The latest place in Northwest Arkansas I have explored is the fantastically beautiful Mount Magazine, located in Mount Magazine State Park .
The drive from my home is two hours and fifteen minutes without stops, but my family and I decided to make a day of it. And actually we had to head south through the Ozark Mountains to the Ouachita Mountains and National Forest. The drive on the mountain roads are an adventure themselves. There was a sign that said “Bear Crossing “.
We hoped to see some bears, but only if we were in the car! The USDA FOREST SERVICE urges many precautions when it comes to bears in the Ouachita Forest “ Be Bear Aware” “Bear sightings and activity seems to be increasing this year. Be aware of bears and follow these safety recommendations.
Keep a clean campsite. Store food and garbage out of sight and in closed vehicles.
Never put food scraps or litter in the campfire; it attracts bears and skunks.
Don’t keep food, medicine, chap stick, shampoo - Anything that smells - in tents or sleeping areas
Store stoves, barbeques, and dutch ovens in a vehicle or secure place when not using. Do not pour used cooking oil or food remnants on the ground.
When camping in the back country hang food and garbage from a tree limb, at least 10 feet from the ground and 5 feet from the tree trunk. This tree should be at least 100 yards from your sleeping area.
Some bears also target motor oil, insect repellant, liquor and other things that look like food. Make sure you put these items away.
Remember: Never feed a bear. A fed bear is a dead bear.”
On our trip we also crossed the Arkansas River which is 1,460 miles long, and flows through three states before it gets to it’s namesake Arkansas. The Arkansas River is the sixth longest river in the United States, as well as the forty fifth longest river in the world. It separates the Ozark Mountains from the Ouachita Mountains.
We always love going through tunnels and we got to go through the Bobby Hopper Tunnel
The coolest feature of this tunnel is that if you are heading through the tunnel going north there is a noticeable upward incline, whereas, if you are entering southbound, there is noticeable downward incline!
Then we came across a lovely area so we stopped and hiked a little at
Lake Cove , a 160 acre mountain lake
and the Mount Magazine Trails
At the trails there is a tablet they asks a member of each party to sign before you hike into the woods, in case you become lost, they know you are in there. I think that is a very smart precaution. The trails are overgrown and a harder level of difficulty.
The town closest to the top of the mountain is Paris, Arkansas . It was so interesting! They had some really old buildings that are on the National Register of Historic Buildings.
(Then, at night, they had their traditional lighting of the courthouse and Christmas parade, starting when we were coming home and back through.) Because it’s name is Paris, there is even a very small replica of the Eiffel Tower. It is 25 feet tall, has a water fountain and is lit up at night. Recently they added a lover’s lock wall.
Then we reached Mount Magazine . It is the highest point in Arkansas at 2735 feet, and the highest point of the US Interior Highlands, in the Ouachita National Forest , which the oldest national forest in the South United States. There were beautiful Juniper trees with lavender berries.
The mountains were covered in trees, some with turning leaves for Autumn. There were also outcroppings of rock. The Forestry Service has made several areas where you can park and view with log guard rails, and beautiful natural stone pathways .
Also at the very top is Mount Magazine Lodge !
It reminded me of theMountain Lake Lodge from the movie Dirty Dancing.
Mount Magazine Lodge had the most awesome views of Mount Magazine, which we got to look at while eating at the Skycrest Restaurant .
So it was an entire day of wonderful experiences, and I got to post a lot of photos and reviews on Goggle Maps !
@AdamGT @BudiFXW @CAAG1959 @EmekaUlor @KashifMisidia @Kwiksatik @MariaNgo @MortenCopenhagen @TravellerG
