Round Top Mountain
"Up, up the long delirious burning blue I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace where never lark or ever eagle flew - And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod the high untrespassed sanctity of space, put out my hand and touched the face of God" - John Gillespie Magee
Difficulty - ✹✹ (out of 5)
Scenic Beauty - ✰✰✰ (out of 5)
Directions - Click Here
Video Blog - Click Here
Round Top Mountain is located 2.5 miles of Jasper, Arkansas in Newton County and has a series of trails that traverse the mountain top. It is most known as the site of a B25 bomber crash in 1948 that killed all 5 servicemen on board. On Feb 6, 1948, a B25 on a training mission traveling from Dayton, OH to Little Rock, AR was lost in dense fog and crashed into a bluff in the side of the mountain. The crash site is marked on the Loop Trail on the mountain and still contains some of the original debris from the crash.
Inside Info - It was a sunshiny spring-like day when my daughter and Huckleberry joined me on the trek to Round Top Mountain and I was eager to hit the trails and to find the B25 crash site. Finding the mountain and parking area was no problem and there is a small visitors center with bathrooms at the trailhead. We were there on a Saturday and the visitors center was closed. The trailhead had a small sign with a map of the trails and a large blue dot marking the spot of the crash site. All I can say is that the sign could not have been more misleading. Quite frankly, the blue dot was nowhere near where the actual crash site turned out to be which led to a lot of frustration. My advice is to ignore the sign completely. Follow the main trail until you get to the Loop Trail which circumvents the base of the bluff line at the top of the mountain. Once you get to the Loop Trail, turn right and follow it for about 1/2 mile and the trail will take you to the crash site. That's all there is to it. At the crash site you'll find a plaque memorializing the crew members who died at the site and some piles of debris from the wreckage of the plane although none of the fuselage itself remains. Seeing the names gives the site an eerie, somber feel to it which was quite unexpected. The rest of the trails are fairly easy to hike and really the only strenuous parts were the initial climb to the Loop Trail and the eventual climb to the summit. The views are nice and there are some nice rock formations but nothing too spectacular. We happened across an armadillo rooting through the leaves for food and he seemed to not be aware of our presence or simply didn't care that we were there.
Final Word - This is a nice, fairly easy set of trails and I will definitely be making a return visit at some point. I would probably avoid going there in the summer or late spring as the foliage would completely block the best views that the mountain has to offer. Being a WWII history buff, I am glad I got to see the B25 crash site although, again, none of the debris is recognizeable as being from that type of plane. Although this is what I would call an easy-moderate hike, the initial climb prevents me from recommending this hike to the elderly or small children but once you reach the loop trail, it becomes very easy.
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Trailhead Pic
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Difficulty - ✹✹ (out of 5)
Scenic Beauty - ✰✰✰ (out of 5)
Directions - Click Here
Video Blog - Click Here
Round Top Mountain is located 2.5 miles of Jasper, Arkansas in Newton County and has a series of trails that traverse the mountain top. It is most known as the site of a B25 bomber crash in 1948 that killed all 5 servicemen on board. On Feb 6, 1948, a B25 on a training mission traveling from Dayton, OH to Little Rock, AR was lost in dense fog and crashed into a bluff in the side of the mountain. The crash site is marked on the Loop Trail on the mountain and still contains some of the original debris from the crash.
Inside Info - It was a sunshiny spring-like day when my daughter and Huckleberry joined me on the trek to Round Top Mountain and I was eager to hit the trails and to find the B25 crash site. Finding the mountain and parking area was no problem and there is a small visitors center with bathrooms at the trailhead. We were there on a Saturday and the visitors center was closed. The trailhead had a small sign with a map of the trails and a large blue dot marking the spot of the crash site. All I can say is that the sign could not have been more misleading. Quite frankly, the blue dot was nowhere near where the actual crash site turned out to be which led to a lot of frustration. My advice is to ignore the sign completely. Follow the main trail until you get to the Loop Trail which circumvents the base of the bluff line at the top of the mountain. Once you get to the Loop Trail, turn right and follow it for about 1/2 mile and the trail will take you to the crash site. That's all there is to it. At the crash site you'll find a plaque memorializing the crew members who died at the site and some piles of debris from the wreckage of the plane although none of the fuselage itself remains. Seeing the names gives the site an eerie, somber feel to it which was quite unexpected. The rest of the trails are fairly easy to hike and really the only strenuous parts were the initial climb to the Loop Trail and the eventual climb to the summit. The views are nice and there are some nice rock formations but nothing too spectacular. We happened across an armadillo rooting through the leaves for food and he seemed to not be aware of our presence or simply didn't care that we were there.
Final Word - This is a nice, fairly easy set of trails and I will definitely be making a return visit at some point. I would probably avoid going there in the summer or late spring as the foliage would completely block the best views that the mountain has to offer. Being a WWII history buff, I am glad I got to see the B25 crash site although, again, none of the debris is recognizeable as being from that type of plane. Although this is what I would call an easy-moderate hike, the initial climb prevents me from recommending this hike to the elderly or small children but once you reach the loop trail, it becomes very easy.
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Trailhead Pic
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