Lake Dardanelle / Little Rock, AR (3/24 - 3/31/23)

Moving our way north now we stayed at Lake Dardanelle State Park in Arkansas. Here we visited with Michelle's friend from Wells Fargo Dana McFadden and her husband Patrick. They were gracious enough to host us on a tour of the lake from their boat one afternoon. We also took some time to visit Michelle's Uncle Sid Wood and Aunt Susan in Little Rock not far away.

This was our lake view not too far from our campsite. This lake is man-made from an Arkansas river feed that was built to support the massive water needs of the nearby nuclear power plant.

Sites here were spacious with full hookups and mostly nestled in trees with views of the lake.

Here is a panoramic view of the lake from another part of the park near the visitor's center. There are boat ramps and a private marina with boat rentals.

Although we did not ride any Hall of Fame trails, we did make a trip to Little Rock to ride the Arkansas Rive Trail system. We started from Cook's Landing Park and headed west crossing the "Big Dam Bridge".

This bridge is the longest U.S. pedestrian and bike bridge (4,226 feet), spanning the Arkansas River atop Murray Dam.

Once we rode west for a few miles we crossed the Two Rivers Park Bridge to ride the Two Rivers Park Trail that flowed through trails on this peninsula.

This trail meandered through the woods with multiple options for a path to take.

Back on the Arkansas Trail system, we rode near the shore with views of Little Rock and the river. This trail is an 88-mile multi-use loop. We only rode about 23 miles the day we visited.

Construction near the trail limited our experience somewhat in some places, so finding the way forward was a challenge a few times. In one place, we had to haul our bikes up three flights of stairs to cross an old railroad bridge to cross the river. Other places we had to ride on the road with cars which we try to avoid when we can.

I think once they finish the construction, this trail will be a more pleasant experience end to end.

The trail had multiple places where you could see the city skyline.

On this trip we also did a little hiking at Mt Nebo State Park. The hike wasn't too strenuous but enough to give us a cross-train workout using different muscles than we need for biking. We could feel it the next day. The lake below is Lake Dardanelle.

We also traveled over to Mt Magazine State Park. This park had a nice lodge with cabins and a restaurant (picture here) with great views of the Blue Mountain Lake below.

Another view from the other side of Mt Magazine. Next stop, Northwest Arkansas,,,