Lake Fort Smith State Park

Through the lens of Ozark motoring, the city of Fort Smith, Arkansas, doesn't figure prominently. It's certainly an exciting melting pot of vehicular control, a cornucopia of driving techniques imported from the nations where its residents learned to drive. Still, its latitude South of our beloved green steeps puts its at a geographic disadvantage in discussions of things Ozarkian. That is, unless you count Lake Fort Smith State Park.

[Lake Fort Smith official site]


As a window on the Western United States, Arkansas was a settler's stumbling block. The Ozark Mountains were difficult to traverse, while the Arkansas River was swampy and perilous.

Fort Smith lies at the foot of Ozark Mountains in the Arkansas River Valley. Once a military outpost at the edge of the Indian Territory (now "Oklahoma" in politically correct quarters), it is one of the oldest and most historically significant places in Arkansas. The fort guarded the Trail of Tears and the Old Wire Road, and during lax times when the military wasn't looking, it became a haven for border-hopping scofflaws and nogoodniks. Thanks to the efforts of District Judge Issac "Justice Beard" Parker, the U.S. government hanged more individuals at Fort Smith than anywhere else in America. Happening place.


Great place for a sit, if you're into that.

Working the gallows built a mighty, mighty thirst, and by the 1930s Fort Smith was seeking a dependable municipal water supply. The Arkansas River, sixth largest in America and inches away from downtown, was eyed as the most likely source. However, the Depression-era federal government faced a frustrating surplus of idle socialists, and intervened with a plan to funnel crisp Ozark lake water from a remote point North in the Boston Mountains instead. By 1936, the Works Progress Administration had tapped scores of underemployed laborers to dam Frog Bayou near Mountainburg and return an ambitious 30-mile run of pipeline through the rugged hills.


Bucolic splendor at Lake Fort Smith.

The resulting Lake Fort Smith became not only a functional asset to its namesake, but a scenic wellspring of recreation for all of the Ozarks.

Lake Fort Smith is located a short drive East of Scenic Highway 71 roughly halfway between Fayetteville and Fort Smith. Given the scraggly terrain in this part of the Ozarks, it's surprising that there's enough level land to hold pavilions, campsites, a playground, a marina, and other delights for the outdoor-minded. It's all packed in there, along with some brand-spanking-new group lodging. Should you ever decide to promote synergy with your creepy extended family or abrasive co-workers, this seems like a pretty nice spot.


The animal friends of the Ozarks are represented well at the Visitor Center.

The park's role in Fort Smith history assumes a unique blend of Wild West and rich upland biology. The Visitor Center hosts exhibits ranging from frontier settlement to a hands-on wildlife. Yep, turtle-petting. Get you some of that.


Hiking to the extreme: the massive Ozark Highlands Trail begins at the Lake Fort Smith Visitor Center.

Interestingly, Lake Fort Smith was expanded a couple of years ago with the construction of a much larger dam. Lake Shepherd Springs just upstream was combined with the new, larger lake, and its dam was incorporated into the site of the new park. The Voltron of state parks? The original WPA constructions stood to be flooded or relocated, so they were dismantled. Still, some stones were reused in slick new facilities opened in 2008, so the current park carries on the legacy begun during the Great Depression.

Lake Fort Smith is quietly tucked away in folds of the Ozarks, but it's worth a detour.

When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.
- John Muir