of terrain, including the highest elevation in the park. Hikers can expect to see a variety of wildlife, as well, including wild turkey and white-tailed deer. Because of its length, hikers often break up the trail into three separate sections. The first section is 2.9 miles, and traverses West Mountain. This is the most popular section of the trail, partially due to its proximity to parking and downtown Hot Springs. The trail begins as a smooth gravel path and becomes a narrow, rock-strewn trace just after crossing Mountain Top Trail, approximately 100 yards past the trailhead. Here the trail starts to climb West Mountain, forking just below privately owned communication towers; take the right-hand fork for the easiest path. Hikers can reach Music Mountain, the highest elevation in the park at 1,405 feet, from this section of the trail. From here the trail descends to a parking area on Blacksnake Road, marking the end of the first section. The second section of the trail, at 2.8 miles, is the most scenic, crossing through a mixed pine and hardwood forest on Sugarloaf Mountain and offering great access to novaculte outcroppings like Balanced Rock. The first 50 yards of the trail are smooth but steep as hikers descend down one side of Sugarloaf Mountain. An old roadbed meets the trail from the lower left, and hikers should keep a watch for hollowed out old trees here, which serve as dens for animals such as raccoons and squirrels. Novaculite rocks are covered with ferns and lichens near the trail here, which becomes quite narrow and rough. A steep section of the trail passes a deep ravine and hikers will be treated to a great view of the Hot Springs Rehabilitation Center and the Mountain Tower to the right. The Balanced Rock Trail sign points the way to a .2-mile spur trail to a scenic vista from Balanced Rock, a novaculite outcropping atop another novaculite boulder. The last part of the hike is easy except for a short, steep rocky section as it approaches Cedar Glades Road, where there is room to park your car. The third section, four miles long, passes through land that was once part of the Fordyce family estate. Here the trail crosses Fordyce Mountain above the city of Hot Springs' waterworks before returning to Gulpha Gorge Campground on Indian Mountain. Hikers can leave their cars in the Cedar Glades parking area. The path passes along the Reservoir Ridge, so named because the city waterworks are just north of the trail. Old roadbeds make up the first part of the trail; to the left of the path, notice a large oak tree with branches covered in resurrection fern. Hikers should stay to the left, avoiding the old gravel road. As the trail meanders down the ridge, it passes through a grassy glade and forks to the right. The left fork is the Fordyce Peak trail spur, which continues for 1.5 miles within park boundaries and ends on Fordyce Peak. Beyond the fork the trail descends steeply, eventually reaching Ricks Pond, which is a great place to spot beavers and herons. The trail continues, hugging Stonebridge Road near the pond. Hikers will cross Hwy. 7 and rejoin the trail behind a restaurant beyond the intersection for the final section of the trail, following the old Gorge Road, higher and narrower than the existing road below. Here novaculite walls and bluffs extend from the uphill side of the trail as it winds it way south to the stone dam in the Gulpha Gorge Campground.

Difficulty

Moderate

Distance

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Estimated time

Region

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