~~ Outdoor Wednesday - Visiting Campgrounds ~~

Susan at A Southern Daydreamer is our wonderful host for "Outdoor Wednesday". If you are interested in this event head on over to Susan's place....There is a link on the logo picture....go visit more Outdoor Wednesdays and learn what it is all about. Join in the fun.....
Thank you very much Susan



We love where we are camping right now but at the Corp of Engineer parks they only let you stay for 2 weeks and then you must go out of the park for a month. You can sometimes get extensions and stay an extra week with approval of the park ranger. That is what we did so we will be here for 3 weeks... We went out today to visit a couple of the state parks that we heard were really nice trying to find alternate places to stay but still be close to the kids...

The first park we visited was Lake Fort Smith State Park:

Nestled in a scenic valley of the Boston Mountain Range of the Ozark Mountains, this state park offers camping, fishing, kayaking, swimming, mountain biking, hiking, and nature study. Backpackers can enter the 165-mile Ozark Highlands National Recreation Trail from here. Located on the western side of 1,400-acre Lake Fort Smith, this state park features all new facilities including campsites, a group lodge, picnic sites, a pavilion, 2,660-square-foot swimming pool with adjacent wading pool and a splash pad, marina with boat rentals, boat launch ramp, hiking trails, playground, and an 8,000-square-foot visitor center with exhibits, and an outdoor patio featuring a native stone, wood-burning fireplace and a view towards the lake. The exhibit gallery tells the story of how, through time, good water made this valley a place of hope, faith and sacrifice. In the gallery there is a log cabin, covered wagon, recreated Shepherd Spring, and a diorama of the lake. Also there is a 16-minute video further connects the water resources of this valley with man's presence here. Interpretive programs are offered in the park throughout the year by the park staff. We fell in love with this park right away and made reservation for the 2 weeks following our visit to Sring Hill - COE. It is only about 25 minutes from Jennifer and the grandkids.

The second park we visited was Devil's Den State Park:

Devil's Den is located in the Lee Creek Valley, in northwest Arkansas's Ozarks Mountains--mountains renowned for their natural beauty and lush oak-hickory forest. The Civilian Conservation Corps used native materials to craft the park’s CCC/Rustic style wood and stone structures including an impressive native stone dam that spans Lee Creek in the heart of the park forming peaceful 8-acre Lake Devil. Rental canoes, tandem kayaks, pedal boats and water bikes are available at the park. Hiking, backpacking, and mountain bike trails lead to back country areas of Devil's Den State Park and the surrounding Ozark National Forest. A park cafe and swimming pool overlook the lake. About 200 campsites are spaced along the valley, some with full hook-ups and some rustic. The park includes a group camp, standard pavilion and mountain bike trails. Caves, crevices and bluff overlooks can be explored here. Most of the park's caves are crevices associated with a unique sandstone crevice area, the largest such area in the U.S. The longest of these is Devil's Den Cave (550 feet). You can visit on your own, or participate in a strenuous guided cave exploration hike offered once a week. Others may wish to explore Farmer's Cave, a relatively small, gated limestone cave located at the west end of the park. The presence of both sandstone and limestone caves at one park is quite rare and makes for a unique caving opportunity at Devil's Den State Park. We also enjoyed this park and picked out several great campsites that will accommodate our Miss Tassie.

Hope you enjoyed the slide shows of these two beautiful parks!

Until Later