hiking

Lake Fort Smith

February 23, 2010

Campground, Lake Fort Smith State Park, Arkansas, October 20, 2008

Located in a wooded valley in the Boston Mountains of the Arkansas Ozarks, the 259 acre Lake Fort Smith State Park reopened in the late Spring of 2008 four miles north of its original location, which was closed in early January, 2002. As a park reborn, with totally new facilities, it has 30 camp sites, a group lodging facility, picnic sites, a pavilion, marina with rental boats, a double lane boat ramp, a swimming pool, playground, and an 8,000 square foot visitor center with exhibit gallery, gift shop, a meeting/class room, a patio with an outdoor wood burning fireplace, and a great view of the lake and mountains. Activities for visitors include camping, fishing, kayaking, canoeing, backpacking, boating, hiking and mountain biking. The park borders lands of the Ozark National Forest.

(click on image for larger version)

Park information

Gallery: Lake Fort Smith State Park

See more of our Image Galleries at Haw Creek.

Update: Arizona State Parks to Close

January 16, 2010

According to major news sources, including the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, major budget shortfalls in Arizona will result in the closure of 13 state parks by June. Eight others have already been closed.

The Los Angeles Times:

The action represents the largest closure of state parks in the nation, although several other states are considering similar moves.

“It’s a dark day for the Arizona state parks system,” said Renee Bahl, the system’s executive director.

“We have 65,000 acres around the state and the majority of them are closing.”

The Arizona parks receive about 2.3 million visitors per year who bring about $266 million into the state, Bahl said.

The New York Times:

The Arizona State Parks Board has voted unanimously to close 13 parks in response to budget cuts.

The Washington Post:

The Arizona State Parks Board is closing some of the state’s iconic Old West landmarks, including the Tombstone Courthouse in one of the West’s most storied towns, and the Yuma Territorial Prison, which housed hundreds of Old West outlaws and was portrayed in the film “3:10 to Yuma.”

The decision also closes parks such as Red Rock State Park near Sedona that draw tens of thousands of tourists a year.

The Legislature has cut 61 percent of the state parks budget since July.

In a Huffington Post editorial, Chad Campbell, the House Democratic Whip in the Arizona State Legislature, describes the reappropriation of a quarter of a million dollars meant for state parks:

GOP legislators recently pilfered a nearly $250,000 gift left by an elderly woman – now deceased – for the Arizona State Parks system.

The severity of budget cuts in Arizona is quite disturbing, but the cuts to State Parks have touched an especially raw nerve. In 2003, 82-year-old Asta Forrest left nearly $250,000 to the Arizona State Parks Board. This Danish immigrant’s gift to Arizona was inspired by her love of its beautiful natural surroundings.

It’s ironic that, in today’s rough economic times, state parks are being closed. During the Great Depression, construction of state parks provided need work for thousands of young men in the Civilian Conservation Corps.

A photo gallery of trails plus more elk and other critters

November 4, 2009

I’ve completed another photo gallery from our visit to Rocky Mountain National Park. It includes images from Moraine Park, Bear Lake, Nymph Lake, and Dream Lake, and has photos of elk, deer, a couple of chickarees, a chipmunk, birds, wildflowers and more. (For more of my travel images see Haw Creek Galleries.)

More from Rocky Mountain National Park

November 3, 2009

I’ve added two new photo galleries for Day 3 and Day 4 of our visit to Rocky Mountain National Park, including images from Moraine Park, Trail Ridge Road, Fall River Road, Bear Lake, Nymph Lake, Dream Lake, elk, deer, a chickaree, chipmunks, and more. For more of my travel images see Haw Creek Galleries.