Join a park interpreter at the Cameron Bluff Overlook learn how to help Mount Magazine State Park identify and count broad-winged hawks! Participants could potentially view broad-winged hawks in action, as they visit Mount Magazine on their long trip to Central and South America. Feel free to bring with you any level of bird-watching experience, and your favorite binoculars!

Join us at Village Creek State Park for the 2023 Great Arkansas Cleanup on Saturday, September 30th. Participants will meet from 8-9 a.m. in the Meeting Room next to the Visitor Center to sign-in and receive cleaning supplies, cleaning assignments, and their free t-shirt. We will spend the morning cleaning different areas of the park. Afterwards, participants are welcome to stay for a free hot dog lunch at 12:00 pm in the Meeting Room. Hours of volunteer service can go towards the Arkansas State Parks’ Centennial Service Program. For early registration and more information, call us at (870) 238-9406.

Learn about the early settlement of the area in the 1820s and 1830s and the beginning of the town of Washington. Take a tour of town and learn about some of the early settlers of town and what brought them to southwest Arkansas. For more information contact the park at (870) 983-2684.

Enjoy Lake Fort Smith’s history, scenery, geology, wildlife, and possible waterfalls and sunset on this boating adventure! Meet Park Interpreter Mystina at the marina dock. Binoculars and life vests are provided. Preregistration is required and space is limited. Register and pay at the marina before 3pm. This activity is dependent on weather and lake conditions.

Meet Park Interpreter BT to explore a couple of the lesser-known sites in the area – the YMCA “College Lodge” and the area where the “Hotel Petit Jean” was located around 100 years ago. Warning: beautiful scenery involved.

Join Park Interpreter Mystina for a hike to put your sense of sight, touch, smell, and hearing to the test as you explore some of the natural things found in Lake Fort Smith State Park. Meet at the Warren Hollow trailhead near the group lodges. 

President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal Project created work groups during the 1930s Great Depression Era, such as the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The WPA built public infrastructure like highways, public buildings, dams, and more. The legacy of the WPA lives here at Lake Fort Smith State Park with their creation of the original 1930s-built dam, lake, and recreation facility that later became the original Lake Fort Smith State Park. Join Park Interpreter Mystina in the visitor center Theater Room to explore the park’s WPA legacy and then enjoy a video documentary about FDR and his WPA.

Sometimes the best birding comes from pulling over on the side of the road in an area of prime habitat. Join Park Interpreter Mystina for a carpool road trip down Shepherd Springs Road to bird from the road. This area is wooded and a great place to look for birds, especially during fall migration. Bring your binoculars and field guides if you have them. Binoculars are provided if needed. For the program meeting location, turn right from the park entrance sign and follow Shepherd Springs Road until you see the white park van parked on the side of the road.