Devil's Den State Park
Encyclopedia
Devil's Den State Park is a 2500 acres (1,011.7 ha) Arkansas state park in Washington County
Washington County, Arkansas
Washington County is a county located in the northwest part of the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of 2010, the population was 203,065. The county seat is Fayetteville. Washington County is Arkansas's 17th county, formed on October 17, 1828, and named for George Washington, the first President of the...

, near West Fork
West Fork, Arkansas
West Fork is a city in Washington County, Arkansas, United States. The population is 2,317 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers, AR-MO Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The park was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...

 beginning in 1933. Devil's Den State Park is in the Lee Creek Valley in the Boston Mountains
Boston Mountains
The Boston Mountains area is a high and deeply dissected plateau located in northern Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. The Oklahoma portion of the range is locally referred to as the Cookson Hills. The rocks of the region are essentially little disturbed, flat-lying sedimentary layers of the Paleozoic...

 which are the southwestern part of The Ozarks
The Ozarks
The Ozarks are a physiographic and geologic highland region of the central United States. It covers much of the southern half of Missouri and an extensive portion of northwestern and north central Arkansas...

. The park, with an 8 acres (3.2 ha) CCC built lake, is open for year round recreation including, hiking, mountain bike and equestrian trails. Devil's Den State Park also has several picnic areas, a swimming pool, cabins and camping site ranging from modern to primitive. Fossils of coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...

 and crinoid
Crinoid
Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea of the echinoderms . Crinoidea comes from the Greek word krinon, "a lily", and eidos, "form". They live both in shallow water and in depths as great as 6,000 meters. Sea lilies refer to the crinoids which, in their adult form, are...

s can be found along the banks and within Lee Creek at Devil's Den State Park.

History

Devil's Den State Park protects the largest sandstone crevice area in the United States. The park is in the Lee Creek Valley. The valley is littered with numerous sandstone caves, bluffs, ravines, rock shelters and crevices that provided an excellent hiding place for outlaw
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...

s on the Butterfield Stage Line
Butterfield Overland Mail
The Butterfield Overland Mail Trail was a stagecoach route in the United States, operating from 1857 to 1861. It was a conduit for the U.S. mail from two eastern termini, Memphis, Tennessee and St. Louis, Missouri, meeting Fort Smith, Arkansas, and continuing through Indian Territory, New Mexico,...

 from 1858 until the beginning of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 in 1861. With the onset of the war the rocky area was used by bands of Confederate
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 guerilla
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...

s as a hide out and staging area for conducting raids on the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

's supply lines as well as civilian targets. The roads of the Butterfield State Line were also used by regular troops during the Civil War. Confederate and Union forces used the road during the Battle of Prairie Grove
Battle of Prairie Grove
The Battle of Prairie Grove was a battle of the American Civil War fought on 7 December 1862, that resulted in a tactical stalemate but essentially secured northwest Arkansas for the Union.-Strategic situation: Union:...

 and for the Raid on Van Buren
Van Buren, Arkansas
Van Buren is the second largest city in the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area and the county seat of Crawford County, Arkansas, United States. The city is located directly northeast of Fort Smith at the Interstate 40 - Interstate 540 junction...

. The former town of Anna is contained within the park. It was destroyed by a flood in 1893. All that remains of the town is a cemetery, a well, and some foundations. The remnants of Anna can be seen along the Butterfield Hiking Trail near Junction Camp.

Lee Creek
Lee Creek (Arkansas)
Lee Creek is a river in Arkansas and Oklahoma which starts near West Fork in Washington County, Arkansas and flows south to the Arkansas River passing through Crawford County, Arkansas and Sequoyah County, Oklahoma...

 Valley was identified during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 as a site for a state park. Construction on the park began in 1933. Devil's Den State Park was built by young men working for the Civilian Conservation Corps
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...

 which was established during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

 to provide work for unemployed young men from throughout the United States. The young men of the CCC lived in military style barracks
Barracks
Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...

 and constructed many of the recreational facilities at the park, including pavilions, trails and the dam and spillway on Lee Creek that forms Lake Devil. The park underwent an extensive renovation in the 1970s when the CCC built structures were refurbished. Devil's Den State Park is recognized as one of the best preserved CCC projects in the United States.

Geology

Devil's Den State Park is in the Lee Creek Valley of the Boston Mountains
Boston Mountains
The Boston Mountains area is a high and deeply dissected plateau located in northern Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. The Oklahoma portion of the range is locally referred to as the Cookson Hills. The rocks of the region are essentially little disturbed, flat-lying sedimentary layers of the Paleozoic...

 which are part of The Ozarks
The Ozarks
The Ozarks are a physiographic and geologic highland region of the central United States. It covers much of the southern half of Missouri and an extensive portion of northwestern and north central Arkansas...

