Mountain View, Arkansas

We arrived October 24^th, stayed the nights of 24, 25 and 26.  Headed out on the 27^th (Sunday).

On the morning of October 24^th, we packed up and left Cloud 9 RV Park east of downtown Hot Springs, Arkansas.  Since we didn’t have a lot of miles to travel (about 140 miles), we decided to take a ‘longer’ path that would take us near Little Rock, Arkansas and then head on up to Mountain View.  Looking at the Google map, that seemed to be the way with the least little squiggly lines!

Wow, these interstate systems in both Louisiana and Arkansas have a lot of ‘fly overs’ (and I hate those!).

We arrived at Whitewater RV Park midafternoon Thursday.

After getting settled in, I took the dogs over to the city park next door.  It is very nice!  It has an old stone amphitheater build around 1969.  Lots of steps and very photographic.  That's our little patch of 'heaven' for the next 3 nights.  The dogs really liked having a little bit of green on the campsite as most all the others did not.

 

I had asked the RV park manager what things were good to do with dogs?  Where might we take them for some hiking?  He suggested Blanchard Springs Caverns and Mirror Lake.  I did some research and found that they had cavern tours here that were still open for the season.  I bought a ticket for Jim to take the tour at 12 noon when I would take the dogs, and we would go off hiking.  Then I bought a ticket for me at 1:20 so he could take the dogs while I went and did the tour.  That worked out great, so we both got to do the tour, and the dogs were happy too!

Blanchard Springs Caverns

When we arrived at Blanchard Springs Caverns, we were treated to some really nice fall colors on the trees along the entrance road.

We arrived early enough that we could do a little hiking and exploring before the cavern tour.  The path to the spring (waterfall) was very short and had been set up for people that might have physical disabilities. It was a short walk, but I think this is the only waterfall we saw this entire trip.  Arkansas is in a dry season – they had not had any rain at all for the entire month of October.

Blanchard Springs

This beautiful stone bridge is part of the parking area for Blanchard Springs.

The sign in front of the springs says:

Rainwater falling on the Ozarks has soaked into the ground for millions of years. As it moved thru cracks in the limestone bedrock, it dissolved the stone and slowly widened the cracks to form Blachard Springs Caverns. The water remained in the caverns until surface erosion curved valley now. As this valley cut deeper and deeper, lower sections of the cave were drained. New springs then developed below older dried-up springs. Blanchard Springs probably came out of the holes high on the bluff above us many years ago when the streambed lay 20-30 feet above it’s present level.

This stream flows thru bat sanctuaries on its way thru Blanchard Springs Caverns. The water is enriched because of bat wastes and the decaying remains of those that died. Although this does not affect the appearance the water, it does make it UNSAFE TO DRINK.

After seeing the springs, we took a short drive back up the road to take the trail and see Mirror Lake and the remnants of the old mill down by the water.

Mirror Lake and the Old Mill

The first few photographs are Mirror Lake and the dam associated with Mirror Lake.

Mirror Lake, a three-acre rainbow trout haven, is constantly fed by the 58-degree water flowing from Blanchard Springs Caverns, 14 miles north of Mountain View, off Ark. 14. The Civilian Conservation Corps built the stone and concrete dam that created the lake during the 1930s. The lake is restocked periodically. SOURCE: Mirror Lake | Mountain View, AR | Arkansas.com

 

 

Sign posted by this mill says: Mitchell mill, originally a two-story structure built of oak and walnut. With the mill, Steve Mitchell provided ground corn and ginned cotton from 1900 until 1928.  Mr. Mitchell died, and his family sold the property to the Forest Service. The rock foundation and walls were added by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1942. Exquisite rock work is the hallmark of the CCC, a post-Depression program to put young men to work.  Their plan was to restore the mill to an operational condition, but the work was interrupted when the CCC was disbanded at the onset of World War II.

Unfortunately we ran out of time to take the trail down to the bottom where the water is flowing over the stone dam and see a different view of the old mill stone work.  There is a trail that goes along the water if you are visiting and want to take the trail down.

 

Dripstone Trail tour, Caverns

I loved seeing the caverns.    The only tour that is open at this time of year is called the “Dripstone tour”. The cost per ticket was $16 and they request that you get your tickets in advance online. I don’t think I have actually seen any since we went out to Carlsbad Caverns back when Matthew was a teenager.  That’s a long time!  The tour starts at the visitor center. 

Anyway, we got into the elevator that takes you down about the depth of 22 stories (216 feet below the surface).  Pretty far down.  Once you arrive the elevator doors open and you’re in a very large room at 58 degrees and close to 100% humidity (didn't feel that cold to me).

"The first professional exploration was in 1960 by Hugh Shell and Hail Bryant. In 1971, scuba divers entered through the spring entrance and followed its course. The divers followed 4,000 feet of underwater passages and also mapped five caverns filled with air but inaccessible at that time. They photographed the awesome cave formations and noted forms of cave life. They estimated that it takes about twenty-four hours for water to flow through the cave, a journey of less than a mile." Blanchard History and Culture - Blanchard Springs Caverns

They did create a shaft (kind of like a mining shaft) that was blasted through the mountain to get to another room that was not accessible otherwise.  Once we emerged back into the daylight a bus (looks like a school bus) is waiting to take us back to the visitor's center.  We have walked about .4 miles underground.

The first photograph below is what you see when you first emerge from the elevator - this big room!  Here you will have the opportunity to sit down while the ranger gives you some information on what you are seeing.

The blue colored areas are exits from the cave (or entrance depending on how you view it).  Below, do you see the ship (boat) in the cave walls?

Oak Pine Woodlands Trail

While Jim was taking the caverns tour, the dogs and I hiked the Oak Pine Woodlands trail.  This trail can be reached from the visitor center parking lot which made it easy to get the dogs over to and get walking - plus they had some really pretty colors in the trees along the trail.  The trail has 2 loops - the inner loop is about .3 miles and the outer loop is about .67 miles.  We had plenty of time so we kind of mixed up the inner and outer loop and not exactly sure how much we walked but the plan was to wear the dogs out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whitewater RV Park

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After spending a good portion of the day out we headed back to the campground to rest.  Since we spent multiple days here and did a lot while we were here, I will close this blog post and start another for the rest of our time in Mountain View, Arkansas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To view more photographs from Mountain View, Arkansas and our time there, click Mountain View, Arkansas