I am always looking for an excuse to revisit Arkansas' Delta bottomlands. When my girlfriend, Dalene Ketcher, asked me if I knew a place where we could meet up with her son for Memorial Day halfway between Fort Smith and Jackson, Miss., I said, "Big Woods."
"You don't even want to look at a map to see if there is somewhere else we should meet?" she asked.
I thought it was a no-brainer. Her son, Aaron, had been working for the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the past month, helping the capital city area recover from the March tornadoes. I was sure he would welcome a chance to escape the stress of his assignment to explore eastern Arkansas' bottomlands.
"Why don't you let Aaron decide if this is where he wants to meet?" I suggested.
As I had anticipated, the young man from Portland, Ore., was excited about a weekend of camping, kayaking, hiking and exploring Big Woods.
Now the onus was on me to create a fun-filled adventure. My burden was not determining what to do but what not to do.
The Big Woods Region is more than 550,000 acres. It encompasses the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge, Dale Bumpers White River National Wildlife Refuge, Rex Hancock Black Swamp Wildlife Management Area, Dagmar Wildlife Management Area, the Arkansas Cache River Natural Area and the Arkansas Benson Creek Natural Area. It is the largest corridor of bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the Delta outside Louisiana's Atchafalaya River. There was no way we could explore the entire area in only three days.
My first choice was the Bayou DeView Water Trail in the Dagmar WMA. Debbie Doss, one of the trail's creators, led a group of us into this area once before
(see arkansasonline.com/619dagmar). It was a monumental float through scenic swampland filled with bald cypress, tupelo and diverse plant life. It would have been a fun getaway. However, being in Big Woods' northern region would add more drive time for Aaron. I decided to focus on the southern region.
The Dale Bumpers White River NWR made a more central destination for both parties.
I was sure the area would offer exploration opportunities galore. Encompassing more than 160,000 acres, it is the largest and wildest area in Big Woods. Its being one of the biggest remaining bottomland hardwood forests in the Mississippi alluvial valley meant wildlife viewing would be exceptional. The refuge was designated a Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance in 1989 and a globally Important Bird Area by the American Bird Conservancy in 2001.
Our rendezvous location was the refuge visitor center. It's open 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday-Friday but closed on federal holidays. For our Saturday arrival during Memorial Day weekend, the center would be of no help to us in collecting park information. But directions to the site would be easy for Aaron to pull up on Google Maps.
I did find the refuge website very helpful, especially the library (see arkansasonline.com/619site). It included PDF files with material about hikes, public use regulations, birding, maps and other useful general information.
LET THE ADVENTURE BEGIN
We met at the visitor center at midday and began our Big Woods adventure with a stroll on a path behind the center. The Bottomland Hardwood Trail started as a boardwalk that routed us through the middle of a swamp. Bald cypress trees defied nature, standing tall in the open water, anchored by their wide bases. With the area having experienced only minimal harvest in the past, the shoreline was thick with heavy foliage.
THE CHAMPION
I didn't want Dalene and Aaron to miss seeing one of the region's crown jewels. It would mean a short drive to reach the site, but the gravel backroads are an adventure of their own. With more than 300 lakes within the refuge, our drive consistently offered views across scenic pools lined by rich greenery and hosting exotic waterfowl.
While stopped at one particularly beautiful lake, we visited with Eva Henderson and her brother, Ezekiel McKissic, from Poplar Grove. Eva was a retired schoolteacher. She and Ezekiel spent many a day fishing the banks of area lakes. Eva proudly opened her ice chest to show off a mess of crappie she had reeled in. But Ezekiel claimed "the catch of the day," holding up a stringer with a nice-size catfish.
I parked my truck on the side of the gravel road next to a small, unmarked post to begin our hike. It wasn't a heavily used trail but was easy to follow through the forest. After a mile, I stopped and proudly gestured with both hands at the magnificent specimen across a small channel.
Towering over us at 126 feet was the state champion bald cypress tree. It was not only the tallest tree in the state but also the oldest living thing in Arkansas.
Champion trees are selected based on a formula using circumference at 4.5 feet from ground level, overall height and one-fourth of the average crown width in feet. This tree possesses a "bigness factor" of 668 (see arkansasonline.com/619tree).
For a proper perspective of this monster tree in a photo, I needed a person at its side. Dalene volunteered to bridge the narrow waterway that separated us by scrambling through the limbs of a fallen tree. Encountering a coiled snake unwilling to give up its perfect spot on the tree, she changed her mind.
Finding another partly submerged fallen tree, Aaron and I tight-walked the slippery, narrow trunk to span the channel. Next, we had to circumnavigate the tree's massive, 43-foot base so Dalene could digitally capture the moment.
