Music Mountain and West Mountain via Sunset Trail

Hot Springs National Park, AR Boston Mountains + Ozark Mountains

Trip stats

Distance
5.8 mi
Net Gain
1,300 ft
Time
2-4 hrs
YDS Rating
Class 1
Route
Out/Back
Peaks
2

Ratings out of 10

Effort
2.2/10
Personality
2/10
Beauty
3/10
Solitude
1.8/10
What do these mean? →

Peaks on this hike

Summits listed in route order

  1. Music Mountain
    1,400′ elevation · 640′ prominence
  2. West Mountain
    1,260′ elevation · N/A prominence

Route map + Trailhead

Trailhead Coordinates

34.513827, -93.094015

The directions link below drops a pin on the trailhead coordinates and lets Google Maps pick the route. If the drive has rough roads or access issues that GPS nav might get wrong, I cover that in my trip report.

Get directions (opens Google Maps in a new tab)

Trip report

Aug 5, 2017 — I started from a parking lot on Blacksnake Road, where I followed a wide trail that led up to just below the forested summit of Music Mountain. An short bushwhack led off the Sunset Trail to reach the high point. After summitting, I headed east to the fairly nice West Mountain overlook, but it was a bit boring overall. The Sunset Trail is wide, straight, and forested. I took a quick detour along the way to bag West Mountain, a quick excursion.

Note that the attached map has incorrect imagery – the contour lines make West Mountain look like it's a saddle rather than a peak, weird.

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Photos

14 photos

  2. Slowly ascend on wide trail toward the top of Music Mountain. The trail doesn't actually take you to the summit, but you get partial views along the way.
  5. After the ascent stops, you uneventfully descend along the straight, wide, boring trail for the duration of the hike.
  6. A few views along the way.
  9. Seriously. Just a wide, straight trail.
  10. Eventually, the trail takes you away from the old dirt road converted into a trail and you get some tree-hindered views.
  12. The only true view along the way.
  13. Approaching the West Mountain parking area.
  14. West Mountain overlook.

Photo 1 of 1

Hire me or show some love!

Hire or refer me as a web developer, or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so it's funded by yours truly. It also takes a ton of work to edit photos and write these reports. I really appreciate it!

Hire me PayPal Venmo Cash App