Devil’s Den – Big Guy Hiking

Devil’s Den State Park Part 3

The last day at Devil’s Den SP was another frozen hike. The water in my water bottle actually froze on this short hike. The trail started right off the front of my cabin. I had passed it up the entire time I was here. I finally went on the trail and it lead to the waterfall over the dam. This is one of the park’s bigger attractions and I forgot all about it. It was easy to forget because of all of the other hikes grabbed my fascination. The buzzards were out on all hikes but especially this morning. The hike had a nice bridge which I always like and of course the waterfall. The trail was relatively flat with one big decline and incline at the beginning and the end. The temperature never got out of the 20s and that really affected my picture taking ability. I did get to see a beautiful sunrise. I did not get a picture though. The sun did make the crystal clear river water sparkle.

I had a great time here and already have plans to return to the region to visit the other close by state park. This was hike 45 in my 52 Hike Challenge Explorer Series.

I have seven more hikes to complete the 52 Hike Challenge. Stay tuned to see if I can do it.

Devil’s Den State Park Part 2

My next hike in Devil’s Den State Park was on the trail of the same name. This trail was shorter but had plenty of scenic spots and parts of the parks history. The rock formations were amazing and the bat caves although they were closed due to disease, were also a nice sight. There was a frozen waterfall and a natural cove to walk under. The trail did not provide an overlook of the park but it was up close to all of the natural features that the trail passed.

This was hike 44 in my 52 Hike Challenge Explorer Series. I really enjoyed this semi frozen hike and learning about the history of the park.

The next blog is my final hike through this park. It was a nice trip and I want to return to this area of Arkansas again.

Devil’s Den State Park Part 1

Devil’s Den State Park is located 30 minutes south of Fayetteville. AR. The park is located in the Ozark Mountains but right outside of the Ozark National Forest. I missed the leaves color change by two weeks and most of the leaves have already fallen off the trees. The area was still full of fall colors and leaves falling and branches too. The time of the trip coincided with a 30 degree average drop in temperature. The hike on the Yellow Rock Trail was in freezing temperatures. The temperature was about 29 degrees at the start and the temperature only rose about five degrees. The trails were marked great like all Arkansas SP trails. I took the three mile loop and turned it into a five mile lollipop. The yellow rock overlook was amazing. The views were spectacular but I could not get great pictures. I was the only one on the trails at the time but the sun was affecting my camera. The fog was cool to see but also affects my pictures. The fog was mostly created by the difference in the air temperature and water temperature. This is also a CCC park and the hike to the lookout had a nice CCC pavilion at the top. This trail also had some great rock formations lining the trail.