Doobage
12-28-2005, 02:23 PM
Lost Valley State Park is a remote park off the beaten path. It's secluded location makes for a quiet and enjoyable stay.
Time: September 2003
Location: Ride north of Hot Springs, AR on Hwy 7 (if coming from the south) and turn west in the town of Jasper on hwy 74 for about 20 minutes and then south on 43 for a mile or two.
Cost: Cheap. I think less than $10. Honor system. I believe a ranger checks in the morning.
Camping:
The parking lot was gravel and most likely still is. Seems like it might be a little unstable on the bike, but rideable at a slow speed. The camp sites are located surrounding the parking lot and are tucked away in the woods. There is a small creek that separates the parking lot from the camp sites, so some paths might be "directly" inaccessible after rain storms...however there is a bridge that can be used to get back to the sites if required, so they are never completely blocked off.
Facilities:
There are some toilets, but there were no showers there. There are a number of hiking trails and the one I took went through the woods for a couple miles, following a creek. Along the trail there is a small cave that the creek passes through....and further down the path there is a large natural ampitheater, small waterfall and a cave (Cobbs cave). Cobbs cave did not appear to have any formations that I could discern and seemed to be a place for water to leech out of from the limestone. Nevertheless it was fun to poke around and worth the walk (maybe a 100 or so feet depth to the cave).
Attractions: The town of Ponca(?) is 2 miles away and contains an Elk Wildlife building. I don't recall any restaraunts since it is a very small town. Additionally during the wet season (spring), the high rains make this an excellent starting point to ride a canoe down the Buffalo River. I believe there is a Lost Valley Canoe out fitter in the area, but is privately owned and has nothing to do with the park persay. So if you aren't packing your food, make sure you allow for travel time to a city to the north, Harrison, as your best bet to find variety and/or supplies.
Roads: All the roads in this area are awesome. They are full of twisties and are in excellent condition. Concern for wildlife should be on your list for riding since there are plenty of deer and perhaps Elk that cross the roads. And with the very twisty roads could make for some high risk. However avoiding dawn and dusk riding times should help minimize the risk.
Overall, it's good for an overnighter, but for camping for more than one day, I highly recommend Buffalo National Park (Buffalo Point) down river (to the east) which I will also post a review on.
http://www.nps.gov/applications/parks/buff/ppMaps/ACF5567%2Epdf
Time: September 2003
Location: Ride north of Hot Springs, AR on Hwy 7 (if coming from the south) and turn west in the town of Jasper on hwy 74 for about 20 minutes and then south on 43 for a mile or two.
Cost: Cheap. I think less than $10. Honor system. I believe a ranger checks in the morning.
Camping:
The parking lot was gravel and most likely still is. Seems like it might be a little unstable on the bike, but rideable at a slow speed. The camp sites are located surrounding the parking lot and are tucked away in the woods. There is a small creek that separates the parking lot from the camp sites, so some paths might be "directly" inaccessible after rain storms...however there is a bridge that can be used to get back to the sites if required, so they are never completely blocked off.
Facilities:
There are some toilets, but there were no showers there. There are a number of hiking trails and the one I took went through the woods for a couple miles, following a creek. Along the trail there is a small cave that the creek passes through....and further down the path there is a large natural ampitheater, small waterfall and a cave (Cobbs cave). Cobbs cave did not appear to have any formations that I could discern and seemed to be a place for water to leech out of from the limestone. Nevertheless it was fun to poke around and worth the walk (maybe a 100 or so feet depth to the cave).
Attractions: The town of Ponca(?) is 2 miles away and contains an Elk Wildlife building. I don't recall any restaraunts since it is a very small town. Additionally during the wet season (spring), the high rains make this an excellent starting point to ride a canoe down the Buffalo River. I believe there is a Lost Valley Canoe out fitter in the area, but is privately owned and has nothing to do with the park persay. So if you aren't packing your food, make sure you allow for travel time to a city to the north, Harrison, as your best bet to find variety and/or supplies.
Roads: All the roads in this area are awesome. They are full of twisties and are in excellent condition. Concern for wildlife should be on your list for riding since there are plenty of deer and perhaps Elk that cross the roads. And with the very twisty roads could make for some high risk. However avoiding dawn and dusk riding times should help minimize the risk.
Overall, it's good for an overnighter, but for camping for more than one day, I highly recommend Buffalo National Park (Buffalo Point) down river (to the east) which I will also post a review on.
http://www.nps.gov/applications/parks/buff/ppMaps/ACF5567%2Epdf