Arkansas State Parks Blog | The Natural State

Wings on the Wind Sitting on a bluff overlooking a vast landscape is a great way to enjoy a September morning on Mount Magazine. Scanning the horizon with a good set of binoculars helps spot wings on the wind. Southward migration has started for many species of birds and some butterflies. The unpredictable nature of migration watching requires diligence. Some days are a bust due to weather conditions. But other days can be outstanding with a good diversity of species and...

Spring Fever! It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want – oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! –Mark Twain In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt. – Margaret Atwood Who’s ready for spring? Signs of this much-anticipated season are everywhere, from fields carpeted with henbit to blooming elm...

More Fun at Lake Fort Smith State Park

Who doesn’t enjoy an evening by the fire, nestled in a cabin, in the woods, near a lake? Quiet, peace. Made all the more special as you feel your muscles relax after a day of hiking, kayaking and fishing. Now put yourself in that picture. It’s easy, in Arkansas we have many places where you can have this experience and last week one more was added. Lake Fort Smith State Park was moved from it’s original...

Babysitting a Beaver

Only a few short years ago a few friends and a coworker of mine had an unusual experience while kayaking the flooded woods of Moro Bay State Park. It was spring time and the river rose to the point where it closed the park. This happens every couple of years at Moro Bay State Park so our facilities are built to withstand high water. It doesn’t rise fast like it does in the hills of northern Arkansas. Instead it...

Getting Your Feet Wet

The best way to learn is to get your feet wet, or at least that is how I feel when I give this program. These park guests are taking part in my creek seining program. It was developed to help monitor the aquatic life found in Lee Creek, but it turned into so much more. As they were scooping up fish this little girl got her first look at a dragonfly larvae, she had no idea that these winged insects start their lives in the...

Hard Work and Sweat

Imagine a group of Indians sitting quietly under the shade of a tree, wiping sweat from their brow and calculating how many more trips they must make with their baskets to complete their newest mound. They have made countless trips already and their efforts are almost complete. Hard work and sweat were some of the tools used recently to preserve a piece of Arkansas’ history. Recently, the staff at Toltec Mounds...

Wings on the Wind

Sitting on a bluff overlooking a vast landscape is a great way to enjoy a September morning on Mount Magazine. Scanning the horizon with a good set of binoculars helps spot wings on the wind. Southward migration has started for many species of birds and some butterflies. The unpredictable nature of migration watching requires diligence. Some days are a bust due to weather conditions. But other days can be outstanding with a...

Training for Fall Fun

After weeks of 100-degree heat that seemed unrelenting, Arkansas received that summer break in temperature. It happens every year, and we seem to forget about it every year, so when it arrives it comes as a surprise. As the air turns cooler who can resist the fun of sleeping outside? Something about cooler nights, when you can sit at a fire comfortably, makes fall a magical time. Some can argue that it is the long...

Growing up in day camps

For kids here in Arkansas, August means it’s time to head back to school. The end of the summer is near. School sports have started, school supply shopping is in full swing, and kids are slipping back into their educational routines. However, a few weeks ago many of our kids were enjoying their summer breaks without a thought of routine and involving themselves in one of my best summer memories: day camp. Growing up,...

Crater of Diamonds State Park: A wonderful and cra...

When I accepted the park interpreter job at the Crater of Diamonds State Park, I had no idea what a wonderful, fascinating, amazing, and sometimes crazy place this park would turn out to be. So, I want to share with you some of the wonderful and crazy things that make this park so unique. Of course, the first thing that makes this park so unique is that our visitors are allowed to hunt for diamonds, and then are allowed to...

« Older Entries