When planning our Fall 2025 Marathon, I really wanted to try to get two more state high points: Arkansas and Louisiana. So, we selected the White River Marathon in Cotter, Arkansas for our Fall 2025 marathon. On Thursday after work, Nolan (my son) and I started driving from Ohio, to Arkansas. We made it past St Louis, and stopped at a hotel for the night. The next day, we continued driving. Our plan was to drive directly to Mt Magazine State Park, then hike Mt Magazine, jump back in the car and drive to Cotter, AR, to pickup our race packets. We arrived at the trailhead at 2:30 pm. The drive to the Park, and the trailhead was paved curvy back roads, but beautiful. We started hiking the trail immediately. The trail is soft dirt packed trail, and the elevation gain is moderate (about 390 of gain).

We reached the summit in about 20 minutes, and about 0.75 miles of hike distance. My requirement for all State High points is a minimum of 2 miles, so we would need to deviate our return a little bit. We spent a few minutes on the summit. At the Summit, signage noted this peak at both Signal Hill and Mount Magazine. Apparently, it is officially named Magazine Mountain (yet a third name), but due to its history of being a “signal point” is also called Signal Hill.

For our descent, Nolan and I took an alternate trail, which goes slightly around the mountain. We ended up hiking to the road on the opposite side of the mountain from our trailhead. We hiked to the lodge, then turned back to the trail. Back on the trail, we circumnavigated the east base of the mountain, and back to our trailhead in exactly 2 miles, and in 48 minutes. We jumped back in the car, and made the curvy drive to Cotter, AR. We picked up our Marathon race packets and checked into our hotel for the night.

Nolan and I felt that the drive to Mt Magazine State park was the biggest challenge for this highpoint. It all asphalt road, but it was very curvy and slow. But, it was a beautiful drive.