It was a great start to our Big Woods adventure. But with the sun setting in the west, it was time to find a home for the night.
The refuge allows dispersed camping in several designated locations. I chose a campsite at the end of Brown Shanty Road, off Arkansas 1. With the road ending at the camp, traffic would be minimal, and we would have the area to ourselves.
Soon after arriving, we sat around a small campfire, sipping a cool beverage, recounting the day's activities and crafting a plan for the next day's adventure.
IN THE BAYOU
Matthew D. Moran's book "Exploring the Big Woods" (University of Arkansas Press, 2016, $16.46) describes Swan Lake as one of the prettiest in the White River NWR. I second that claim. There were no swans, which are extremely rare in the Big Woods, but the lake did host an abundance of frogs, wild hogs, herons, egrets, a plethora of fish and, of course, all manner of insects.
The parking area had the only opening wide enough to launch even our small watercraft. Tall bald cypresses and tupelos stood sentinel, shoulder to shoulder, along the remaining shoreline, shielding the body of water from intruders.
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Dalene and I climbed into a canoe while Aaron chose a kayak to venture out on the calm lake. The view across the moderately large open water was beautiful, but we chose to float among the tree trunks that encircled the lake. Leisurely we paddled near these giants for a more intimate experience. Many are several hundred years old and show their age.
It was amazing to find a tree with fresh new offshoots of growth sprouting from its limbs, and yet the center completely hollowed out. It was as though a layer of bark was all that was required to transport needed nutrients.
Gently cruising this floating forest, we spotted a Great Egret repeatedly plunging its bill into the water. Finally, it raised its head with a small fish in its beak. The fish wriggled desperately until the egret opened wide and gulped it down.
We circled the rim of the lake to the northeastern corner. We then entered the Lambert Bayou tributary, gently flowing in from the north. It was tight, with dense brush and other vegetation choking the passage. After a couple of hundred yards, the drainage became impassable, forcing us to abandon our exploration and return to the lake.
Paddling swamp waterways was a new adventure for Aaron. He said he would add it to a growing list of "fun things to do."
ON FOOT
After lunch, we finished the day hiking trails that delve deeply into the ecosystem of this vast bottomland. Several, like Big Island Chute Trail, included interpretive signs describing vegetation and area history. Each footpath offers many opportunities for viewing wildlife.
We ended the day camping on the banks of Moon Lake. As with our earlier campsite, the trees' high-water marks extended some 6 feet up their trunks. A fisherman who was casting a line in the lake told me that three weeks earlier, the entire area where we stood was underwater. In recent years the water level in the refuge has risen higher than he could remember.
Pat Fitzmorris, NWR manager, explained that water levels in the region are controlled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Higher water within the bottomland has reduced the environment for nonaquatic wildlife. This affects the diversity of wildlife in the area. He added that the refuge is in talks with the Corps about the amount of water released.
ONE MORE STOP
Aaron had to return to Jackson the next morning to prepare for work. Dalene and I decided to take a side trip outside the Big Woods to visit one more place.
The role this site played in America's history cannot be overstated. It marks the initial point from which all surveys originated for the 530 million acres of land acquired through the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. We could not be this close to Louisiana Purchase State Park and not stop.
Familiar with the history, we thoroughly enjoyed our stroll through healthy swampland on an elevated boardwalk and read all the wayside exhibits that shared the story. Arriving at the end of the quarter-mile walk, nestled among the trunks of cypress trees was a granite monument.
In 1815 President James Monroe commissioned Prospect K. Robbins and Joseph C. Brown to survey the territory's lands. A survey was required so the nation could award parcels of land to military veterans for their service in the War of 1812. This monument stands where the north-south line crosses the east-west baseline, commonly known as the "Fifth Principal Meridian."
Over time, the pair of trees blazed to mark the meeting point was forgotten, but in 1921 the markers were rediscovered. To hold the spot for future generations, in 1926, the Marianna chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution installed the stone marker. Four landowners each deeded two acres of land surrounding the point.
In 1961, after Arkansas designated the area as a state park, the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission provided money to buy the 37.5 acres that make up the park.
EATING AN ELEPHANT
I have visited the Big Woods many times and have yet to repeat an outing. Visitors can be overwhelmed by what it offers and don't know where to begin their exploration. I suggest you think of it as eating an elephant, one bite at a time.
Bob Robinson of Fort Smith is the author of "Bicycling Guide to the Mississippi River Trail," "Bicycling Guide to Route 66" and "Bicycling Guide to the Lake Michigan Trail."