. The area is a high and deeply dissected plateau
Dissected plateau
A dissected plateau is a plateau area that has been severely eroded so that the relief is sharp. Such an area may be referred to as mountainous, but dissected plateaus are distinguishable from orogenic mountain belts by the lack of folding, metamorphism, extensive faulting, or magmatic activity...

 in northern Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

 and eastern Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

. The rocks of the region are essentially little disturbed, flat-lying sedimentary layers of the Paleozoic
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon, spanning from roughly...

 age. The highest ridges and peaks are capped by Pennsylvanian
Pennsylvanian
The Pennsylvanian is, in the ICS geologic timescale, the younger of two subperiods of the Carboniferous Period. It lasted from roughly . As with most other geochronologic units, the rock beds that define the Pennsylvanian are well identified, but the exact date of the start and end are uncertain...

 sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

 and shale
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...

. The deeply eroded valleys are cut into Mississippian limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

s and below that layer Ordovician
Ordovician
The Ordovician is a geologic period and system, the second of six of the Paleozoic Era, and covers the time between 488.3±1.7 to 443.7±1.5 million years ago . It follows the Cambrian Period and is followed by the Silurian Period...

 dolomite
Dolomite
Dolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....

s.

The caves, ravines and crevices were partly formed by slippage in sandstone formations. The Devil's Ice Box, one of the most visited caves in the park, is named for the cool air that rushes out of the cave. Air enters the cave at a point higher on the mountainside and is cooled as it passes through the mountain to the mouth of the cave.

Cabins and camping

The park features 17 full-service cabins and 143 camp sites. The cabins are along Lee Creek. All are "rustic" with fully equipped kitchens plus heating and air-conditioning. The cabins, with stone fireplaces, are open year round. Devil's Den State Park is home to 146 campsites of various nature. Many of the campsites have electric hookups and running water. Others are little more than a cleared and level patch of ground on which to set up a tent.

Trails

Devil's Den State Park is home to approximately 64 miles (103 km) of trails that are open to hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding. 20 miles (32.2 km) of trails that are designated horse trails. Each horse trail begins and ends at the Devil's Den State Park horse camp on the southern end of the camp in the Lee Creek Valley. Two of the trails cross into neighboring Ozark National Forest.
  • Old Road Trail is 4.5 miles (7.2 km) long. It is named for the old dirt Arkansas Highway 170 that was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It is the only trail contained entirely within Devil's Den State Park. Old Road was main road through Lee Creek Valley. Near the head of the trail it passes by discarded car parts from the earliest days of the automobile. Throughout the course of the trail, it passes through a cedar grove, runs parallel, in places to Arkansas Highway 170 and then passes nearby the Yellow Rock Bluff overlook. Horses must be tied at a hitching post
    Hitching post
    A hitching post is a post to which a horse may be tethered to prevent it from straying. The term can also refer to:* The "hitching post", a contentious punishment in the case of Hope v...

     before visitors walk to the overlook. Old Road Trail continues to wind through the park and passes by the CCC overlook.

  • Gorley King Trail is 7 miles (11.3 km) long. It is named for Gorely King of Springdale
    Springdale, Arkansas
    As of the census of 2010, there were 69,797 people, 22,805 households, and 16,640 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 64.7% White, 0.82% Black or African American, 1.8% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 5.7% Pacific Islander, 22% from other races, and 2.9% from two or more...

    , Arkansas. He was one of the first settlers to ride the ridges of the Boston Mountains, blazing a trail for following pioneers. The trail begins on the eastern end of the horse camp and heads down Lee Creek Valley and joins the Butterfield Hiking Trail and Vista Point Trail. The trails climb the valley and rise above Lee Creek. Gorley King Trail then follows Holt Ridge into Ozark National Forest before returning the park along an old logging road into the Lee Creek Valley.
  • Vista Point Trail is 9 miles (14.5 km) long. It follows Gorley King Trail for 1.5 miles (2.4 km). Then it ascends Holt Ridge and heads out onto the plateau in Ozark National Forest. Here it passes a quarry that was used by the CCC to build some of the facilities at Devil's Den State Park. Next it ascends Mount Olive and crosses the Butterfield Hiking Trail. Vista Point Trail loops back through the national forest and towards the park, passing a 19th century homestead and the Vista Point Overlook before returning to the park following part of the Gorley King Trail back to the horse camp.
  • Butterfield Hiking Trail is 15 miles (24.1 km) long. The loop trail is marked with blue blazes. It begins and ends in Devil's Den State Park and passes through Ozark National Forest in Washington and Crawford County before returning to the park. Butterfield Hiking Trail is named for the Butterfield Stage Line
    Butterfield Overland Mail
    The Butterfield Overland Mail Trail was a stagecoach route in the United States, operating from 1857 to 1861. It was a conduit for the U.S. mail from two eastern termini, Memphis, Tennessee and St. Louis, Missouri, meeting Fort Smith, Arkansas, and continuing through Indian Territory, New Mexico,...

