Arkansas Awaits

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As we had put together our travel plans last winter, we had picked potential stops along the route and then worked on number of days we wanted to stay at each location to get a good handle on our travel flow. Coming out of the Memphis area, we have the state of Arkansas to traverse. From a driving distance, it looked like we should have 2 stops in the state. We saw that Little Rock would be a good first stop. Back in 2018, we had stayed at Maumelle Park which is a Corps of Engineers park. We had enjoyed the campground before so we decided this would be a good place to stop for 2 or 3 nights. Back in March as we were booking a site here, we were having trouble getting our reservation to be accepted. It turns out that we were unknowingly coming in near Memorial Day weekend and no matter what we tried, the system wouldn’t let us book the nights we wanted. We finally discovered that they have a special policy on holiday weekends and we would have to stay 4 nights to meet their requirements. It wasn’t a big deal since the next 12 nights after Little Rock would be at 5 different Elks Lodges that don’t take reservations so we were very flexible.

The 164 mile drive is predominantly along Interstate 40 so it was a relatively easy drive. We worked in a fuel stop for the motorhome at a Loves Travel Center that happened to have a geocache and was in a county we didn’t have yet so it was a two for one stop. We made it into our spot at Maumelle and got setup. Having been here before, we have already done some of the local sightseeing stops like the state capital, walks along the river in downtown Little Rock and hikes in Pinnacle Mountain State which is next door to Maumelle. Our next day was a rainy one so we took it easy and when the weather improved we headed out to explore. Our research pointed us to a place called the Old Mill in North Little Rock.

The Old Mill

Located in T.R. Pugh Memorial Park, this place is quite remarkable. It isn’t a “real” mill but a replica of a mill that might have existed in Arkansas in the 1830’s. A local developer commissioned the construction in 1931 and was completed in 1933. The whole place is constructed with concrete but it was meticulously made to look like wood, iron or stone. The detail is incredible. There are two rather unusual bridges that span a small pond. Even the water wheel is functional.

Unusual Bridge

Bridge from "Fallen Tree"

Water Wheel Still Spins

We walk around the grounds and are amazed by the craftsmanship. Apparently a relative of the original creator performed renovations on the mill back in 1991 and again in 2024 so that may explain how it looks so good still today.

Fountain

Mini Falls

Another Old Mill Shot

Visitors can go inside and see the inner “workings” of the mill although it doesn’t appear that the water wheel has ever driven the grindstone. It was still a remarkable place to explore. We head down to the second bridge to check it out. This one is hard to describe.

Approaching Bridge

Relaxing Turtle

We continue around the paths and take in the views. Definitely worth the visit if you’re in the area.

Damselfly

Muscovy Duck

We wanted to get in a bit of a walk so we headed to Emerald Park on the edge of the Arkansas River just a little north of downtown. This park sits on a bluff overlooking the river and sounded pretty. We had one geocache to find near the beginning of the trail. The pathway is paved although some of the spots have lots of bumps caused by large tree roots. We head to the cache, make the find and take in the view. It was neat to be able to see the 250 foot cliff between the bluff and the river. There was a tugboat and barge just rounding the bend as we arrived.

View of Cliffs and Arkansas River

Tug and Barges

It was almost 80 degrees so we figured we would let the conditions determine how far we walked. The main trail is a little over 1.2 miles one way. Most of the trail is shady so it wasn’t too hot. The paved trail is well off the edge of the cliff, but every now and then, there is a good lookout point. The signs tell visitors to stay back but we knew we could get a bit closer in a safe manner so we took a couple of opportunities to see the view.

Emerald Park Trail

View Back Towards Cache Location on Distant Cliff

We made it all the way to what looked like the end of the trail. It appears to end at the southern end of side of Pulaski Technical College which we had driven through to get to trailhead parking. We debated about trying to find a shortcut through the campus but decided the shade and certainty of the trail was the better option by the time we made it back to the car we had a little over 2.5 miles.

Another River View

Dredging Barge

There are a couple of counties to the west of camp that we’ve yet to find geocaches in. We discovered a hiking trail that started in the one county and went into the other and there were geocaches all along it. The Ouachita Trail is definitely in a remote location. We make it to the small parking area along State Highway 9 and started east. We knew we had about a mile of hiking before we reached the first cache in a long series of caches that continue east. We had studied the distance that we needed to hike but we had neglected to pay attention to the terrain. It turned out to be very hilly with some steep sections. This trail doesn’t look to be very well used and the caches haven’t t been logged in nearly 4 years so we weren’t too optimistic. We made it to the first of five caches that were in the one county we needed. The first one was listed as an “evil” hide so we didn’t even bother to stop for it. We had 4 more options for this county and we only needed to find one of them which we did after a short search.

Along the Ouachita Trail

The county line was near the 1.6 mile mark. We weren’t positive the first cache hidden in the second county would register properly so we head another tenth of a mile and make the find there. It took nearly 2 miles of hiking but we completed our mission. Although there was the issue of still needing to hike back to the car. When it was all said and done, we had 3.9 miles which was expected. The 1070 feet of elevation gain was not anticipated so it was a bit more of a workout than we had planned.

Pretty Woods Walk

Our four nights in Maumelle Park went quickly. It was a busy place being Memorial Day weekend, but it eventually quieted down at night. We were also pleasantly surprised to find the dump station didn’t have a line on our way out. From here, we have a string of Elks Lodges that don’t have any dump capabilities so we needed to be completely empty as we head out. The plan was to drive the 164 miles to Fort Smith Arkansas - right on the border with Oklahoma. I was expecting there to be traffic on I-40 with people heading home after the long holiday weekend but it turned out to be one of the best travel days in the motorhome that I can recall. Traffic was light. There were no construction projects or accidents to slow us down and there were even geocaches in a couple of rest stops and a truck stop that were in different counties during our travels.

We rolled into Fort Smith and head to the Elk Lodge. The lodge wasn’t open on Monday so it was deserted. They have a 30 amp power cord out by the back of the building but we decide to just park at the far end of the lot since we are only here for one night and can deal without electricity. It was only a little after 3 PM and there is the Fort Smith National Historic Site not too far away. It was open until 5 so we decided to head over and check it out.

Fort Smith National Historic Site

The first fort was built here in 1817 to try to maintain peace the native Osage tribe and the Cherokee tribe that were being moved in across the river in Oklahoma. After that fort succumbed to the elements, another fort was constructed in 1838 to protect the town from the unfounded threat of Indian attack but that fort was closed in 1871. The fort did become an important supply outpost for the people moving out west. A federal court moved into the old fort in 1872. This court had jurisdiction over Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) just across the river. There is a lot of information inside the main visitor center about the history of Fort Smith.

Main Visitor Center at Fort Smith

Jail Cells

This court was most famous for Judge Isaac Parker - aka The Hanging Judge. As we toured the various displays and watched the short movie, we discovered that the John Wayne movie “True Grit” was based out of Fort Smith. So of course we would have to track it down on a streaming platform and watch a few days later. It was an enjoyable movie and made more special by seeing the tie in with what we learned while visiting the fort. There is even a replica of the old gallows that used to be where the hangings would take place.

Judge Parker's Courtroom

Gallows

Before heading back to the lodge, we needed to find a geocache this county, but since Oklahoma is just across the river, we go look for one there as well. The one we picked in Oklahoma was outside a private residence that actually has a covered bridge for the entrance. It seemed a bit unusual to be looking for a cache at such a fancy place but we found it and headed back to the rig for dinner and a fairly quiet spot to spend the night.

Covered Bridge Cache

Tomorrow we will continue west into Oklahoma with 2 stops planned at two more Elks Lodges.