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This region of Arkansas is known as the "Timberlands"
part of Arkansas or "West Gulf Costal Plains". There are many interesting State Parks and Museums in
this area. You'll find:
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Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources State Park
- This unique museum highlights
Arkansas's natural resources with emphasis on the state's oil and brine
industries. Wall the streets of an Arkansas boom town.
Journey inside the earth and into a core shaft showing the formations in
the oil field strata. Ride the elevator through the undersea
diorama.
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Cane Creek State Park
offers you the opportunity to explore two distinct natural settings in
one visit. Hike or bike the park's 2,053 acres of rolling woodlands, or
paddle or fish on 1,675-acre Cane Creek Lake. Just across the timbered lake, visitors can also explore the Bayou
Bartholomew, the world's largest bayou.
Park staff offer guided walking, biking, kayaking and birding tours and
other interpretive programs throughout the year.
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Conway Cemetery State Park -
When Arkansas was admitted to the Union as the 25th state on June 15,
1836, James Sevier Conway took office as Arkansas's first governor. This 11-acre historic site preserves Conway's final resting place.
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Crater of Diamonds State Park offers you a one-of-a-kind adventure - the opportunity to hunt
for real diamonds and keep any you find! You'll search over a
37-acre plowed field - eroded surface of an ancient, gem-bearing volcanic
pipe. Prospectors access the field through the visitor center.
Exhibits and an A/V program explain the area's geology and offer tips on
recognizing diamonds in the rough.
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Logoly State Park -
At Arkansas's finest environmental education state park, interpreters
present workshops on ecological/environmental topics. The park's
natural resources provide a living laboratory for students and visitors.
Most of Logoly's 368 acres comprise a State Natural Area including unique
plant species and mineral springs.
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Millwood State Park
- A series of boat lanes meander through timber, marshes and oxbow
cutoffs, making Millwood Lake a "tree-filled" fishing haven.
Famous for bass tournaments, this 29,500-acre lake abounds in
largemouth, catfish and crappie.
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Moro Bay State Park - You'll find one of the most popular fishing and water sport areas in south
central Arkansas where Moro Bay and Raymond Lake join the Ouachita River
at Moro Bay State Park.
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Old Washington State Park -
Washington is a unique, historic Arkansas community conserved and
interpreted by Arkansas State Parks in conjunction with the Pioneer
Washington Restoration Foundation. From its establishment in 1824,
Washington was an important stop on the rugged Southwest Trail for
pioneers traveling to Texas.
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South Arkansas Arboretum -
Adjacent to the El Dorado High School, this 13-acres site exhibits plants
indigenous to Arkansas's West Gulf Costal Plain region, and exotic species
including flowering azaleas and camellias.
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White Oak Lake - Adjacent
to Poison Spring State Forest, this park likes on the shore of White Oak
Lake, 2,765 timber-filled acres for bass, crappie, catfish and bream
fishing. Rich in wildlife, the park offers regular sightings of
great blue heron, egret, osprey and green heron, and in winter, bald
eagles.
In the
spring of 1864, three Civil War battles took place in south central
Arkansas that were part of the Union Army's "Red River Campaign."
The three state historic parks commemorating these battles - Poison
Spring, Marks' Mills and Jenkins' Ferry - are part of the Red River
Campaign National Historic Landmark.
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Poison Springs -
The first battle occurred near Camden at Poison Spring (April 18) when
Confederate troops captured a supply train and scattered Union forces.
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Marks Mills Battlefield -
On April 25 at Marks' Mills, Confederate
troops captured another Union supply train. With the loss of two
supply trains and the onslaught of wet spring weather, the Union Army
returned from Camden toward Little Rock.
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Jenkins Ferry -
On April 29 and 30, Union troops fought off an attack by the
Confederates, and using an inflatable pontoon bridge, crossed the
flooded Saline River at Jenkins' Ferry and retreated to Little Rock.
Today these parks offer outdoor exhibits and picnic sites.
Jenkins' Ferry has a pavilion (no electricity available), swimming and a
launch ramp on the Saline River. |
