Louisiana Purchase State Park

   In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana territory from France. The new land, which doubled the size of the US, wasn’t surveyed until 1815 when an initial point was established by two teams of surveyors. One team headed north from the confluence of the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers and the other headed west from the junction of the St. Francis River and the Mississippi.  They met in a headwater swamp of the Little Cypress Creek watershed. From this point the entire 828,000 square miles of the Louisiana Purchase was divided into one-square-mile tracts by the surveyors who slogged through swamps, over mountains, and across the plains.

  In recognition of the historic significance and to preserve the undisturbed swampland 37.5 acres were set aside as a state park in 1961. A short (1/3 mile out and back) boardwalk winds through the swamp to a marker erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1926. Interpretive signs with information about the Louisiana Purchase and the plant and animal life are located along the boardwalk.

  The boardwalk is accessible but the top railing blocks the view for people using wheelchairs. The railing has been lowered in a few spots.

  The parking lot is large enough for any RV.  34.64563, -91.05395  Park