Interesting sites in the Ouachita National Forest?

[itcantbestephen]

Found the cemetery, pics coming momentarily.

[itcantbestephen]

Alright, I originally tried to find this place at about 3 in the afternoon, but as I was going down the road that the two bridges bgould mentioned was on, I was met by some heavy logging equipment and a Peterbuilt that ws blocking the road, so I backed up and just drove around for a while, stopped at the spill way and took some pictures, and hiked up Flatside Pinnacle, I might post those pics later.

I made it back to the cemetery at about 6:50pm.









A small child's grave. No headstone, only a rock:


None of the flowers were real:














Clearcut directly infront of the cemetery:


On the way out, that's Lake Maumelle in the distance:


Parting shots at Lake Maumelle:




All in all a pretty good day!

I may post the other pics I took while I was out there later, but I'm going to go jump in the shower for now.

[Kit]

awesome pictures. i love old tombstones. I should have scott change the dates on mine when I die to 100 years back.

[itcantbestephen]

Alright, here are some more pics for you guys:

A couple of shots of North Fork Mountain



All of these were taken just below the Lake Winona Spillway









Anyone know what kind of snake this is?


Small swamp just below Lake Winona


I saw more deer than people out there


Flatside Pinnacle:

[bgould]

The pretty little snake looks like a copperhead.

Forked Mountain (pronounced by the locals as fork-ed, two sylables) is a nice little climb, and the area north and west of it was settled in the 1840s. After WW I, the recession (before the dust bowl, before the agri depression, before the Great Depression) and the resultant collapse of the timber inudstry led to most of the people moving away (or not returning from The War) from the area. West of the mountain and before reaching Hwy 7 there are several private holdings within the forest.

During flood and high water, timber was taken to the nearby Fourche river and floated all the way to Bigelow, which itself was a boomtown between 1900-1919 (at that time the largest town in the AR river between LR and Ft Smith). Google map Bigelow and you can tell how much larger it used to be.

Just a thought, that the dam at Nimrod is not too far from Forked Mt (some older maps- Bent Forked Mt), and it's a fine example of post art-nouveau design.

[BROUSER]

copper head or northern watersnake. Given location, I'd go with latter, but would have to get closer to see.

[itcantbestephen]

Just a thought, that the dam at Nimrod is not too far from Forked Mt (some older maps- Bent Forked Mt), and it's a fine example of post art-nouveau design.

When I went by my parents house on my way home, we were looking at a mamp and noticed Lame Nimrod. I'll probably check that out next time I'm out there.

[jetskiergrant]

Great pics I love old cemateries. My wife and went to Magazine this weekend to see waterfalls and they were dry. You saw water and it was great.

[bgould]

Re: Mr. Snake
Grabbed the image, dropped it into Illustrator, zoomed in on the head...not a copperhead.

Re: Waterfalls on Mt Magazine
There are some year-round springs, but all the waterfalls you can see from the road are seasonal.

[bugo]

Further west, there's the Bee Mountain lookout and the Tall Peak lookout in Polk County. There are also former tower sites on Wolf Pinnacle, Eagle Mountain, and several other mountains. The Whiskey Peak tower and the Rich Mountain tower are still there. The Rich Mountain tower is open and can be climbed.

[bgould]

I meant to correct a mistake from an earlier entry. For those familiar with the area South of Lake Sylvia, whereat the road from the lake terminates at a “T” intersection, I had earlier identified two stone pillars about a mile to the left (east) as being the entrance to the CCC camp. I have since learned that they were built in 1969-70 to portray the entrance to “The Sporting Club,” which was also the title to the execrable movie filmed in the area. I will add that on the short trails to the Lake Sylvia Dam you’ll notice a stone chimney, which is the remains of the actual lodge built for the movie. And blown-up. Repeatedly. But, returning to the intersection (a right or west turn would take you to Northfork Pinnacle/ Flatside/ etc), if you go straight (on foot), and avoid the closed road (also to the right) a short hike of a few hundred yards will take you to the CCC camp, hard on the north fork of the Saline river. Prior to being a CCC camp, it was a timber camp, operated by the Neimeyer Lumber Co. My sad duty to report that the only remains of the CCC camp are a few foundation stones and a remnant rock wall. Happily, there is a long stretch (300+ yards) of raised railroad bed that supported the narrow gauge rr that terminated here and stretched east to near the Ferndale/Kanis Rd intersection.