Exploring Northwest Arkansas

JW Farmer Homestead -- Hike via Goat Trail

I've mentioned it several times before, but one of my favorite things about the area around Erbie is the sense of history you get when you visit the area. While the "town" is now uninhabited, there still is an old church, several in-tact homesteads, old cemeteries, and the remains of old roads, old houses and a life that used to be. And because the area is unpopulated, you get a good sense for how it must have felt to be alive back at the turn of the century out in the wilderness, relatively isolated from your neighbors except for a long walk or ride by horseback down a road or at church on Sunday morning.

Another such place is the JW Farmer Homestead. 

As best I can tell (and the history of this area is not terribly well docemented online), this old homestead dates back to 1911, and has many original buildings that are mostly fairly well preserved.

To get to the spot, we generally take the Old Erbie Loop Trail. (directions at the link).  The trail starts at Erbie Church heading along the road South toward the River. You turn right at the old homestead, past a barn, and then up the hill to Goat Bluff (details at the link).

At the top of Goat Bluff, at 1.2 miles, you hit a 4 way intersection. To get to the JW Farmer Homestead, take the route that continues straight ahead along the bluff (the road to the harsh right takes you to the horse camp, the soft right continues on to the Old Erbie Trail).  

If you take the left-most trail (straight), you'll begin to decend down the fairly steep trail. This section of trail is very nice, as it has a lot of nice flat rocks that form natural stairs and there are usually quite an array of wildflowers.

As you head down you'll be veering to your right and a small creek will be below to your left. The trail then crosses over the creek (not a wet crossing) and then turns back left. At about .4 from the intersection (1.6 from the start of the Old Erbie Trail), the trail will connect with the Old River Trail. To the left heads down to the river, to the right is to the homestead. Shortly after taking the right you arrive at the homestead.

While the Homestead appears to be out in the middle of nowhere, it really is sitting right along the Old River Trail which was the old road through the area that connected all of the homesteads along the river bottom. If you think about the Old River Trail as the old road, it makes perfect sense. 

Take some time to explore the area. Most of the buildings are open to walk into. Just be smart and safe and respectful to this piece of history. 

After taking the time to explore, it's back out on the Old River Trail. Immediately across from the homestead is a trail that enters the woods. This is where the Cecil Cove Loop would joins the rest of the trails in the area. Going straight on the Old River Trail continues on the trail toward Kyles Landing.  

We followed the Old River Trail another about .3 miles to the next Buffalo River Crossing before heading back. 

Hike to JW Farmer Homestead

Distance: 4 miles round trip (if you come in from the Old Erbie Trail -- it's at the 6.2 mile mark of the Cecil Cove Loop)

Difficulty: Moderate

Kids: Yes

Footwear: Trail shoes or hiking boots are best

Star rating: 3.5 of 5

Old Erbie Area Loop Trail



Erbie is one of those areas with a lot of great hiking trails and several roads that can double as hiking trails that can be looped together to form a wonderful hike of almost any length.  The problem with Erbie is getting there.

The simplest way to get to Erbie is to come in off of Highway 7 on the road just South of Pruitt.  This road takes you by the Koen Experimental Forest, the Erbie Campground and the Parker-Hickman Homestead  and is clearly marked at the highway.  However, this route requires you to have to ford over two water crossings to get to the trailhead (which are actually North of the river.  These crossings are usually fine to cross for even a 2-wheel drive vehicle,  however, when the water is high, particularly in late Spring, you may want to use another route, or, plan to park on the south side of the river and wade across. 

There is also a route coming in off HWY 43 in Compton (this is the same road that takes you to the trail head of Hemmed in Hollow, Hideout Hollow and McFerrin Point).  This road is VERY steep and rocky – so I don’t advise this unless you have a 4 wheel drive – and even then, I wouldn’t plan on heading back out that direction. The most consistent route to get there is to take the small gravel road near Marble Falls on Highway 7 (just North of the old Dogpatch area) and bring that road in.  It’s long, almost entirely gravel, and pretty bumpy, and VERY scenic – and we’ve never had any problems getting by – which can’t be said for the other routes in.

Once in Erbie, park at the trailhead at the 3-way intersection (just uphill from the Erbie Church).  You’ll start this simple loop hike from here.

This is a pretty easy loop hike (only about 1.8 miles) – with much of it following gravel roads and old settler roads.  You’ll start off this hike by heading down the gravel road past the Erbie Church (if you came across the river ford, this is the road you came in on. You’ll follow this road about .6 miles until you get to an old Homestead – the Buchannan-Clagett Farmstead.  Buchannan’s gravestone is in the Cherry Grove Cemetery across the river.

At this Homestead, you’ll turn right on the small road and pass by the cable gate and past the large barn.  Just past the barn, the path splits.  The larger gravel road that heads up the hill goes to a horse camp.  Stay on the lower path – which is also an old road but much more overgrown. This road is part of the Old River Trail.   This part of the trail follows along an open field and a large mountain in the background and makes for some great photos. 

Once you get past the pasture, the trail splits. The Old River Trail heads off to the left and quickly crosses the river, you’ll want to stay relatively straight to stay on the hiking trail – this is at about .9 miles.

This next short section is a bit overgrown but short and you quickly hit a set of rocky stairs that climb up the bluff. This is pretty short, but it’s a steep (and very scenic) climb up these stairs to the top of Goat Bluff. Once to the top, you’ll be following along the top of Goat Bluff for about .3 miles and there are spectacular views of the river and the countryside from the top. Take a few minutes to enjoy the views, eat a sandwhich, whatever, but take the time to enjoy the views.  Oh, and be VERY careful – one slip could be horrible as it’s a long way down.

Once you get to the end of Goat Bluff, you’ll hit another gravel road. This also goes back to the Horse Camp. Stay straight for about 15 yards and you’ll hit another intersection.  At this intersection, to stay on this loop, you’ll head right.  (Straight will take you down a beautiful rocky trail that in .4 miles leads to the JW Farmer’s Homestead. If you fancy a longer hike you can head down to this old Homestead (which is on, and a part of the Farmer’s Trail) and then either head back to the road from there or double back to the intersection at the top of Goat Bluff).

Assuming you’ve turned right on the trail (not the road) at the top of Goat Bluff.  You can follow this trail another .5 miles.  At the road, turn right, and it’s a short stroll back to the parking area where you left your car.  We didn’t actually do this part of the trail as we enjoyed the scenery along Goat Bluff so much that we just hiked down to the J.W. Farmer Homestead and then doubled back the way we came. If you take the actual loop hike the route is 1.8 miles and a nice way to spend an afternoon.

Distance: 1.8 mile loop

Difficulty level: Mostly easy, the short climb up Goat Bluff will be a challenge for the very young and very old

Rating: 4 Stars (out of 5)

Kids:  Older kids are fine – but keep an eye on them on the bluff areas

Shoes: Trail Shoes are fine

Guidebook: Tim Ernst: Buffalo River Hiking Trails

Time of year: This hike is great year around – but I highly recommended it during the fall and winter.