You are hereHow can you help?
How can you help?
Friends of the Ouachita Trail (FoOT) is an all-volunteer force. The most important thing you can do is dedicate your time to help accomplish our mission. Volunteers can either adopt a section of trail or join periodic work parties. Information on both is listed below.
FoOT also needs financial support. Contributions in any amount are appreciated. Please make checks payable to "Friends of the Ouachita Trail" and send them to:
Friends of the Ouachita Trail
PO Box 8630
Hot Springs, AR 71910
Membership in FoOT
Membership in FoOT is offered to those who contribute their time to perform trail maintenance, other work such as fund raising or clerical work or their financial support.
Membership categories include the following:
WORKING MEMBER/ORGANIZATION: Adopts a trail section for maintenance OR works at least ten (10) hours on FoOT activities.
SUPPORTING MEMBER: Does not work or works less than ten (10) hours on FoOT activities AND pays a membership fee of at least $25.00.
SUSTAINING MEMBER: Adopts a trail section or works at least ten (10) hours on FoOT activities AND pays a membership fee of at least $15.00
SUPPORTING ORGANIZATION: Does not work or works less than ten (10) hours on FoOT activities AND pays a membership fee of at least $50.00.
SUSTAINING ORGANIZATION: Adopts a trail section or works at least ten (10) hours on FoOT activities AND pays a membership fee of at least $30.00
The sections below are available for adoption now. Other sections can be "split-off" from a currently adopted section and our members are sometimes agreeable to "swap" a section they had previously adopted, so if you know a section you'd like to adopt and maintain, even if it is not listed below, please contact us about it. Whenever possible, please refer to mileages as noted in Tim Ernst's Ouachita Trail Guide when naming a section you'd like to adopt.
If you are interested in helping FoOT maintain the OT, consider adopting and maintaining one of the segments shown in the table below.
| Adoptions Available as of February 15, 2010 | |||
| Section | Mile X to X | Mileage | Description |
| 2 | 26.0 to 28.3 | 2.3 | Mile 26 (at 23rd switchback) to FR 6023 |
| 2 | 28.3 to 30.5 | 2.2 | FR 6023 to Hwy. 259 |
| 2 | 42.0 to 44.0 | 2 | Mile 42 to Mile 44 (Kiamichi Wilderness) |
| 2 | 46.3 to 47.8 | 1.5 | Arkansas State Line to FR 514 |
| 3 | 64.0 to 66.0 | 2 | Mile 64 to Mile 66 |
| 5 | 96.0 to 98.0 | 2 | FR 33 to Mile 98 |
| 5 | 98.0 to 101.0 | 3 | Mile 98 to FR 274/west |
| 6 | 127.5 to Shelter | 0.75 | Mile 127.5 at shelter spur plus Uncle Bill Potter Shelter |
| 6 | 136.1 to 138.8 | 2.7 | S. Crossing of FR 78 to Hwy 298 TH |
| 10 | 206.5 to 208.3 | 1.8 | Sawdust Pile to Penney Campsite Spur Trail |
| 10 | 208.3 | 0.9 | Spur Trail to Penney Campsite including the campsite itself |
| 10 | 212.2 to 215.7 | 3.5 | Lunsford Corner to area between drainage and rocky stream past vista |
| 10 | 215.7 to 218.0 | 2.3 | Rocky stream to Mile 218.0 |
Remember: larger sections can be divided into smaller pieces or adopted by a group, club, or team of family and/or friends.
Email adoptions
FriendsOT [dot] org for more information information about FoOT membership.
For trail adoption questions, please contact our VP of Recruitment, adoptionsfriendsot [dot] org (Loretta Melancon). After you sign up you will receive your "adoption papers" and Trail Maintenance Guide. Click here to see a sample volunteer agreement.
The Dreaded FoOT Patrol Team
If you would like to help with trail maintenance, but really don't want the responsibility of adopting your own section of the Ouachita Trail, you can come to any maintenance outing as a guest volunteer or you can become a Working or Sustaining Member of FoOT with all the benefits by joining the "Dreaded FoOT Patrol".
Why "Dreaded"? It started out as a joke and just stuck. In addition to helping adoptive volunteers with large projects, the DFP (as we are affectionately called) often does the "dreaded" trail inspections to keep us all current on trail conditions.
All kidding aside, we are just a group of volunteers who assist the trail adopters and do special projects on the Ouachita Trail PLUS we have fun while doing so. You will be a sort of Independent Volunteer Contractor or Free Agent!! You could join planned outings, or contact FoOT at least two times a year to find projects you can do on your own or to help a trail adopter with their section. To become a member of the Dreaded FoOT Patrol team, contact: bamkmsbcglobal [dot] net (Kris McMillen).
