Donna and I took our first trip to Queen Wilhelmina State Park for the Memorial Day weekend. Queen Wilhelmina State Park is on top of Rich Mountain in western Arkansas. We left Russellville anticipating rain for the two hour drive. The rain held off and we had an nice drive on highway 80 west from Danville to highways 250 and 71 toward Rich Mountain. Rich Mountain is the highest point in the Ouachita Mountains at nearly 3000 feet above sea level (the second highest point in Arkansas behind Mount Magazine).
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| Queen Wilhelmina Lodge and Restaurant |
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| Lovers Leap Trail |
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| Blue Birds |
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| View from the Lodge Toward the Campground |
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| Dierks Forest Service Engine |
The entire campground is circled by a little train ride. At first glance it looks like a passenger train. On closer inspection you can see the passengers sitting on the train.
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| Nana and Pops at Campsite |
Being hardy campers on the first night we drove to the lodge restaurant for dinner. The restaurant would have a great view of the valley but it was completely socked in by clouds. Donna liked the giant couch in the lodge lobby.
After having the surf and turf buffet we took a much needed walk around the campgrounds. There was a group of guys camped at the end of the campground that apparently came to skateboard or street luge down the mountain. We had seen them earlier on our way to the campground massing for a run from the top of highway 272.
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| View of Our Campsite from the Highway |
In the evening winds over the mountain picked up and blew in the fog (or clouds at this elevation). We thought for a while we were seeing campfire smoke blowing across the campground, but it turned out to be passing clouds.
The next morning wind and fog was still around. Evidently it gets like this a lot based on the highway warning signs. Fog burned off later in the morning and it turned into a great day. We drove to Mena and had BBQ at Branding Iron BBQ and Steakhouse. After lunch we drove around Mena. We did some shopping for yard art and took in other area attractions.
When we left Mena we drove out highway 88 the Talimena Scenic Drive into Oklahoma. Great vista stops along the Winding Stair Mountains.
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| One of the Vistas along the Talimena Scenic Drive |
We spent Saturday evening around the Queen Wilhelmina campground. Donna (aka The Butterfly Whisperer) made a new friend that refused to leave.
Sunday we lounged around the campsite in the morning. Later we made another trip down the mountain to explore the Mena area. We even drove the the town of Ink, AR. We found that Ink was nothing more than a blot on the map.
We returned mid-day on Memorial Day.
Queen Wilhelmina State Park is in a great location at the top of Rich Mountain with cool breezes and great views. I imagine that during the fall foliage change it would be spectacular. Queen Wilhelmina has a modern lodge and restaurant that is open every day. The campground itself is a little too closely spaced for our liking (we had site #38). The layout of the campsites to highway side are obviously the product of a government project gone wrong. Picnic tables and grills are on the driver side of the sites. This resulted in having to go to the backside of the camper to reach your table and grill. Our trailer awning when extended covered our neighbor's fire pit and picnic table behind their camper. The campsites on the opposite side are laid out correctly but still very congested.
