Location: Reynolds County in Missouri passing through the Mark Twain National Forest.

Distance: about 30-miles - approximately 10.4 miles from Oates (Hwy J) to Sutton Bluff and approximately 18.8 miles from the trailhead at Hwy 72 and Hwy P to Sutton Bluff.

Water: Water is available from the creek at Oates and at the river at Sutton Bluff campground.

Parking: Official overnight parking is available at the north terminus just south of Hwy J at Oates, MO, just west of the Sutton Bluff campground at the official trailhead on the west side of the river, and at Hwy P (east of Hwy P and just south of Hwy 72), the southern terminus of the Karkaghne Section and the northern terminus of the Blair Creek Section.

Comments - 15 Mar'05 - We hiked the northern section of the Karkaghne from Highway J at Oates, MO to Sutton Bluff campground. This piece of trail has never been on the Karkaghne brochure map but it is very easy to follow (see the maps on the OTA website). Most of this piece of trail was put in by a large bulldozer many years ago and just left to settle on its own. A lot of the horse groups use it. The trail didn't appear to be used much once we got near the road into Sutton Bluff campground - no signs of bulldozer in the last few miles as the trail parallels the forest road. The last mile or so is actually the road itself. This northern section of the Karkaghne tracked out around 10 miles and was our shortest day.

Comments - 16 Mar'05 - We did the southern part of the Karkaghne section from the north end of the Blair Creek Section to Sutton Bluff. The southern piece of Karkaghne Section is noted as 15-miles in the brochure but after Dave put the track in his software that evening it came out as 18.8 miles. We just made it off the trail before dark. The last few miles nearest to Sutton Bluff was extremely tuff. The brochure map doesn't match up with the actual trail in this area. It goes along the sides of many hills and the trail tread is extremely narrow and angled outward in many areas. The part that we were worried about at the begining after leaving the trailhead was actually marked very well and an ATV (possibly the forest service) had been through the trail for several miles.

Comments - 19 Oct'05 - Maintenance crews from the OTA worked on clearing brush and trees from the trail during the summer of 2005 which should help anyone hiking through this section.

Maps: Map/brochure of this section is available from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Ozark Trail Coordinator by calling 1-800-334-6946 (talk to a real person). The official trail map/brochure only covers the portion of the trail from Hwy 72 and Hwy P to the Sutton Bluff Campground. This brochure/map is getting hard to find so I recommend downloading your maps from the Ozark Trail Association website.