Pinnacle Mountain – Fond Memories

At Maumelle Park Campground, COE, Little Rock, AR

Pinnacle Mountain is the second highest spot in Pulaski County, the county that Little Rock is located in.  The mountain is 1,013 feet above sea level, and only 763 feet of local relief (where the trail starts at the parking lot.)  However, it is a bit of a hike since the entire 1.5 miles is “UP”.  Could I do it today?  Probably not.  Have I done it in the past?  You bet.

All of these pictures of Pinnacle Mountain are from the Pinnacle Mountain State Park website (link) or from Google Maps.  The two above are taken from the west, the water is part of Maumelle Lake, and were probably taken from a boat…but they sure show the shape of the mountain.

The trail starts out on dirt, then it transitions into rocks, then…

... it transitions to all rocks…and it goes up and up and up.

And when you get to the top the views are fantastic, and there are a few good view points up there...and a few benches.

Here is a view from an airplane or helicopter…look at that view of not only the mountain, but what you see when you are on top of the mountain.  The body of water is Lake Maumelle…the Arkansas River runs to the right of the lake.  On a clear day you can see forever.

The first time I climbed the mountain was in 1991 or 1992.  Ryan was just a baby/toddler and was carried all the way.  Stephanie was 3-4 years old and had to be carried part of the way up…I started with carrying Ryan, then handed him off to his mother Shelley and carried Stephanie the rest of the way piggyback style.  Michael was 4-5 years old and made it all the way himself.  A few years later Michael’s cub scout group went up the mountain…I made it 95% of the way.  By the time I had caught my breath, they were all coming down so I just came down with them.  There was another time that I did the same…perhaps when Ryan was a cub scout.  After that I made it up all the way each time.  In 2005 I even went up…

…the back side of the mountain.  Here the path turns to rock very quick, and it is not marked so you just kind of make the pathway yourself.  But it is a shorter trail, but much harder.  Just head “UP” and you will make it.  However, it is more of a hands and legs climb, not just a leg climb like the west side trail is.  I went this way two more times in 2006.  

The HUMILIATING thing, not just for me but for others too, is when a Mountain Runner passes by you.  I distinctly remember one time when I hiked it with a few fellow Librarians during some off time while attending a Library Conference in Little Rock.  Some guy goes running by us up the mountain…it was like a “WHOOSH”.  About 5 minutes later, he is running down…we are about 1/2 way up.  About 8 minutes later his is running back “UP” the mountain again.  If I remember right, he ran up and down the mountain 3 times to our one time going up.  At the top, when he was on his fourth trip, we talked to him…he said he tries to run up and down the mountain 10 times three times per week….that’s 30 times up and down each week.  He was about 6’-4”, had a huge stride, and we never saw him breathing hard.  That was kind of sick…

Above is a map of the various paths you can find within the park.  If you are up for a good, longer hike, go to the Visitor’s Center, hike over to the mountain, go up and back down and back to the Visitor’s Center.  That is a good, long hike, and it is real beautiful and peaceful…unless a bunch of Cub Scouts are hiking up the mountain on a Saturday morning.  The Visitor’s Center is a 3 mile drive from the Maumelle Park Campground, while the main parking area for the mountain hike is just under 5 miles away by car, about 3 1/2 if you want to walk it (part road, part trial).