Date of Visit: 19 November 2023
Russellville, AR
65º under gray skies
Mid-November tends to be one of the busiest times of the fall semester, so I made my 13th park visit of the project one to Lake Dardanelle State Park, only about an hour from home. I’m hoping I’ll be able to schedule visits to lake parks more strategically moving forward so that I can catch a park-led water tour. Still, I’m happy I went out to visit this park that sits almost directly across the water from Mount Nebo. Formed by human hands, like so many of the lakes I’m visiting, a dam on the Arkansas River created this 34,000 acre lake used now for fishing, fishing, fishing, and more fishing — along with a bit of camping, of course. Fairly quiet on the day I visited, I ran into a couple of families picnicking down by the lake and watched one couple bring their boat in. Although that couple was bundled up against the lake wind out on the water while those of us on shore sported only light jackets, they both looked happy to have been out that day.
I spent quite a bit of time in the Visitor Center reading many displays and interactive exhibits about lake fishing and the species inhabiting Lake Dardanelle. I said hello to this old fine-finned friend. I spent many an hour as a child fishing for bluegills with my family. Walking around the visitor center, watching lake fish of all kind float around me provided a relaxing beginning to my visit and flooded (punny!) me with memories. The visitor center also featured several great exhibits about the settlement of the area, especially one acknowledging how European settlements impacted Native American cultures in the area. Surprisingly, there was not an exhibit about the damming of the Arkansas River to form Lake Dardanelle.
After being cooped up inside, I hit the great outdoors. From the visitor center, I walked along the paved sidewalk of the lake shore over to the Rock Breakwater, a long protrusion made by earth and rock with a poured, accessible sidewalk on the top. This structure allows visitors to walk a decent ways out into the lake and look back at the shoreline or look out over the vast expanse of water. The wind whipped up a bit as I walked along. Sandstone boulders form the sides of the breakwater, so of course I had to stop and take pictures. On my way back in, I lucked out and met a great blue heron fishing to my left. I didn’t think about how I might look; I just slipped into “stealth mode” and moved as silently as possible to get as close as possible to one of my favorite birds in the world. (I’m definitely starting to regret that I can’t afford a phone upgrade and have to settle for my iPhone 8 for pics, as this snapshot doesn’t do the bird justice.) And I was nowhere near quick enough to then take a picture of the biggest delight of the day for me. I turned to head back to the visitor center when two small, sleek, black tumbles of fur shot out of the rocks right in front of me and spilled onto the sidewalk in a game of chase and tackle. As quickly as the two mink kits shot into sight, they realized where they were and squiggled back down into the rocks. (Back at the visitor center, I described the animals and the ranger confirmed they were mink!)
I finished out my day at the park walking the Meadowbrook Trail, an easy .75 mile trail behind the parking lots. The trees had taken on fall colors, lots of gorgeous browns with some sweetgums mixed in to bring the bright splotches of orange & red. On the trail I learned a new tree, the black cherry, and collected this leaf. I know I’m not supposed to take anything from the park, but it somehow got stuck in my journal (wink and nod). The memory it holds is turning a corner on the trail and coming upon a huge carpeted swath of these golden beauties. The gold has faded to brown with aging, but when I came across them, the leaves had clearly just fallen to the ground. In the slanted sunlight, the whole area glowed.
Finally, big ups to Lake Dardanelle State Park for fortifying their official park passport stamp with these two delights, a leaping bass and a little turtle, seen in the photo above. For a quick trip during a busy personal time, I’ve already got several lines to tug for this poem.
Next up: Lake Chicot State Park (first park of 2024!)
