Sams Throne & Hawksbill Crag

Overview

Sam's Throne(elevation 1988') is a rock climbing destination worthy of its own mountain/rock page with 5.7-5.12 climbing. I had plans of creating such a page but I did not make it to its summit. We hiked in Buffalo Wilderness earlier that day and the dogs were too exhausted to go much further than the trailhead and it was very windy here that day. Nor do I have complete information on the rock climbing part to do a thorough page worthy of SP as I am more a hiker.
To get to Sams throne, from the small town of Mt Judea, Route 123 breaks off from Route 74. Take 123 South and 4.3 miles from the 123/74 Junction is the entrance to the Sams Throne area. There are a lot of hairpin turns so go slow. Info I found online says this is a dirt road but it has since been paved. I can't imagine driving UP this road if it were unpaved. There is a sign at the entrance. Take a left turn and go all the way down the road and it will bring you to the trailhead. You pass a number of campsites on this short road. No idea who runs this area. Yellow markers are along the route and it will bring you to the lookout & climbing area. I understand the route continues on to Sams Throne's summit but I could not find where the trail goes down off the rocks and over to the hill. Trailhead to summit is about 1 mile.

Trip report

It was an eight hour drive from DFW metroplex to Fayetteville, AR where we stayed on this trip. We took the back roads of Oklahoma & Arkansas in beautiful weather. The bluebonnets were pretty much spent but the Texas paintbrush were at their peek. We got up early Sunday morning and headed to Boxley to hike in the Upper Buffalo Wilderness to checkout the crag and take more pictures for updating my SP page. Couldn't help but notice there had to have been a freeze that killed new foliage. Some locals on the trail said there was 17 degree weather a couple weeks back. Despite it killing the new leaf growth, it made for great viewing across the valley. Last time we visited, it was August and the leaf coverage can be thick and it limited your views over the bluffs. Also, you got to see the great rock formations and unique tree shapes along the bluffline. (Check out the crag's main page for more pictures of the area) However, since the freeze, new growth had started on other plants and trees and there were tiny wildflowers along the trail.

There was just enough water in the creeks to make a waterfall going over the bluff and for our springer spaniels to enjoy getting wet trotting along. The first time we visited here, we did not notice the crag which was right next to the crag that gets all the attention. Though it does not stick out as far, it has some magnificent size rocks on it and the fall off this crag looks just as consequential.

We spent a total of two hours or so in this area and we headed to the other side of Newton County to checkout Sam's Throne area. We passed through the county seat of Jasper on the way, hoping to find fast food but as soon as we saw the "Population 500" (or so) sign we thought our chances got slim but we found a convenience store that had fresh concession style food made and a nice picnic area along the Little Buffalo River.

Our time at Sam's Throne was short & sweet because the dogs were too tuckered out for another hike - they're 9 yrs old now. We hope to get up here again soon so I can create a mountain page for here. That is unless someone beats me to it - which is fine :-)

Portraits on the Crag

Could have taken more dramatic portraits out on the very tip and take it from the nearby bluff but but that's way beyond our level of comfort.

Images

View Sams Throne & Hawksbill Crag Image Gallery - 11 Images