Mount Magazine

At Camron Bluff Campground, Mount Magazine State Park, AR

We left Maumelle Park around 10:45, got gas at a Walmart along highway 10, and took highway 10 most of the way to Mount Magazine…get here around 2 pm.  Mount Magazine is not very busy, although it is sure to get a bit more crowded over the weekend.  As you can see, the trees are just starting to bud out, the temps are windy and cool, with current (7 pm) temps hitting 59 degrees, with a low of 40 tonight, high of 70 tomorrow.  We are going to be here a week…maybe a day or two more than a week, we will see.

Mount Magazine is actually an Arkansas State Park which is really owned by the National Forest Service.  Back in the 1930’s, the CCC built the road and the campground and a lodge on the mountain, but the lodge burned down in 1971.  After numerous studies, it was decided that it should become part of the Arkansas State Park System, but the FDA, from which the National Forest System falls, retained ownership.  In 2006, a new lodge, along with 13 cabins, opened up, and the campground was given a good face lift too.  Back in February 2011, the month Marcia and I married, we stayed in one of the cabins for three days…it snowed, we felt like we had the whole park to ourselves.  We came back one time in the car a number of years ago for a quick drive through and late lunch in the lodge, but this year we decided to stay in the campground for a week.  Mount Magazine has a lot of sentimental feelings for us.

   

The lodge complex *upper left) includes 60 guest rooms, meeting rooms, restaurant, exercise room, gift shop/store, and some fantastic views of the valley below.  The cabins include great views too, and each cabin includes a fully-equipped kitchen, clothes washer and dryer, fireplace, a bathroom for each bedroom, and wrap-around decks with outdoor hot tubs facing the view from the bluff.  We LOVED the three nights we were here back in 2011…and the only thing we wish we had this time was one of those hot tubs!

Above is a panoramic view to the west, and below is a panoramic view to the north.  Magazine Mountain is the tallest peak in Arkansas at 2,753 feet, with the valley below at 600 feet so it looks like a 2,000 foot mountain.  There are many views all around that you can see, most from viewpoints accessible from vehicles.  Later in the week when the sun is out better, I will get some better pictures.  For now, we are snuggled in our warm motorhome…time for dinner.