     that passed through Arkansas. was a stagecoach
    Stagecoach
    A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...

     route in the United States
    United States
    The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

    , operating from 1857 to 1861. It was a route for the United States mail from two eastern termini, Memphis, Tennessee
    Memphis, Tennessee
    Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

     and St. Louis, Missouri
    St. Louis, Missouri
    St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

    , meeting Fort Smith, Arkansas
    Fort Smith, Arkansas
    Fort Smith is the second-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. With a population of 86,209 in 2010, it is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region of 298,592 residents which encompasses the Arkansas...

    , and continuing through Indian Territory
    Indian Territory
    The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...

    , New Mexico
    New Mexico
    New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

    , and Arizona
    Arizona
    Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

    , ending in San Francisco, California
    San Francisco, California
    San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

    . A writer for the New York Herald
    New York Herald
    The New York Herald was a large distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between May 6, 1835, and 1924.-History:The first issue of the paper was published by James Gordon Bennett, Sr., on May 6, 1835. By 1845 it was the most popular and profitable daily newspaper in the UnitedStates...

    , Waterman L. Ornsby, described the Butterfield trail as it passed through the Boston Mountains. He said, "It is impossible that any road could be worse. I might say the road was steep, rugged, jagged, rough and mountainous and then wish for more impressive words."
  • CCC Interpretive Trail is just 0.25 mile (0.402335 km) long. It is a self guided trail that passes through the Civilian Conservation Corps camp. There are trail side exhibits that explain the history of the CCC at Devil's Den State Park.
  • Cross Country Mountain Bike Trail is 15 miles (24.1 km) long. It features creek crossing, dirt roads, singe track riding and long uphills and downhills. It is divided into three loops and runs outside the park into Ozark National Forest. Riders are required to carry a permit from the park offices to ride the trail.
  • Devil's Den Self-Guided Trail is a National Recreation Trail
    National Recreation Trail
    National Recreation Trail is a designation given to existing trails that contribute to health, conservation, and recreation goals in the United States. Over 1,000 trails in all 50 U.S. states, available for public use and ranging from less than a mile to in length, have been designated as NRTs...

    . It is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long. It passes by two of the most popular attractions at the park: Devil's Den and the Devil's Icebox. It also features erosional remants of sandstone strata, wet weather waterfalls and a variety of plant and animal life.

Closure of Caves

Due to the spread of White Nose Syndrome
White nose syndrome
White nose syndrome is a poorly understood disease associated with the deaths of more than a million bats. The condition, named for a distinctive fungal growth around the muzzles and on the wings of many affected animals, was first identified in a cave in Schoharie County, New York, USA, in...

, a fungal infection caused by the Geomyces Destructans
Geomyces destructans
Geomyces destructans is a psychrophilic fungus that is associated with White nose syndrome , a fatal disease that has decimated bat populations in parts of the US. Unlike other species of Geomyces, Geomyces destructans forms asymmetrically curved conidia...

 fungus in bats
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...

 including the Ozark Big-Eared Bat
Ozark Big-Eared Bat
The Ozark Big-Eared Bat is one of the five subspecies of Corynorhinus townsendii, a species of vesper bat . Their average lifespan is 15 years. Part of the mating ritual of these bats includes nuzzling heads...

, Indiana Bat
Indiana bat
The Indiana bat is a medium-sized mouse-eared bat native to North America. It lives primarily in eastern and midwestern states and in parts of the south of the United States. The Indiana bat is gray, black, or chestnut in colour and is 1.2–2 inches and weighs about 1/4 an ounce...

, and Gray Myotis, Arkansas’s three endangered bats, as well as the Brown Bat
Little brown bat
The little brown bat is a species of the genus Myotis , one of the most common bats of North America...

 and Tri-colored Bat
Eastern Pipistrelle
The Tricolored Bat is a species of bat that is widely distributed throughout the eastern parts of North America, ranging west until Kansas and Texas, from Honduras up north until southern Ontario...

, the park's caves have been temporarily closed to the public since April 16, 2010 to help slow its spread.
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