Izard County's hidden places

LITTLE ROCK — Denny Elrod wasn't supposed to be there, but a couple of fences wasn't going to stop the young adventurer.

"At sunrise, we topped the hill," Elrod remembered. "Below us lay Stonehenge (in Britain). Not a building or a car or a soul in sight. My buddy and I found a hole in the chain link fence and crawled under. There was a fence around the stones. I said, 'I'm going for it,' and hopped the fence. Standing under those stones ... it was unbelievable."

What does this have to do with Izard County? Now 48, Elrod said he has the same kind of adventures here. But instead of jumping fences, he asks permission from landowners before visiting strange rock formations, glorious springs and waterfalls, old buildings in every state of decay, pioneer cemeteries, hidden caves, patches of wildflowers and glimpses of wildlife.

"In 2006, I bought a digital camera and started taking photos of places we found in Izard County," he said.

With his friends Jim Campbell and Rick Dowdle, he formed Explore Izard County (EIC). Elrod created their Web site exploreizard.blogspot.com to display photos of the hidden wonders of Izard County.

Elrod's sense of adventure started early in life, when his father was stationed overseas in the Navy.

"When I was 6 my dad took me camping on the lava-strewn slopes of Mount Fuji in Japan. When we lived in Crete I spent hours walking through the ancient ruins at Aptera."

The family returned to Izard County when Elrod was a teenager. Old enough to drive, he and Dowdle traveled the back roads of the county looking for scenery and places to shoot their guns. Some of their early roadside finds were Clay Cave, the old Lunenburg Schoolhouse and the sand mine at Nasco. Elrod spent four years in the Air Force stationed in England. After college and various jobs, he moved his wife andson to Mount Pleasant in 1994. Elrod, Dowdle and their new friend, Campbell (from California), set out to explore back roads in a Jeep Wrangler.

"We were older and appreciated better what we saw," Elrod said. "We started paying attention to wildflowers and trees, started watching for eagles and bobcats."

Through his Web site, Elrod received an e-mail from a man describing the natural rock bridge over upper Calico Creek.

"Up to then we'd only explored what we could see from the road," Elrod said. "That e-mail started us asking landowners if we could come across their property. ... Most are proud of what's on their land. Some even give us keys to their gates."

He described their trip to the natural bridge as a walk into the distant past, like a visit to Jurassic Park.

Web site visitors and local landowners told them about other Izard County hidden wonders like Needles Eye and Moon Eye rock formations on Mill Creek bluff with a 150-foot tunnel down from the top and Hobo's Den cave near the railroad tracks through Calico Rock.

"We've found flint arrowheads, old grindstones, hobo symbols in caves and an Indianpictograph," Elrod said.

On the Web site they document their adventures with photos and information from local people, e-mails and library research.

"One purpose of our Web site is to reach people who have moved away but want to see pictures of home," Elrod said.

They also want to encourage tourists to visit Izard County. Exploreizard.blogspot.com has received e-mails from all over the United States and the world. It averages 1,000 visits a month and some days has morethan 1,000 page views.

They kept getting e-mails asking, "When can we come exploring with you?" so the three men started public road trips. EIC offers tours twice a year with money raised going to local historical projects. On April 28, 2008, they led a caravan of 11 cars, a total of 28 people, to the 1940 Lunenburg Schoolhouse, the 1939 Mount Olive School, the Athens Courthouse site near Boswell and the restored 1870s Knob Creek Church near Melbourne, finishing with a picnic on Piney Creek bluff. Last fall's tour had 14 vehicles and more than 40 participants. They visited the 1815 Trimble cabin at Dolph, the natural bridge over Calico Creek, City Rock Bluff on the White River and Calico Rock's Ghost Town. Financed by local business sponsorships, EIC offered the tours for free.At these tours they sold imprinted T-shirts and donated the proceeds to the Lunenburg Schoolhouse restoration.

"This April 25th, the Izard County Historical and Genealogical Society is making our tour their spring program," Elrod said. "Our fundraising will benefit their Trimble cabin relocation project."

To register for the Spring Splash Tour, visit the Web site or call Elrod at (870) 291-2215. The EIC committee consists of family and friends who help with logistics, sponsorships and publicity for each tour. On Saturday, April 25, the spring tour begins at 9 a.m. from New Hope Baptist Church. First stop is the Gid waterfall, which spills 30 feet into the creek below. After a visit to the Guion schoolhouse, built after the 1929 tornado wiped out the town, the caravan will drive the White River Road with viewsof the river, forest and fields and possibly a glimpse of bald eagles nesting there.

Lafferty Trail leads to a large spring pouring out of a hillside cave. Next is the mill dam on Sanctuary Ranch. Last stop will be the Gristmill Waterfall, about a mile from the Gid Waterfall. There people can explore the ruins of the old gristmill and hike to a nearby shelter cave. People not wanting to drive the tour can meet at 1 p.m. at the gristmill for "dinner on the ground." Mary Lafferty Wilson, a descendant of the first white settler in what is now Izard County, will talk about her family history. Dwayne Spangler will provide musical entertainment. EIC has arranged for people in wheelchairs and those who have trouble walking to enjoy most of the tour.

"With our Web site and our tours, we want to make people aware of what Izard County has to offer visitors, new residents and investors," Elrod said.

Elrod's and Dowdle's day jobs are in building maintenance at Ozarka College's Melbourne campus. Their passion is exploring Izard County.

Elrod said, "Because of what we've been doing over the pastthree years, I have come to know this county like few other men have ever known it, at least since the natives and the early pioneers. By beginning to visit the cemeteries and do what little research I've done about those at rest at each, I have become so connected with the lives of such amazing individuals and their families. The stories I've heard ... the diversity of people here ... all I've learned and seen has made me fall head-over-heels in love with this place on God's wonderful Earth."