Rest and Relaxation in De Queen Arkansas

Thursday September 18, 2014

Most of the storms went to the north and east of us last night.  We still experienced heavy rain and wind.  We were thankful that the severe weather missed us.

We awoke this morning to a light drizzle.  We hooked up and left the big city as well as the Ozarks behind and headed to De Queen.  De Queen, Arkansas is located in southwest Arkansas near Texarkana (about 60 miles north).  It was founded along a railroad begun in the late 1880's from Kansas City to Port Arthur, Texas.  The City of De Queen is on the small side, between 6,600 and 7,000 residents.

We are staying at Belah Mine, which is an Army Corps of Engineers Park, located on De Queen Lake.

De Queen Lake

After the busyness of the summer we were ready to relax and enjoy the outdoors.  Belah Mine is exactly what we were looking for.  It is a beautiful, quiet campground, surrounded by trees, and of course, De Queen Lake.  Belah Mine is located away from the city of De Queen and away from the main road.  It is off the beaten track, which is one of the reasons we chose to stay here. The lots are spacious, though narrow.  It was sunny hot and humid when we arrived, and we are so thankful for the trees that surround us.

our campsite, the widest in the park

view of De Queen Lake from our campsite

We took lots of walks...

love these flowers

And of course, Coop spent quite a few days swimming in De Queen Lake...

he's out there somewhere...

that was a big swim!

We have a resident (though camera-shy) Great Blue Heron who spends his days on De Queen Lake.  It's such a quiet campground that we hear him quite often squawking as he flies across the lake (the majority of the squawking occurred while I was trying to snap his picture).  We also have a resident owl, whom we hear talking most nights.  I just love listening to him.  And the stars, oh my. The sky has been cloudless most nights and the stars have been numerous as well as beautiful.

I was finally able to snap a picture of him

De Queen Lake was created following the creation of an earthen dam on the Rolling Fork River. Of course we had to see the dam...

Even though De Queen is not known for being a "tourist" area we still found areas to explore (thanks Becky!).

One of the areas we explored was the Cossatot River State Park-Natural Area.  The Cossatot River (89 miles long) is an outstanding example of an upland river in the Ouachita (Wash-a-taw) Mountains.  The river begins in the Ouachita.  As it flows southward, the river cuts through a series of east-west oriented ridges, producing rapids and waterfalls.  The Cossatot River has been noted as the best canoeing river between the Rockies and the Smokies...

First stop, Visitors Center

very nice visitors center, lots of great information to be had here

We then headed off to see the river, rapids and to do a bit of hiking...

Cossatot River

We found ourselves at the viewing area for the rapids/waterfalls.  This time of year the river is very low.  We used our imagination to envision the area as it appears in the spring when the river is high...

where there's water you'll be sure to see Cooper!

Coop thinks he's part mountain goat!!

love the red in the rock

We then took a hiked a nearby trail...

pretty flowers along the trail

some of the largest daddy long leg spiders live in Arkansas!

yep, this was part of the trail...

following the blue...

We had a fun day! As well as a very tired dog. Cooper slept most of the way home.

Next on our agenda was the Talimena Scenic Drive...

The 54- mile Talimena Scenic Drive spans one of the highest mountain ranges between the Appalachians and the Rockies.  One breathtaking panorama follows another as this national forest scenic byway winds along the crests of forested mountains between Mena, Arkansas and Talihina, Oklahoma...

blue haze vista. so name because of the blue haze over the mountains

We saw some beautiful, as well as interesting, sights along the way...

Rich Mountain Fire Tower (on Rich Mountain), the highest peak (2,681 feet)
 on the Ouachita National Forest

Those who know us well know that we love exploring old cemeteries.  One of the places we wanted to visit along the drive was

From 1860 to 1949 a dozen or so families called Rich Mountain home.  They struggled to exist in almost total isolation.  Now part of the Ouachita National Forest, little remains other than the cemetery to remind modern visitors that the community ever existed. 

stairs leading us down to the cemetey

we continued along this trail to the cemetery

remnants of a wooden fence bordering the cemetery

many of the graves are marked by wooden stakes

crumbling headstones

We stopped at this beautiful vista...

We continued our drive and entered into Oklahoma

slowly changing colors

we stopped for lunch at the Kerr Nature Center

We also made a stop at Horsethief Springs...

the springs are just ahead

another beautiful spot

We thoroughly enjoyed our drive...we stumbled across this memorial to John F. Kennedy on our drive back to De Queen...

We had such a fun time today. We saw so many beautiful sights.  It was a long day, but so much fun! I highly recommend this scenic drive if you are ever in the area.

Last, but not least, we wanted to check out Gillham Dam while we were still in the area.  Gillham is also an earthen dam...  

heading down to the dam

dam in the background

water flowing from Gillham lake into the Cossatot River

the Cossatot River

dam & view of the Cossatot River

Gillham Lake and the dam

Gillham Lake

Gillham Lake

Following our view of the dam, we took a short hike

notice Cooper on the stairs?

great root system

We have thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Belah Mine.  Books were read, knitting was done, lots of walks were taken and, of course, lots of swimming for Coop.  We're looking forward to our next stop, Texarkana, where we'll visit with our good friends, Dave & Becky...

Til next time...

Dawn, Ron & Coop