Arkansas River Visitor Center

 The balcony of the visitor center, which sits on the crest of a hill, gives visitors a great view of Lake Dardanelle  and Dardanelle Dam. Interpretive signs describe the cargo that goes up and down the river on barges and the importance of the locks and dams. The Little Rock District controls eighteen different locks and dams on the Arkansas River. The exhibits inside touch on Native Americans, early settlers, steamboats, and wildlife. The center is small so this is a quick stop.

The visitor center is accessible. The balcony can be accessed from the exterior only and is open even when the visitor center is closed.

RVs will fit in the lot if parked through the spaces.  Visitor Center  35.2526, -93.16625

Delaware Park Campground with a Ghost Loop

 At one time this was a Corp of Engineers park. A few of the signs are still up but it's now managed by a non-profit group called the Friends of Delaware Park.  I can't find any information about when or why the COE abandoned it but I'm glad that someone stepped in because it's a nice place. It's only $5.00 a night. We found the fee box and tried to pay however there were no fee envelopes. Not a big deal. We would have used one of our own envelopes but as soon as we got near the box a wasp flew right at us and we noticed that wasps were going in and out of the slot. He was guarding their home! 

 

We found a great site by going to the right where the road split. There's only one site on that section of road. The site is surrounded by trees with plenty of open space and it's right on the lake.The recent storms had made the lake level high and muddied the water. 

There aren't any more sites until the roads join together again. About a dozen sites are strung out along the lake. The road dead ends in a turn around loop with a few more sites in a meadow and on the hillside. This campground is primitive so amenities are few but it does have tables, a porta pottie, and possibly drinking water. We noticed a faucet but didn't check to see if it was functional. 

  

   

The sites are not accessible but the ground is hard packed so rolling is fairly easy. Many of the tables are on concrete slabs or surrounded by 4x4 lumber making them unusable.

We ducked under the barrier and took a walk on the closed loop. It's been closed for a long time! But there are still tables and restrooms hidden in the overgrowth. It's kind of eerie. 😮 Campground  35.29728, -93.27679

Budweiser Silo

 I spotted this as we were driving by and just manged to get a shot. Local rancher and beer distributor, David McMahon, Sr., hired Earl Harris to paint his silo to look like a giant can of Bud. It was originally painted in the mid 1970s and repainted in 2018 by Troy Freeman. It would take 121,318 six-packs to fill the silo! Silo  35.31127, -94.19916

 

Springhill Park Campground -COE

 We reserved A16 for the water view. The sites in A loop are the only ones that have a water view even if it is a muddy creek instead of the river. Loop A is 3/4 of a mile past the entrance to loop B - far enough away that we were wondering if we had missed it. Amenities are the standard ones that COE parks have in this area - electric and water hookups, picnic table, fire ring, restrooms, showers, a dump station, playground and boat ramp.

None of the sites are designated as accessible but the extra width of the parking pads for a towed or tow vehicle makes a handy wheelchair landing pads. There isn't any easy way to access the tables. Campground 35.34949, -94.30671

 

Fort Smith Museum of History

 The exhibits in this museum are a little disjointed. The first floor follows a timeline of the city's history to some degree so make sure that you go in the direction that the green arrows point. One room is dedicated to an Arkansas man, William Orlando Darby, who is credited with founding the US Army Rangers. There's also a completely reconstructed drug store with a working soda fountain. One of the staff will serve you whatever you wish.

The second floor has exhibits about Judge Parker, local industries, broadcasting history, and early hand tools for woodworking. There are two unusual items that we couldn't figure out. One is an early photocopier, the other is a mechanical television. Anyone have a clue about how either of these work?

The museum is accessible with a ramp on the northeast side of the building and a button to push for access. An elevator accesses the second floor.

We parked in the long spaces at Fort Smith NHS. The sidewalks and curb cuts are in fair condition. Use care when crossing the train tracks. Museum  35.38808, -94.42854

Choctaw Casino Pocola

The oversized vehicle lot is located on the east side of the casino next to the main lot for cars. There's no need to check in and we didn't see a posted time limit. Trucks share this lot but we managed to situate ourselves out of the noise zone.

The oversized lot is up a level so there are steps that go down a short hill. Wheelchair users will need to go to either end of the lot and use the access roads to get down the hill. A shuttle makes regular rounds in the evenings. I don't know if it's accessible. The chairs are heavy but the money and card slots are easy to reach. Casino  35.29024, -94.43354

 

Ben Geren Bike Trail

Ben Geren Trail is paved, smooth, and makes a 5 mile loop.  We parked in the lot off of Golf Course Loop road and went south because it looked shadier. Trees and bushes provide some screening from the communities that it passes through but they're not tall enough to provide a lot of shade. 

I  should have checked the elevation map before starting out. The trail goes up hill for about a mile with some 10% grades. That's tough in a wheelchair even with an energetic helper. The trail going north from the parking lot is almost flat for the first mile then it goes uphill too. The middle section looks like it's rolling but we'll never find out because we turned around  when got to the top of the first hill at the 1 mile mark. :D

The parking lot is large enough for any vehicle. Trail  35.31257, -94.35368

Fort Smith National Historic Site

 Almost eighty years of history are covered by the museum exhibits and the interpretive signs located on the grounds. The first fort was built in 1817 to keep peace between the local Osage and the Cherokees who had migrated west as settlers moved into their homelands. This hard to defend location, just a few hundred feet from the Arkansas River, was abandoned in 1824 when a fort was built further west. 

In 1838 a second fort was built slightly east of the first fort. The fort was on the border between Arkansas and Oklahoma which had been designated Indian Territory by the federal government. Dozens of tribes were forced to move from their homelands to the plains of Oklahoma. The fort was never needed for defense and became a supply post for the Native Americans and the forts located further west. It was captured and occupied by the Union forces during the Civil War. 

 At the end of the Civil War the fort became a US Federal Court with Judge Parker in charge. In 1872 the basement of the old enlisted men's barracks was converted to a jail. This proved to be too small and a new jail was built onto south side of the barracks.

Parker became known as the Hanging Judge because he sentenced more than 70 men to death after they were found guilty of rape or murder.  He didn't believe in capital punishment and lobbied against it but he didn't have a choice because federal law decreed death sentences for those crimes. The court was busy because they ruled on crimes committed in the town of Fort Smith, all of western Arkansas, and also Oklahoma. The Indian police couldn't arrest or convict US citizens so many criminals thinking they would be safe escaped across the border where they preyed on the Native Americans. Over two hundred deputy marshals worked with Indian police to capture the criminals.

It takes at least three hours to see the entire site. It's much more interesting than any of the other fort we've visited from this time period. We started at the loop trail for the first fort. There are a few foundation ruins and interpretive signs along the trail.

Another trail circles the grounds of the second fort with more interpretive signs and stops at the Commissary building and reconstructed gallows.

The museum is located in the barracks/courthouse/jail building. The lower level where the entrance is located goes directly into the basement jail which is very dismal looking.  

The upper floor is full of information on the entire history of the fort and the criminals that came before Judge Parker.

 

Most of the site is accessible. Wheelchair users may need assistance on the trail at the first fort because it has some steep hills.It also crosses railroad tracks where small wheels could get stuck. The trail on the grounds of the second fort is accessible. The museum is all accessible. There's even a special chair to get down the stairs if the elevator is not working. We'd never seen anything like this before and I was tempted to take it out of the locker to see how it worked but instead I just took a peek at it. Here's the website. Evac Chair It has tractor like treads and looks a little scary in use. 

 

The parking lot has four long RV/bus spaces. Fort  35.38706, -94.43078