Petit Jean State Park

Last camping trip of 2024 was November 10th to Petit Jean State Park. We reserved sites 48, 50, 51 and 53 back in July to accommodate four trailers for Donna and I, the Parker’s, the Riffey’s and John and Lynda. Sunny and cool, we had great weather for the entire week.

Sites 48, 50, 51 and 53 

Sunday night after getting setup at the campground we drove to Point Remove Brewing Company in Morrilton. We enjoyed some local beers and pizza on the outside patio.

After dinner in Morrilton we returned to the campground for an evening around fire at the Parker's trailer.

Monday I took a walk around the campground. I walked down to Lake Bailey and around to the Visitor Center. Near the overflow camping on Lake Baily is the Kayak Kiosk where you can rent a kayak and gear.

Kayak Kiosk

Old Visitor Center

New Visitor Center

Tuesday we got out to explore around the park. We went to Cedar Falls Overlook where recent rains had made little impact on the quantity of water in Cedar Creek and the falls were almost dry. While there we were buzzed by a C-130 flying low over the mountain right up the Cedar Creek drainage.

View from Cedar Falls Overlook Toward Mather Lodge and Rental Cabins (Top Left)

Rental Cabins as seen from the Cedar Falls Overlook

Palisades Overlook Photographed from Red Bluff Drive

While on the Red Bluff Drive we decided to take a walk down to the Rock House Cave. The cave has Native American pictographs dating up to 2000 years ago. Archeological digs have dated artifacts in the area that suggest native people visited the area as far back as 8000 B.C.

Native American Pictographs

Faint Native American Pictographs

On the hike down to the Rock House Cave you encounter the Turtle Rocks. A rock formation that resembles the shells of turtles covering the hillside.

While out exploring the guys took a hike around the Bear Cave Trail. On the Bear Cave Trail you walk under, around, through and over gigantic sandstone boulders high above the Cedar Creek drainage. The rock outcrop is visible from Mather Lodge back steps.

One of the best parts of camping as a group is taking turns doing dinner. Tuesday evening Donna and I made shish kabobs for eight. Donna assembled the kabobs and I cooked them on the campsite charcoal grill.

Directly behind our trailer was a grassy field on the property of Tanyard Springs. During the week we watched numerous deer grazing. One large doe in the heard appeared to be injured.

The last night at the campground we played Boom Again, a 50's, 60's & 70's trivia game. We played boys against the girls and obviously the girls had better memory for trivial things, especially for musical questions. The guys were defeated!

Crater of Diamonds State Park

Trip #65 in our trailer was to Crater of Diamonds State Park near Murfreesboro Arkansas. We loaded up the wagon with implements of destruction and headed out to find our fortune. 

Along the way to Crater of Diamonds State Park we stopped at Daisy State Park to look around and get our Arkansas State Park Passport stamped. Daisy State Park is located on Lake Greeson which is a 7,000 acre Corps of Engineers impoundment formed in 1950 on the Little Missouri River.

We reserved campsite #7 for September 9th through the September 13th. We met Lynda and John at the campground where they had an adjacent campsite. All the campsites were well spaced out with lots of trees for shade and and the park itself was very clean. 

On Tuesday we decided to have breakfast at the Southern Dine restaurant and take in the sites around Murfreesboro. The town is located just about 1 mile from the Crater of Diamonds State Park. The Pike County Court House is in the center of the town square with numerous stores located around the outside of the square. Breakfast at Southern Dine was great and I really liked the sign over the fireplace with the chemical formula for bacon which is apparently made of Barium, Cobalt and Nitrogen (or BaCoN). After breakfast we walked around the square and visited most of the shops. Much of the business is in Murfreesboro is tailored to diamond mining and the sale of other minerals like quartz and geode's. 

When we got ready to leave the town square we found my truck had a dead battery. Donna found a fellow doing construction in one of the buildings to give us a jump start. We drove directly to the local NAPA store and $189 later we had a battery to take back to the campground and install in the truck.

Southern Dine Restaurant

Pike County Courthouse

Two Old Dudes on the Square

Wednesday was diamond searching day. We got to the Visitor Center early in the morning and rented some screens at the Diamond Discovery Center. Then it was off to the search field.
The Crater of Diamonds is on a 100-million-year-old eroded volcanic formation (a volcanic pipe). The deeply sourced Kimberlite/Lamproite magma brought the diamonds to the surface. The diamonds had crystallized in the relatively stable cratonic root of the continent long before and were sampled by the magma as it rose to the surface. The search field is a 40 acre plowed field, one of the few diamond-bearing sites accessible to the public. Diamonds have been discovered in the field continuously since 1906, including the graded-perfect Strawn-Wagner Diamond, found in 1990, and the Uncle Sam, found in 1924, which at over 40 carats is the largest diamond ever found in the United States. More than 35,000 diamonds have been found by park visitors since the Crater of Diamonds became an Arkansas state park in 1972. On average, two diamonds are found per day by park visitors.

We dug gravel (and some mud) from what we thought were promising areas, then took our bucket loads to the South Washing Pavilion. Given that is was a little rainy while we were out in the field it was nice to have the cover of the pavilion. I'm sure on hot summer days washing in the pavilion would be a great way to get out of the sun. At the end of the day we came up with only some quartz and jasper. No diamonds!

Located in the diamond search field are shovel markers showing the location of significant diamond finds.

Okie Dokie Diamond Discovery Location 4.21 Carats Rough

Uncle Sam Diamond Discovery Location 40.23 Carats Rough / 12.42 Carats Cut

Schall Diamond Discovery Location 6.07 Carats Rough / 2.88 Carats Cut

Old Miner Cabin

Thursday we went out for lunch at Telings's Mexican Restaurant in Murfreesboro. Telings's was delouses and service was great. The restaurant was colorfully decorated inside and out with pieces of Mexicano art.

After lunch we drove north from Murfreesboro on highway 19 to the Narrows Dam. The dam was completed in 1950 on the Little Missouri River to form Lake Greeson for flood control along for 93,000 aches of farmland and residential homes. The dam has a hydroelectric power plant with three 8,500-kilowatt generators.

Little Missouri Fiver Below the Narrows Dam

After returning to the campground Thursday afternoon I took a hike on the Little Missouri River Trail. The trailhead began at the south end of the campground just a few yards from our campsite. The trail winds its way through the woods from the campground to the Little Missouri River. The 1.2 mile trail then loops back through the forest to the trailhead. This trail provides a relaxing one hour hike over level terrain. Half of the trail has paved for barrier-free access, and is the longest wheelchair accessible trail in Southwest Arkansas. The unpaved remaining section of the trail is easily walked.

On our trip home we stopped at Caddo Gap to see the Caddo Gap Indian Statue for a little area history lesson. The original monument was erected by the WPA in 1936 and the bronze restoration of the Caddo Gap Indian was dedicated in 1980 by Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton.

DE SOTO AT CADDO GAP

In this area in 1541 a Spanish expedition from Florida commanded by Hernando De Soto encountered fierce resistance from the Indians, whom they described as the best fighting men they had met. De Soto then turned to the southeast and descended the Caddo and Ouachita Rivers into What is now Louisiana where he died.

THE CADDO PEOPLE

This region was once the home of the Caddo Indians, whose settlements and towns were scattered over what is now southwestern Arkansas, north eastern Texas and northwestern Louisiana. The Caddo River, which flows near this point, and Caddo Gap itself were named for this intelligent and gifted native American people.