Devil's Den State Park Arkansas

   Last Spring we took a week long trip down South. We drove and on the way down we routed ourselves through Devil's Den but ended up having to turn around because it would have turned our trip into a meandering journey through the Ozarks instead of driving to the South. It would have been nice but we had other plans.
   This Fall we decided to do a short trip to Devil's Den again. It is a beautiful undisturbed State Park. We drove in off of 74 highway, if you enter this way you will see a sign warning of 8 switch backs, and they are there.
    We rented a cabin for one night. The cabin was built in the 30's but had since been updated.  It had one bedroom with full kitchen, fire place and a spa tub. As a warning, if you want to check in with a person you have to be there by 5:30. The park office is closed after that. I also suggest bringing food with you. There is very little restaurants in the area and only a small general store before you enter the park with some provisions. We visited in the fall so the restaurant and pool was closed, but it still had some great hiking trails.
  The next morning we headed out to hike. The lake trail was the starting point for us but then we connected to the self guided trail.

   The lake trail winds aside a man made dam that was built in the 30's by the Civilian Conservation Corp. The whole area was once built as a camp for them but their main purpose was to build a dam to create a lake.The lake trail was an easy trail. One thing I like about this park was the trails and how they fit them into the environment. A lot of the time I couldn't even tell that I was hiking on a trail.

   To connect to the self guided trail we had to walk on the highway a bit but we did make it.
    The self guided trail was my favorite of the two trails. It had a cave, which you could not go in due to the bat fungus, crevasses, and waterfalls as well as some great views. It amazed me how their was no guard rails to prevent you from falling in to the cave or the crevasses which were about, at some points, 10 to 15 feet and even deeper. That being said, I am glad that they did not have any railings because this would have ruined the views. It was quite a steep climb but worth the view, and it was really nice to walk under the water fall. At the end of the self guided trail there was a nice surprise of cairns. I would probably say over 500 of them a little off of the trail. It was like a maze walking through them but very beautiful.

  We ended up going early in the morning and we were through hiking by 10 am, which was good because a group of school children arrived around that time.
   I liked this park a lot and hope to come back to do the other trails. It is a really good example of the Ozarks and it's scenic mountains and trees.