Anticipating unseasonably cooler weather Donna and I were ready for an impromptu camping trip. I was wanting to visit northeast Arkansas to see Mammoth Springs and Hardy where my granddad had a cabin when I was little. We didn’t find any campgrounds that appealed to us near Mammoth Springs or Hardy so we decided to go to Norfork Lake near Mountain Home. We had never been to Norfork and were unsure where to stay so we made no reservations intending to find a walk up campsite. Sites at Gamaliel were not only available, but there were so few campers that arriving on a Tuesday a park attendant would not be available to register us until Thursday. We drove around the park and settled on site #18 which was only one of a few with a lake view.
 |
| Biker Church on Hwy 101 at Gamaliel, AR |
 |
| Deer Along Campground Road |
Wednesday morning we took a road trip up through Missouri to Mammoth Springs State Park. We toured the fish hatchery at the park which surprisingly raises sturgeon that is sent out of state (No trout).
The spring is the 10th largest in the US. It’s outflow was dammed and powered a small hydroelectric plant that remains as a museum today. The spring forms the entire headwater of the Spring River flowing an average of nearly 10 million cubic feet of water per hour.
Dam Video Part 1
Dam Video Part 2
After our walk through the park we had lunch at Fred’s Fish House in the Mammoth Springs historic district (Click here for Anthony Bourdain Visits Fred's Fish House video). Enjoyed some really good catfish, hush puppies and coleslaw.
After lunch we headed south to Hardy. We drove around the Hardy Downtown Historic District and the Hardy city RV Park. The RV Park was mostly open space without paved parking, but was on the bank of the Spring River. I made an attempt to find the location of our old camp. I walked several of the abandoned roads off of Pontiac drive. I found the creek where we got our water but the roads had been abandoned with new Cherokee Village roads. Many great days were spent in this area playing in the creek and hunting in the woods. The old place must be gone now.
Thursday we drove south to the Norfork dam and the National Fish Hatchery. I walked down to boardwalk along Dry Creek which is fed by the outflow from the fish hatchery. The creek was loaded with trout. Dry Creek area was catch and release fishing only with barbless hooks. A really pretty setting.
 |
| Boardwalk along Dry Creek adjacent to the fish hatchery |
 |
| Fish Hatchery outfall into Dry Creek |
 |
 |
| Trout Fry in ‘Eyed Ova’ stage |
It was overcast for most of the day Thursday and after we got back to the campground the rain started. After a nap under the trailer awing listening to the rain it got too cool for shorts and a T-shirt so I had to retreat to the trailer. The August heat was back on Friday when we returned to Russellville. Timing is everything!
