Looking at getting this trek checked off the list. A friend told me he had issues with ticks during a hike in the Ouachitas. Anyone else have this issue/experience?

We camped below the dam in Heber Springs, AR at JFK Park one year in early spring. The ticks seemed to be falling out of the trees onto us. One guy found one in his belly button halfway home. Made for an interesting ride when we told him to leave it alone till he made it home and could use some proper tools to get the head out with the body. This was about 8 years ago though.

Picked up a seed tick in my back yard a few weeks ago. Was out in tall weeds weeding in shorts. Of course you know where it ended up. Lost the head and am still itching. Nasty creatures.

Kid got a tick in Broken Bow on Spring Break on his hair line where we didn't spray.

Wear deet, you'll be fine..

It just depends on the year. I'm up in northwest Arkansas and haven't had one yet.

Just better hope you don't get this tick:

The Lone Star Tick

Bit north of there but went scouting for Turkeys on Hobbes WMA in NW Ark... out for about two hours. Dad and I came home and were absolutely infested with ticks. Tiny ones that were about the size of a sesame seed. They burrowed down underneath our socks and latched on... hundreds of them. Not sure if this was the best option or not, but Mom had me jump in a bathtub that had a small amount of bleach. I felt like I was in a horror movie. *Shudders*

The existence of ticks is why I debate the existence of a loving, merciful god.


Seriously though, wear light colored clothes so you can see them if they get on you. Long socks, long pants, long sleeves, shirt tucked in. Deet up or you can buy permethrin to spray your clothes down with the day before you head out into the woods. Or both. Wear flea collars around your ankles outside of your pants if you're so inclined. Wear boots. Tuck pants into boots.


Have your wife do a thorough check of you when you get home. Lyme disease is insidious.

Aaaaah, amblyoma americanum.....

Lyme is not likely in Arkansas. It hasn't moved that far south yet, according to what I'm told. My wife is a researcher in the field of Lyme.

You can find data saying it's in Texas, and other locations, but those people's research is questionable to say the least.

toolshed said:

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Lyme is not likely in Arkansas. It hasn't moved that far south yet, according to what I'm told. My wife is a researcher in the field of Lyme.

You can find data saying it's in Texas, and other locations, but those people's research is questionable to say the least.

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Yeah I've been hearing that for years. I know it's anecdotal but I know two guys with Lyme who contracted it in, you guessed it, Arkansas and Texas respectively.

Doctors have argued for years it's not in the South. The Lyme support and advocacy groups are filled with folks who beg to disagree.

Spray your clothes with permethrin, tuck your pants into your boot, socks over pants. Use deet on skin and ticks will be no problem. They are out in full force here for turkey season.

MizooAg94 said:

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Spray your clothes with permethrin, tuck your pants into your boot, socks over pants. Use deet on skin and ticks will be no problem. They are out in full force here for turkey season.

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This times 100. Every time I've treated my clothes with permethrin, I've never had a tick get on me. I use the wipes with tick repellent to get in my ears, and in all the exposed skin that I don't want to spray directly.

Depends on the area and the time of year. Every now and then I have stumbled into what seems like a swarm, and other times I'll be in the woods all day without seeing any. If they are thick you will see them on the trees and everywhere else.

Throwing a flea and tick collar around your boots has always worked well along with the other things mentioned here. Arkansas is a beautiful place, even if it is a little backwards.

It's always nice to find one a few days sheet getting home. I've had to get my neighbor to pull one off the top of my head once because my wife started gagging as soon as I told her I had a tick in my hair.

A loving God still needs a means of dispersing bloodborne pathogens for population control.

I hate ****ing ticks.

Thanks for all of the insight, gents. There are enough places to explore that I don't need to choose places where ticks are prevalent. I've always been partial to the desert anyway.