Arkansas - Ouachita State Park

Crossing the mighty Mississippi into Arkansas came up early in our day's journey. There was very little traffic on the river which we found surprising. Our travel day was full of sun and warm temperatures - a relief from the past few days.









We arrived at this very beautiful campground in Ouachita State Park after driving over two lane roads that cut through the mountainsides. We climbed to seemingly incredible heights to soar down the other side into a valley. The road was heavily forested on both sides with the changing leaves of the season. We have found that there is little in brilliant color change - the leaves are green and then change to brown and drop off of the trees.




Link to Lake Ouachita Map. The campground is at the right side of the map.

Our site is on a small peninsula that juts out into the lake. The water is up as evidenced by some of the tree tops breaking the surface of the water not far from shore.










The trees are a mix of mountain pines, and hardwoods. We collected walnuts that were dropping like mini-bombs near our campsite. At first we suspected a squirrel with great aim and a bad attitude, but later discovered an abundance of hickory, walnut, and oak trees willing to part with their fruit.







The sky was teeming with what we thought were crows but on a closer look appeared to be hawks or osprey.










John is deep into a great conversation with his dad. The day is sunny and seasonably cool for this area. We only reached the mid 60's today.








Looking west over Lake Ouachita is the beginnings of a beautiful sunset. At the end of the point where this picture was taken are tent only sites. Each site has a leveled pad, campfire ring and picnic table - oh and an incredible view.
Note the tree tops in right of the picture. The river is at a high stage and some of the trees were partially underwater.